For my generation, “Bob” was a very popular name. Almost every organization I worked in had another Bob or Robert or Bobbi. But now, when I take a substitute teaching job, it’s unusual to have a Robert or Bob in the class. Or John or James for that matter. I’m not imagining this. A Goldman
One of my great social frustrations is an inability to remember names. So I was intrigued when I saw an article entitled “Why You Forget Names Immediately — And How To Remember Them” by Jamie Ducharme. Why is remembering names so difficult? According to the article, there could be several reasons. The first might be
The world’s population continues to grow. We have an estimated 7.4 billion people now, and could reach as high as 11.2 billion by the year 2100 ( https://ourworldindata.org/world-population-growth ). Which leads to a number of questions, especially “What will we eat?” Don’t worry, someone is working on that. An article entitled “5 High-Tech Foods You’ll Be
This is the kind of clever writing I’d like to do, but I’ve never been able to. These were sent to me by a friend; the original author is unknown. This Should Keep You Busy For A While — – Do twins ever realize that one of them is unplanned? – What if my
You may have heard of the legend of Diogenes of Sinope, who supposedly wandered around ancient Greece, carrying a lantern and searching for an honest man ( https://www.ancient.eu/Diogenes_of_Sinope/). And the search continues today. So how do you make sure people are telling you the truth? Science says it simply depends on how you ask the question.
It’s always interesting to watch what happens when cultures combine. For example, arranged marriages are common in some parts of the world. If you were from Pakistan and wanted to explain how marriages usually happen, how would you go about it? How about a board game? Nashra Balagamwala was from Pakistan originally and now works
When you read about the Endangered Species Act, it’s usually within two contexts — a specific species that’s recovering, or the economic costs of adhering to the law. So I was a bit surprised to see the headline “The Endangered Species Act Is Criticized for Its Costs. But It Generates More than $1 Trillion a
I’m a poor choice to write on the implications of free speech at colleges and universities. Both my undergraduate and graduate degrees were earned at military schools, and I didn’t get onto a “real” college campus until age 57, when I retrained for my teaching license. But I do know that colleges have become coveted
Have you ever heard of the Miracle Slicer? I thought it was great until it took a chunk out of a little finger (anyone for red cucumbers?). Cooking the right way is hard and it seems like there are so many gadgets marketed to make it easier. But if you’re like me, all they do
I never took piano lessons; my instrument was a tenor saxophone. But I know music lessons are an important part of growing up — at the least it’s a sneaky way to teach kids math, especially fractions. My opinion has been reinforced by a new study, involving Mandarin-speaking Chinese kindergarteners, that claims the piano can