Eventually, we’re going to have to leave this planet. Sometime, in the next billion or so years, our sun’s radiation output will make this planet uninhabitable (https://www.universetoday.com/25367/how-long-will-life-survive-on-earth/ ). What will we do? Fortunately, we have some time to consider our options. In the (comparative) short term, we could stay within our solar system. Perhaps we
Anyone who has ever had a bug zapper has seen insects fly right into it. Insects naturally seem to be attracted to light. Why? Actually, no one knows, but there are several theories. One is that they aren’t as much attracted to light as they are disoriented by it. Many flying insects use light as
If you ever look heavenward, you know that people have found pictures in the stars for thousands of years. I think most of us can recognize a few, like Orion the Hunter, with his three-star belt, and the Big Dipper (actually part of Ursa Major, the Great Bear). But I hadn’t realized how many constellations
As #MeToo is proving, women are becoming empowered all over the world. I have just read of another example, this time in Africa. Although I hesitate to repeat this for fear of publicizing radical ideas, this story is too good to ignore. So here goes (and I’ll start with a direct quote, so nobody thinks
For those of you who think the American Dream is dead, I have good news. The most successful ethnic group in the country very well may be Nigerian-Americans. As more recent arrivals, their numbers are not large; in 2015 the Nigerian-American population was 376,000, according to the Rockefeller Foundation–Aspen Institute. And they’ve had to battle
From my younger days, I still remember watching how an animated character was courting his girlfriend on a Saturday morning cartoon show. He had composed a love song — I love you, Stella. I think you’re swella. Sure glad you’re not a fella. Terrible! No wonder he was still single! Then it dawned on me.
Imagine sending a DNA sample to a testing site like AncestryDNA or 23andMe, and then being told your brother is only your half brother? What would that do to your world? Unfortunately, this is happening more often than anyone realizes. And the burden is falling on the testing labs’ customer-service representatives to try to help
Recently I’ve run across some interesting facts (at least to me) that put the scale of our world in fresh perspective. Astronomers Have Found The Most Distant Solar Object (Yet) We’ve found a new object in the Solar System. It’s small, lies more than 100 times our distance from the sun, and takes 1000 years
It’s a shame Twitter didn’t exist in the 1950s, because #MeToo would’ve started a lot earlier. As far back as January 1953, an issue of Motion Picture and Television Magazine included an interesting article entitled “Wolves I Have Known.” Not only was the title eye-catching, but it was written by someone who was just getting
If you’re like me and have trouble remembering important things in your life, even when you write yourself notes, there is a scientific way to fix that. Draw a picture. According to a study published in the journal Experimental Aging Research, drawing forces your brain to process visual information. This translates the meaning into an