April 22 is celebrated around the world as Earth Day. The Earth Day Network ( http://www.earthday.org/) considers this the world’s largest secular holiday, with its celebrants estimated at about a billion people. So who’s idea was this? According to The Writers’ Almanac (http://writersalmanac.org/), it started with a politician. Senator Gaylord Nelson ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaylord_Nelson) was an
Your first thought is probably astrology. But astrology (how do I say this nicely?) has no scientific basis. And yet, there appears to be a more fundamental, and very earthbound, answer to this question. According to an article in Time magazine’s daily news brief of April 17, 2017, the key may not be the month
Sorry I haven’t posted anything lately, but I have been traveling. (I ran the Boston Marathon on April 17, 2017, but that’s another very long story.) But while listening to podcast on the drive back from Boston, I heard of a special day I never would’ve thought necessary. It’s called Email Debt Forgiveness Day. Have
Ah, American ingenuity! The creative people of The Walt Disney Company’s theme parks, the Imagineers, put out a book that highlights the old joke — Q. How many Imagineers does it take to change a lightbulb? A. Does it have to be a lightbulb? Now submissions for building President Trump’s border wall are showing similar
Have you seen any dollar coins in circulation lately? The U.S. Mint began making coins of this denomination with the imagine of the Shoshone woman Sacagawea in 2000. (Recall her claim to fame was as a guide for the Lewis & Clark expedition.) Using coins rather than dollar bills would be a significant savings, since
On August 21, 2017, fourteen states will witness one of the universe’s most impressive phenomenons — a total solar eclipse. (See the path across the states at http://www.astronomy.com/great-american-eclipse-2017.) Throughout human history, eclipses have brought fear and wonder into people’s lives. Fortunately, we now understand exactly what’s happening. But in the past, they have literally changed
I don’t mean to brag, but I’m something of an expert on failure. The fact that many of you have never heard of me until you read this supports my point. But I’m not going for pity here, because I’m getting by pretty well. It’s just that I’ve never been able to accomplish something really
We seem so powerless as compared to Mother Nature. Earthquakes, tornadoes, and hurricanes always put us at the mercy of the elements. And yet… Could there be a way to stop hurricanes from forming? After all, these monster storms are basically huge heat engines. They appear toward the end of summer, when the top layer
Running is my recreational sport. When I run, I never think about running alone, or at night, or in the country. But then, I’m a man. I remember when I lived in California, almost every weekday I used to run after work on the Santa Ana River trail with some coworkers, including a young lady.
Everyone probably knows eating fruits and veggies are good for you, but how good? Just what you’ve been waiting to hear — a new study suggests that eating even more produce can prevent millions of deaths each year. In case you don’t believe me, my source is Time magazine’s daily newsletter brief of March 30th.