I’ve been reading the Time magazine daily news brief in my email inbox today about the origin of the word dad. There are several terms for father, but dad is probably the most unusual. Where did it come from? No one knows for sure, but the best theory is it comes from the way babies
I was listening to a podcast this morning when someone mentioned we went to the moon for political reasons. I’m not denying there were major political ramifications, but wasn’t it more than world politics? My on-line search tuned up an article from July 25, 2014 entitled “The Continued Socioeconomic Impact of Apollo 11”. According to
After the Orlando attack, you may be wondering exactly what are we doing to counter violent extremism? If you haven’t heard, there is an FBI website entitled “Don’t Be a Puppet: Pull Back the Curtain on Violent Extremism”, aimed at young people who might be leaning toward terrorist groups. It’s like a video game,
You probably have heard of seed banks, but color banks? I was surprised to read about just such a collection, a pigment library at Harvard, in a recent article on the website Fastcodesign.com. The story goes something like this — Today we have an infinite range of color choices on our computer screens. But for
“Keep it for your children, your children’s children, and for all who come after you.” — Theodore Roosevelt A very important birthday is coming up this summer. The National Park Service (NPS) traces its origin to August 25, 1916, when President Woodrow Wilson signed the Organic Act. Today the NPS has 20,000 employees who manage
I don’t know of anyone who thinks a nightmare can be a good experience. It’s been a long time (fortunately) since I’ve had one, although I tend to have dreams where I either have to go somewhere or do something and I never quite make it. But if you’re unlucky enough to be haunted by
I have never been married (which is a whole another story), but I’m fascinated by some of the impacts being so close to another person for so long can have. The latest is an article entitled “Being Married for Decades Means That Your Bodies Become Biologically Alike” on the May 26th, 2016 edition of the
We’ve been discussing medical care a lot in this country in recent years. But while catching up on reading over Memorial Day, I found a basic flaw in our healthcare system that everyone needs to know about. Let’s start with a question — how well do you know your doctor? What got my attention was
Recently we passed a major milestone of Western civilization — the birthday of the table knife was May 13, 1637. According to The Writers’ Almanac of that date (this year, of course), its father is considered to be Cardinal Richelieu of France. (http://writersalmanac.org/page/16/) The Cardinal ordered his kitchen staff to file off the sharp
Every once in awhile, I read something that gives me pause. The latest was on the New York magazine’s “Science of Us” page on its website. An article entitled “Tears Are a Luxury Item” discusses recent research on an unlikely topic — why we cry. http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/03/tears-are-a-luxury-item.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Science%20of%20Us%20-%20May%2013%2C%202016&utm_term=Subscription%20List%20-%20Science%20of%20Us%20%281%20Year%29 This question goes back to Charles Darwin. He tried