Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
A Modest Proposal For Ukraine
An idea from the If-I-Ruled-The-World Department — If you believe the news reports, a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent. Formerly a part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Ukraine became independent following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But President of Russia Vladimir Putin, in an apparent bid to put Humpty
How Could Cement Appear in a Heart?
I found a very interesting story in the news recently. A 56-year-old man who had chest pains and had been having trouble breathing for two days went to the emergency room. What doctors found was surprising — a four-inch piece of cement was lodged in his heart. A week earlier, the man had undergone a procedure
Is The Five-Second Rule Real?
Have you heard that if you drop food on the floor, it’s still safe to eat for five seconds? It’s an intriguing idea, but where did it come from? We can’t be sure who thought of the five-second rule first, but some attribute it to Genghis Khan. No, really! “There were some historical quotes from Genghis
Playing Music With Your Eyes
In 2010, a musician friend of designer/musician Zacharias Vamvakousis was in a serious motorcycle accident and feared he would never be able to play his guitar again. Zacharías realized there was no musical instrument accessible to people with severe disabilities. So he developed the Eyeharp — a digital instrument for the disabled: “If you can
Vet to the Homeless
Pets give us much comfort and companionship. And there is a segment of society to whom pets are doubly important — the homeless. Reportedly, 10 to 25 percent of homeless people have pets. Yet they require care, too. But it’s tough to look after an animal if you might not know where your next meal
Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head
This is something you probably haven’t thought of, but I think it’s interesting. Suppose you lived on another planet in the solar system. It starts raining and you’re caught without your umbrella. How big will the raindrops be? Two researchers at Harvard University published a paper on the physics of raindrops on March 15, 2021
Still Available: The Boy Who Could Wiggle His Ears
When I was about ten years old, my grandfather showed me how to wiggle my ears. It took some time to figure out how to control that muscle (it actually goes from the eyebrows back), and they don’t wiggle very much, but they do move. This always seemed like a good life example — if
Some Thoughts on New Year’s Eve
From the New York Times’ newsfeed — Have you ever wondered why that iconic New York City landmark is called Times Square? Originally Longacre Square, the name was changed in 1904 to honor The New York Times moving its offices there. The newspaper’s publisher during that era, Adolph Ochs, celebrated the move by staging a
Fish That Are Bad Swimmers
I’m sure you’ve heard of some people being described as “swimming like a fish.” It might surprise you to learn that some fish don’t swim well at all. Why would some fish be poor swimmers? The simple answer is they don’t need to swim well. For example, if the pufferfish (also called blowfish) is chased, it
A Way to Live Longer?
About 20 years ago, author Dan Buettner, working for National Geographic and with a grant from the National Institute on Aging, started studying the world’s longest-lived people. They’re the ones who reside in the so-called Blue Zones of longevity. Basically, his goal was to reverse-engineer longevity. Since an estimated 20% of a person’s life span is