Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
World War II’s Most Venerable Bomber
There are many fascinating stories about World War II. Smithsonian Magazine has just told another one — the Mitchell B-26B Marauder medium bomber that survived more than 200 missions, an amazing total in wartime. The only bomber to fly more missions was an RAF de Havilland B Mk IX Mosquito, F for Freddie, which was credited
The Laws of Stupidity
In the Disney animated feature The Lion King, when the royal usurper Scar exclaims, “I’m surrounded by idiots!”, he may have been onto something. Carlo M. Cipolla certainly thought so. In 1976, Cipolla, a professor of economic history at the University of California, Berkeley, published an essay entitled “The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity” (http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/).
Floating Solar Parks? Seriously?
How does your energy generation go green when you have a limited amount of land, and much of that is below sea level? You can design a floating solar park! The obvious candidate for such an innovation is The Netherlands. And they’ve done it! Trust the Dutch to think outside the box. The Dutch company
April Fools’ Day: One Origin Story
How did the First of April become April Fools’ Day? There are a number of origin stories, but here is one that we know isn’t true. This version originated with Joseph Boskin, a professor of history at Boston University. Boskin claimed the idea of designating a day for general foolishness came from the reign of Roman
Meet the Top 10 New Marine Species
Putting rovers on Mars is exciting, but we must not forget our home planet has never been completely explored. This is especially true of the oceans, which cover about 70 percent of Earth’s surface, yet are still relatively uninvestigated. I was reminded of this while reading that the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) released its annual
A Way To Recover From A Challenging School Year
What will be the permanent impact of the pandemic on our education system? It’s still too early to say definitively, but it will probably be significant. I expect it will be the end of snow days. Another impact could also be on how we arrange for tutoring. In that regard, you may be familiar with
COVID-19: Who Can You Trust?
With all the misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, where can you go for accurate information? That’s the question a group of mothers started asking themselves as pandemic information became more and more muddled. But these moms are also doctors and scientists, and they decided to take action. The result is a grassroots network of women who
The Loophole in Democracy
The events of this election cycle have caused a renewed examination of our democracy. Our system of government survived a president who either didn’t believe or was unwilling to accept the election results that denied him a second term. This proved the U.S. Constitution is a strong document, capable of surviving the most difficult challenge.
A Verse For The Times
Yes, I do get correspondence about my writing. Awhile back, a dear friend shared with me one of her favorite bible verses. This seems like a really good time to share it with you — “…whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely,
Plastic From Bacteria?
Consider the ubiquity of plastics. If present trends continue, we will be producing a billion tons a year by 2050. And since 1950, we’ve produced more than 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic in total. It gets worse. By 2015, three quarters of those 8 billion+ metric tons were discarded, and only 9% has been recycled.