Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Some Thoughts on Teaching
Time magazine’s cover story this week is “The Life of the American Teacher.” (Shown is one of the three cover photos.) Since teaching is my third and current career, this issue got my immediate attention. While I haven’t had time to read it yet, I thought this would be a good opportunity to share my
Secrets of Happiness
You have probably heard of the United Nations’ World Happiness Report and how the Scandinavian countries, especially Denmark, score so well every year. If you’ve ever been curious about how Denmark ranks so highly, and if they have something we should try to copy, I’d like to recommend a podcast that explores this very issue.
A History of Congressional Violence
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times” — Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities We think we are living in turbulent political times. Well, we are. But the past has been worse. Much worse. Your high school history books probably mentioned how Senator Charles Sumner was beaten to within
Original Poem — How Are You Rolling?
This is an original poem from my book Some Poems About Life (available on Amazon.com and this website). How Are You Rolling? There is a rhythm to everyday life to which we all must move. As we get by, the question becomes are you in a rut or are you in a groove? Life
So Elephants Never Forget?
We all know elephants are special animals, and that they have great brainpower. But we’re only now beginning to appreciate how unique they are. Neurobiologist Paul Manger at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa began modern study of the elephant brain when he obtained permission in 2009 to preserve the brains of three
Would You Like To Be A Scientist?
If you are interested in scientific research and have some time, but no training, don’t worry, you can still contribute. That’s why zooniverse.org ( https://www.zooniverse.org/ ) was founded — “the world’s largest and most popular platform for people-powered research.” Scientific research may sound glamorous, but there is a lot of routine work analyzing data. This is
How To Break A Bad Habit
Having habits can either be good or bad. A good habit helps get you through your daily routine. But a bad habit can hold you back, and even endanger your health. If you’re like most people, that can be a struggle. If you always find yourself losing, could science offer some solutions? Science does offer
How Do You Make Major Decisions?
When faced with a major decision, like marriage or a career change, how do you go about it? The time-tested, logical way is to make a list of pros and cons. That can work well, but is there a better, more scientific way of decision-making? See if these ideas help — One approach is to
Can You Really Smell Rain?
I grew up on a sheep and chicken farm, so naturally there were lots of smells. One of the most interesting was what I sensed before a rain. It was if I could actually smell the rain coming. Was it just me? No, according to the article “Why You Can Smell Rain” by Tim Logan
Why Don’t You See Sunburned Plants?
The end of summer may be a bit late to think about this, but have you ever wondered why plants don’t get sunburned? Actually, they’ve already thought of that. Plants can make their own sunscreen to protect from harmful solar radiation and yet not interfere with photosynthesis. Specifically, in 2011 a team of scientists reported