Stories Short and Strange
17 short stories for general audiences ranging from the unusual to the unbelievable to the just plain strange.
Are Nightmares All Bad?
Dreams are flaky enough, and nightmares are worse. But even if you have nightmares, are they bad for you? They could be. In an article “Nightmares Are Scary. But Are They Bad For Your Health?” by Markham Heid (http://time.com/5287932/are-nightmares-bad-for-you/?), Michael Nadorff, an assistant professor of psychology at Mississippi State University and director of the school’s
Around the World in 80 Trees
If you’re interested in a summer read and are a nature lover, I’ve just stumbled across an interesting-sounding book. Entitled Around the World in 80 Trees by Jonathan Drori, the author uses plant science to explain how trees affect our everyday lives. You can guess some of the contents — California redwoods certainly deserve
Starlings and Science, or What is Murmuration?
If you are a bird lover, you may have marveled at how great flocks of starlings move in unison. There are several excellent examples on YouTube, like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakKfY5aHmY . So how do they do it? Science has been wondering the same thing. It’s only been recently that we’ve had the tools to observe
In Praise of … Spiders?
What if I told you that spiders, those universally reviled members of the bug world, are really valuable and should be protected? Matt Bertone, Extension Associate in Entomology at North Carolina University, makes that point in “A Case Against Killing Spiders” ( http://earthsky.org/earth/case-against-killing-spiders? ). He says spiders are important to both indoor and outdoor ecosystems. What’s more,
Revisiting President Eisenhower
During my recent trip to Asia, I was able to read Eisenhower: Soldier and President by Stephen E. Ambrose. Dwight Eisenhower was the first president I remember, and the only presidential library I ever visited. His presidency is easy to overlook, coming between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry Truman on one side and John Kennedy
Thoughts On Dictatorships
My first trip to mainland China made me curious as to what I might find. After all, this country was supposed to be one of our Cold War enemies. How much has really changed? Unfortunately, I only spent a few days in Beijing. But even that was instructive — a lot has changed. The Chinese
I’m Back — Thoughts on Running and International Travel
I haven’t written anything lately because I’ve been traveling again. I’ve just completed a very satisfying two-week trip to China and Bhutan. (Before you ask, Bhutan is a Buddhist country between China and India, east of Nepal.) I didn’t get to see much of China this time, just Beijing and a part of the Great
Saving the World, One Cauliflower Stem at a Time
Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but on April 20, 2016, I wrote “A Simple Way to Feed The World.” Based on a National Geographic magazine cover story of March 2016 (https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2016/03/global-food-waste-statistics/ ), “Too Good To Waste: How Ugly Food Can Help Feed the Planet,” it discussed the challenges of having two billion more
Original Poem — In the Unlikely Event…
This is a previously unpublished poem I dug out of my files. In The Unlikely Event… In the unlikely event of loss of cabin pressure, a mask will drop down. Of fire, head for the nearest exit and do not use the elevator. Of an earthquake, go outside, away from buildings. In the unlikely
Where is Pumbaa When We Need Him?
Maybe I’ve spent too much time around teenage boys, but an April 6, 2018 podcast segment of the NPR program Science Friday got my attention — an interview with Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti, authors of Does It Fart? The Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence. Yes, this is serious science. Specifically, it’s called “flatology” —