JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE CRETACEOUS SEA…. PART 1
AAAS SCIENCE TELLS US ABOUT NANIOUTEUTHUS haggarti: “the largest invertebrate ever described,” an octopus that makes even the sea-monster krakens of legend seem playful. What’s more, the 23 April 2026 … Continue reading
PUMPING URANIUM?
QUENTIN SEPTER EXPRESSES “DEEP UNEASE” in AAAS Science, April 23, 2026: “A push to expand mines that use fluids to extract uranium from aquifers is raising concerns about groundwater pollution.” … Continue reading
A LENTEN WORKAROUND—AND A BREAKFAST TREAT PART 2
YESTERDAY SARAH PRUITT HELPED US CATCH UP WITH NATIONAL PRETZEL DAY by way of her “The Pretzel: A Twisted History.” Today in Part 2, we continue with the theoretical side … Continue reading
A LENTEN WORKAROUND—AND A BREAKFAST TREAT PART 1
I MISSED NATIONAL PRETZEL DAY (APRL 26), though in a sense I celebrate it daily. Sarah Pruitt gave details in “The Pretzel: A Twisted History,” History, May 27, 2025. Here, … Continue reading
TESLA PROFIT-SHIFTING SHEDS SOME $400M IN U.S. TAXES
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS, APRIL 27, 2026, SHARES A REUTERS REPORT “Offshore Tax Tricks Likely Saved Tesla Millions,” This, despite Elon Musk saying back in 2024 when campaigning for Trump, “I’m often … Continue reading
COLOR—PHILOSOPHICALLY
DEIDRE MASK’S “DOES THIS COME IN PINK MARGARINE? A SURPRISING HISTORY OF COLOR NAMES” caught my eye in The New York Times Book Review, April 26, 2026. In fact, her … Continue reading
NICE WORK IF A.I. CAN GET IT
I HAD AN ADVENTURE WITH A.I. after enjoying (for the second time) A Damsel in Distress, a 1937 flick starring Fred Astaire, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Joan Fontaine. Based … Continue reading
FROM MOTHER EARTH TO YOUR CAR’S TANK; SLEUTHING ADDED PART 2
MOLLY BOIGON GOT US OFF TO A GOOD START with her “Fluctuating Fuel Costs: How Refiners, Retailers and Regulators Set the Price at the Pump.” We continue today in Part … Continue reading
FROM MOTHER EARTH TO YOUR CAR’S TANK; SLEUTHING ADDED PART 1
IT’S QUITE THE COMPLEX TRIP from Mother Earth’s petroleum resources to the fuel tank of your car, the diesel truck delivering your goods, or the airliner transporting you one place … Continue reading
A HUNGER (AND LUST) FOR WORDS
MY LATEST HISTORY EXTRA (USTA BE BBC HISTORY) has “Eat, Drink and Be Merry,” by historian Sam Bilton, who certainly knows her way around Elizabethan times and kitchens: “Shakespeare’s works,” … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 