WE USTA HEAR AMERICA PINGING
“TO UNDERSTAND THIS (HISTORICAL) ABNORMALITY OF COMBUSTION,” I wrote (sans the parenthetical modifier) in R&T back in December 1979, “we’d be wise to begin by examining the combustion process as … Continue reading
HORTUS DELICIARUM—THE GARDEN OF DELIGHTS
MY RECENT TREATISE ON PRETZELS got me consulting The Authorized King James Version of the Bible. Prompting of this biblical research was straightforward: Queen Esther and King Ahasuerus enjoying a … Continue reading
D.J. SIMS GOT THINGS RIGHT, SORTA
IT WAS MORE THAN A HALF-CENTURY AGO (AGG!?) that a math professor at the College of the Virgin Islands on St. Thomas submitted a freelance piece to R&T. Image by … Continue reading
IN PRAISE OF THE COMMON PART 2
THE THEME OF GENTLE CONVENTIONALITY echoes in our review of the British flick This Happy Breed. Its time capsule continues here in Part 2 as the Gibbons family settles in … Continue reading
IN PRAISE OF THE COMMON PART 1
BEING THE ANGLOPHILE I AM—SHAKESPEARE, MARLOWE, Morgans, Dellows, and White Stilton with Apricots—I was attracted to Turner Classic Movies’ recent showing of This Happy Breed. This Happy Breed, based on … Continue reading
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK IN THE CRETACEOUS SEA PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE LEARNED FROM AAAS SCIENCE THAT THE CRETACEOUS SEA contained cephalopods of unprecedented size. Sources for this are Phie Jacobs’ “Octopus ‘Krakens’ as Large as Semi-Trucks Stalked Ancient Seas,” … Continue reading
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
Simanaitis Says 