TUBER TIDBITS
JUST AS MY Lithuanian ancestors worshipped trees, Wife Dottie’s side of the family worships potatoes. We even have a couple Christmas tree ornaments honoring the tuber. Thus, I read with … Continue reading
HAPPY 150TH—THE PERIODIC TABLE!
THE UNITED NATIONS celebrates 2019 as the International Year of the Periodic Table. This familiar array is more than a collection of chemical elements. As described in Science, February 1, … Continue reading
SCIENCE AND EVIDENTIAL TRUTH
SCIENCE CONSISTS of following evidence in seeking truth. This succinct characterization comes from comments made by Rush Holt, in his editorial “Democracy’s Plight,” in Science, February 1, 2019. “Observers,” Holt … Continue reading
MARY JANE AND VOC EMISSIONS
I ENJOY CALLING it Mary Jane for old times sake. Marijuana is in the news these days because its production could worsen the emissions of VOCs, volatile organic compounds. Jason … Continue reading
ENGLISH CLERGY—ONE, A ROGUE; ANOTHER, A SCIENTIST PART 3
THE STUDENT Thomas Espin was highly motivated by viewing the Great Comet of 1874. Even in 1888 when appointed the vicar of Tow Law, in England’s northern County Durham, he … Continue reading
ENGLISH CLERGY—ONE, A ROGUE; ANOTHER, A SCIENTIST PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE encountered a real rogue of an English prelate. Today and tomorrow in Parts 2 and 3, we meet another member of the English clergy, one who was honored … Continue reading
PLAGIARISM AT INTEGRITY MEETING
TODAY’S IRONY AWARD at SimanaitisSays honors actions described in the borrowed headline above. It sounds like something in a Tom Lehrer song. However, the headline appeared in the January 18, … Continue reading
ON SURVEILLANCE CAPITALISM—AND MY FACEBOOK IDENTITY
THE ECONOMIC TERM “surveillance capitalism” is new to me, but it reminds me that Big Tech has developed an insidious business model—the selling of us. That is, forget the jazz … Continue reading
SEVERAL MATHEMATICAL ETYMOLOGIES
WORDS IN MATHEMATICS have precise meanings. No surprise, this. And sometimes their etymologies have good tales to tell. Let’s look at “theorem,” and two of its related terms, “corollary” and … Continue reading
“HEY, BRO,” SAID THE SAGEBRUSH
IT MAY SOUND unscientific, but in SCIENCE magazine, January 4, 2019, Elizabeth Pennisi asks, ”Do Plants Favor Their Kin?” In fact, recent research suggests that individual plants may well help … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 