NATURE’S ORIGAMI
“LADYBUG, ladybug, fly away home…” These tiny polka-dotted insects invariably complied with this childhood entreaty so quickly that I knew nothing about their winged travel. Coccinellidae are known as ladybugs … Continue reading
SNIFFING OUT A MYTH
IT IS CONVENTIONAL wisdom that many mammals, dogs especially, have far better senses of smell than humans. However, recent research suggests that this is a myth perpetrated by 19th-century science … Continue reading
HAVE YOU DONE AS WELL AS YOUR PARENTS?
IT IS THE hope of parents that their kids will, in some sense, do better than they’ve done. The metric might be wealth, education, status or general happiness. Alas, according … Continue reading
A CANINE FAMILY CIRCLE
A FAMILY CIRCLE that was developed at the National Human Genome Research Institute has been called a tour-de-force of Canine lupus familiaris evolution. The most extensive research of its kind … Continue reading
HOW GREEN MY STASH?
MARIJUANA AND ITS non-psychoactive hemp sibling are becoming big business around the world. These are the two species of the genus Cannabis, each originally cultivated in Eurasia 8500 years ago. … Continue reading
HEDGEHOGS AND FOXES
THE ANCIENT GREEK poet Archilochus remarked that a fox knows many things, whereas a hedgehog knows only one big thing. Twentieth-century philosopher Isaiah Berlin expanded on this idea in The … Continue reading
MARCH FOR SCIENCE—FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA
MARCHES FOR SCIENCE took place yesterday, Earth Day, April 22, 2017. They started in New Zealand and Australia and ran through time zones around the world. In Berlin, a March … Continue reading
ROMANCE OF THE SABRE-TOOTH CAT
LA BREA Tar Pits of 12,000 years ago are linked to a 1942 Romance of the Ranchos radio program and also to The New York Times published only yesterday. The … Continue reading
THIS VIDEO GAME IS ON ME
I ENJOY the time-gobbling hobby of building virtual GMax craft for use in Microsoft Flight Simulator. So it is with interest that I read the article “Video Games: The Bad, … Continue reading
A TALE OF AIRCRAFT CARRIER TECHNOLOGY
I’M NOT surprised that the guy who prefers coal to renewables is also in favor of steam over electromagnetics. Indeed, his latest encounter with science and technology is textbook Trump. … Continue reading →