Pollinators are definitely in need of our help. These little honeybees, bumble bees, some bats, humming birds — you get the idea — work hard to pollinate all of the crops that are not pollinated by the wind. This basically means they bring us melons, almonds, apples, cherries – anything that’s not a grain. In…
John Glenn: Evolution And Belief In God Not Mutually Exclusive
Anyone who has escaped Earth’s atmosphere and traveled into space has seen a side of things that I certainly have not. From the very first photo of Earth appearing as a blue marble – the photo which many say engendered the conservation movement – the astronauts returning from their missions have brought back with them not just…
Paul Halpern’s ‘Einstein’s Dice And Schrödinger’s Cat’ Is The Physics Read You’re Looking For
When I called my local bookstore to ask if they had Einstein’s Dice and Schrödinger’s Cat, it had the feel of a classic prank call. Fortunately for me, the clerk took me seriously. The result was one of the most interesting and engaging books I’ve read in a long time. As the 1900s drew to…
Maybe Someday There Will Be Amazon Prime Spaceflight
When Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos first announced his company would become a gateway to the Internet, most people were skeptical. Except that the notion that readers would flock to the Internet to buy books, that the sale of books would generate sufficient profits to support a major retailer, and that readers who did go to…
World Heritage Site Designation Totally Matters, Right? Sadly, No
Oceans cover more than 95% of the living space on Earth. Within their depths, there are places that are home to species that are not found anywhere else. Some areas of the ocean are of such importance to the biodiversity of our planet that they’ve been designated World Heritage Sites. It is their “outstanding universal…
Dear America: Driving Bees Around Is No Way To Live
Fourteen million honeybees were in for a rough ride when the tractor-trailer hauling their hives overturned last week. The crash sent bee-boxes, honeycombs, and honeybees flying. Efforts were made to bring minimal damage to the bees themselves, but that many bees, even under the best of circumstances, is a lot of bees to keep happy.…
Coming Soon to Waters Near You
Unless you’ve been hiding out with the cicadas, you can’t help but be aware that the weather this winter has been extreme. The West Coast is undergoing an epic drought. The East Coast has more snow than anyone could possibly use. As for the rest of the country, they’ve got tornadoes and storms all over…
The Epitome of Unintended Consequences
I recently switched car insurance companies. I was happy with the rate I got. Soon after, I received a device to monitor my driving in the event that I wanted to try to qualify for a discount on my rate. I did not care about trying for a discount so I ignored the device –…
Begun, The Battery Wars Have
It lacks the cachet of a Cold War arms race, yet the current battle for battery technology supremacy is every bit as heated. The army with superior battery technology will be at the front of the pack, as will any company that can best the competition by providing a reliable cell phone charge. Forget the…
Bubbles And Ultrasounds And Mice, Oh My!
You’ve snapped them, popped them, blown them – but have you ever considered that bubbles could be used in conjunction with ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier and allow medical treatment for conditions ranging from tumors to Alzheimer’s? Luckily for those of us who have not, others have. The publication Science reports that this month…