The Last Word

July 15 – 19 I got all irate on Twitter, as did a number of other folks, and nothing good came of it — the argument looked like it was made of fireflies. Why did mankind take so long to come up with this?  the Erik Vance Restaurant Guide to Saving the Oceans. Guest Robin […]

Dropping the kids off at the pool

This summer it’s happened three times so far. Once, I got an urgent email from the backyard pool where they have baby swim lessons. Another time, my older son’s swim teacher pulled the class out of the high school pool and taught the kids “safety skills” on the deck. And when we were at camp, […]

Guest Post: Estimating Deaths

Last month, the UN announced that the conflict in Syria has killed at least 92,901 people.  The number has been widely picked up.  Yet many reports miss how crucial the “at least” really is. 92,901 is the number of confirmed deaths – that is, a count.  Mostly likely, considerably more people have died.  Soon, the […]

Dinner Guide to Saving the Ocean

I am that guy. You know the one. When the waiter comes to the table to give the specials, I’m the one who needs to know where the snapper’s from, how the swordfish was caught, and whether the salmon is farm-raised. My brother generally starts apologizing for me as soon as I open my mouth to see […]

The Last Word

8 – 12 July This week, Michelle remembered the man who demystified the force running through all of our lives, the source of our power — and very possibly our undoing. “Contagious gasping, spilled drinks, the gripping of tables” — Jessa gave a first hand account of a genetically superior startle reflex. Roberta interviewed the […]

For his bairns, and his bairns’ bairns, and their beavers

The Ramsay family has lived at the Bamff estate, 1300 acres of heathery hills and woodlands in eastern Scotland, for nearly eight centuries. Today, environmentalists Paul and Louise Ramsay share the property with three families of beavers. The couple brought the animals to Bamff in 2002 as part of a controversial effort to reintroduce European […]

The Godless Particle

Last July I ended a post on the Higgs boson with an admonition: “Just don’t get me started on this ‘God particle’ business.” But did Christie listen? “I’m sharing it with my husband,” she emailed me about the post. “This whole ‘god particle’ thing has been driving him completely crazy.” The term, at least in the […]