I need a new disease. Not for me, not exactly, but for my son. Instead of stories about two mystery solvers named Sam and Lydia, he wants me to regale him with chronicles of ailments, with tales of viruses and bacteria. This started yesterday, because we were going to the doctor to get Hepatitis A […]
Month: December 2013
AG’s mouseover says that astronomers began charting the motions of the planets, continued through the law of gravitation, and ended up with us on the moon; so sure, the planets affect our lives. I have nothing to add. If I did, I’d probably end up telling you I read my horoscope every day. And that, […]
Scientists, policymakers, FDA officials, industry spokespersons–talk to my science journalism students! Yes, they haven’t received their masters degrees yet from New York University’s Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP); and yes, most of them are newbies to the profession. But you shouldn’t ignore their emails or make them send reminder messages two or three […]
December 2 – 6 This week, Cassie explored the freakonomic chain of events that leads from repurposed bednets to the rise of a perilous parasite. Roberta wondered why she can never quite remember what that e-book was about. Richard revealed the dirty secrets of astronomers: “the library is my telescope now.” Michelle introduced us to the […]
Ever since I read a New York Times article about the possibility of bedbugs spreading through library books, I’ve been too paranoid to check out a book from my local library. (Yes, I know people have argued that the article was way overblown. What can I say? I have an irrational fear of the bedbug.) […]
In August 2012, 10 Israelis took a quick dip in a mountain lake in western Uganda. The lake, called Nyinambuga, sits in an ancient volcanic crater. The blue-green water of Lake Nyinambuga no doubt looked enticing, but it was rife with blood flukes, parasitic flatworms that burrow through the skin, invade the blood vessels, and feed on […]
Before dawn on October 3, 1932, in the small Columbia River town of Bingen, Washington, an 82-year-old man walked to the depot to catch the morning train to Portland. Under circumstances that remain unclear, the arriving train struck him down, killing him almost instantly. The man had lived in town for more than half a […]
Lately I’ve been reading my way through the series of Oz books. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is only the first in a series of 14 books, and it’s not remotely the best. It’s fascinating to reread books I loved as a child. Some are still great. Others have inexplicably morphed into poorly-written, preachy duds. […]
