“The problem with France is that there’s no French word for entrepreneur.” It’s tragic that George W. Bush didn’t actually say this, because it perfectly illuminates the stealth with which languages insinuate themselves into each other. If you speak English, you probably know that when you say sans and en vogue you’re using import words. […]
February 2 – 6 Ann gave us a posthumous profile of Charles Hard Townes, whom you can thank for astronomers being able to peer inside the centre of the Milky Way, and for conscientious physicists advising the US Defense Department without being muzzled. Fancy a moth in maroon velvet? Grotesque ripple-lines? Giddy exclamation points and […]
This first ran 12/17/2012. The subject is timely and so is the take-home: don’t be too ready to hand over the keys. It was hardly the first time a ref had gotten it wrong. But the error at the 2010 World Cup was the last straw. Germany (the machine) was only beating England (the perpetual […]
This first ran on Nov. 18, 2011, before Sally took indefinite leave. We just know you’re missing her so here’s the next best, the redux Sally. A transatlantic phone call ended badly the other day. “You can just turn left at the next light,” I heard my friend tell the New York cab driver over […]
This was first published on December 23, 2011. But microbes seem hot these days so we hope this will add to your knowledge about their manifold hotnesses — which apparently encompass radioactivity (hot? get it?) and spiders. Maybe not spiders. Anyway, the post is now, somewhat reliably, UPDATED. Last week, the Augusta Chronicle reported that […]
March 17 – 21 This week, Ann interviewed Will Storr about his new book. The conversation turns to the dangers of congratulating yourself excessively on your own intelligence. Accidental rewilding or inadvertent resheepling? Michelle investigated. Helen dissected the persistent rumour that penguins need sweaters. But penguins made of sugary Peeps? They definitely need a knitting […]
March 10 – 14 This week, Christie told us that story she doesn’t tell. Then lots of other people flocked to the comments to tell theirs. Guest poster Daniel O’Connell asked if there’s gold in them thar evolutionary hills. Cameron wondered if deep-sea species will be soon be forced to have their own reality show. […]
March 3 – 7 This week, Ann’s love letter to the capital weather gang made me want to understand far more about the weather. You can either be totally secure, or you can be plugged into a network. Pick one, says Abstruse Goose. Helen says art about the Artic ice melt is beautiful and awful, […]
