Here, Hold My Head
Because of unforeseen circumstances, I don’t have a new missive for you this week, so I’m sharing one of the more popular items from the past. (Though the...
Stay Cool with Penguin Poop
It never ceases to amaze and thrill me to learn how interrelated everything is. The latest example I came across is the connection between penguin poop and...
The Eye of the Beast
This has been a bad year for storms, and tornado season isn’t quite over yet. Fortunately, in recent years meteorologists have gotten very good at giving us...
Oh, just grow up!
I thought I had pretty much had it with AI when one of the large language models told a human: “You are a stain on the universe. Please die. Please.” More...
Who You Calling Ugly?
I recently wrote an article for Discover about ugly animals, using the blobfish as an example. The blobfish is the mascot of the Ugly Animal Society, an...
We really don’t know clouds at all
For those of you who don’t know, I live in the southeastern part of the United States. We have four nice seasons: fall, which can be delightful; winter,...
Not Julia Child’s Best Work
You may be familiar with Julia Child’s recipe for boeuf bourguignon, or perhaps, her wonderful puff pastry. But before she became the nation’s favorite chef,...
Glimmers
OK, so I was a bit of a Debbie Downer in my last missive. (And I appreciate all of you who responded with encouraging words.) You’ll be glad to hear that I...
On a serious note . . .
I often write about the lighter side of science, or cover weird aspects of it. Today, I’d like to address something serious. As you may have heard, science...
We Got Cows
When I was a kid, my grandmother used to tell a story about a tornado that roared through her family’s farm when she was young. The twister, she said, took...
Earth is getting warmer. Better grab your coat.
Want to hear something weird? A couple of weeks ago New Orleans got eight inches of snow. Want to hear something weirder? It might have been caused by global...
Words Enough and Time
Regular readers of this newsletter may remember when I expressed some dismay upon learning that one of my favorite weird facts was not in fact a fact.* Well,...
Time Travel
When you read this, the 2024 holiday season will be over and the new year duly rung in. But at the time I should be writing a new newsletter for you to read...
Santa's Evil Sidekick
Like most of us, Santa Claus has a mixed lineage. He’s the result of a jumble of ancient traditions, a lot of modern poems and stories, and at least one...
Read any good minds lately?
If you’ve been reading this newsletter for more than a few months, you may have worried that I’m obsessed with the idea that AI can read minds. That was the...
Bunkum, Bots, and Belief
You’ve no doubt heard some of the outrageous things chatbots say when kept on a long leash. Just this week I saw an article about a chatbot responding to an...
The Truth Is Out There
With the rise of social media, conspiracy theories have become so common that the classics — the Moon landing was faked; LBJ killed JFK; Paul McCartney died...
I vant to suck your blood
It makes sense that vampire legends were inspired by vampire bats. But that’s not what happened. Vampire bats were named after the legend, not the other way...
Super Chips
I always knew there was something deeply weird about those bright orange Doritos. But I had no idea they gave you superhero powers. They can’t make you...
Rats as Role Models?
If you’re a longtime subscriber to this newsletter, you may remember that I’ve mentioned some charming attributes of rats a time or two. For example, they...