In this space a year ago on Saint Patrick’s Day I wrote a little natural history of the shamrock. In that piece I said there was no evidence to suggest that Saint Patrick ever used the semi-mythical three-petaled plant to illustrate a lesson on the Trinity.
Barred grass snake • Benny Trapp (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Artist's impression of the Milky Way • NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESO/R. Hurt (Public Domain)
Pacing-off the cosmos
An old proverb says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. It is literally true that a single step was the beginning of our journey into the universe of the galaxies.
Photo by Anastasia Yılmaz
Snow and poker
Who could have predicted this almost snowless winter? Here it is March and I still haven’t taken my snow shovel out of the basement. I checked the “Old Farmers Almanac.” I checked the newspapers. As far as I can discover, no forecaster anticipated the remarkable deficit of snow in my part of the New England.
The aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake in San Francisco (Public Domain)
Predicting quakes
The recent earthquake near Cleveland, Ohio, and New York City are reminders that no part of the Earth’s surface is free from the danger of quakes.
The Hubble Space Telescope • NASA (Public Domain)
Unexpected delights
For some of us, the most exciting aspect of the space shuttle program was to be the launching of the Hubble Space Telescope later this year. The tragedy at Cape Canaveral will undoubtedly delay that project by many months.
Size comparison of the Earth and moon (Public Domain)
The moon’s too big to suit some of us
A full moon is fine for lovers and poets. But for astronomers, professional and amateur, the moon can be a bit of a nuisance.
Photo by Bruce Christianson on Unsplash
Curious stuff, this water and ice
It has been a fine winter for skating. Cold, snowless days have given us lots of smooth black ice. I have spent many pleasant hours skating the ponds near my home in Easton.
Prague astronomical clock • Martin Vorel (Public Domain)
An appetite for baloney
I am a Virgo. My reference book on astrology says that Virgos are practical, hard-working, analytical, meticulous, tidy, and modest. That’s me, all right, except maybe for the “modest.”
Escherichia coli • NIAID (CC BY 2.0)
Sharing my space with E. coli friends
I sing the praises of Escherichia coli, bean-shaped bacterium, inhabitant of the human intestine, best understood (as I shall soon reveal) of all God’s creatures.
Red and white blood cells • National Cancer Institute (Public Domain)
The human body’s ‘cell wars’ defense
Two stories have dominated the medical news lately: a promising new development in the war on cancer, and the increasing prevalence of the disease AIDS. The stories are closely related, and both focus our attention on the strategic defenses of the human body.