The winter solstice comes tonight and I, for one, am cheering. It may not be a holiday exactly, but winter holidays cluster around it for a very good reason: the beginning of the end of the dark days. Who wouldn’t … Continue reading →
There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy—such as, for example a whole new supra-kingdom of living creatures. And it consists of some organisms that were discovered over a hundred years ago but … Continue reading →
When I first read the headline of this article—“‘Millennia of human activity’: heatwave reveals lost UK archaeological sites”—I imagined something like a fantasy movie in which some hulking ancient ruin comes heaving out of the ground, astounding the watching crowd. … Continue reading →
Two animals were actually killed and people were injured in a hailstorm yesterday at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs: Five injured people were taken to a hospital and nine more were treated on the scene and released, said … Continue reading →
Yes, Frog the rooster:
Continue reading →If this were a fable, I’m sure there’d be a moral to the story. But I’m not sure what it would be, except that if you’re a fox, don’t mess with an eagle. But you have to admire this fox … Continue reading →
Retrievers retrieve: But how on earth does a deer get into the ocean? I’ve also seen retrievers nearly drown a person in their exuberant drive to retrieve that person.
Continue reading →The top 10 mosquito cities tend to be in the South, with Atlanta the perennial number one and various Texas cities not far behind. But I figured that New York City had to be among them, from the evidence of … Continue reading →
All hail the tree peony, as I did a few days ago in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. It’s that time of year, and the Brooklyn garden has a huge display of these gorgeous plants, which feature enormous blossoms that look … Continue reading →
No, that’s not a metaphor. This is about the actual rats that live in New York City—in particular, uptown vs. downtown. Surprisingly—well, to me, anyway—they are quite genetically similar and strongly resemble their European counterparts of the eighteenth century, having … Continue reading →
And I just hope the power doesn’t go out. We’ve had quite a few blizzards lately. And yes, this one isn’t technically a blizzard because the winds haven’t reached 35 mph. Mostly they’re calling it “blizzard-like,” although some headlines do … Continue reading →
As you can see. I especially like the short sequence that begins around 5:35: Why do parrots parrot? See this. It turns out that not only do they have a well-developed vocal apparatus as vocal learners, but they also want … Continue reading →