The title jumped off the new-book shelf at the college library — a volume called Why We Sleep.
Articles from February 2020
Photo by Ivan Oboleninov from Pexels
Photo by Derek Oyen on Unsplash
Welcome propaganda
Some weeks ago I swam with a wild dolphin. Well, not quite wild. This particular dolphin has taken up residence in the cold waters of Dingle Harbor in southwest Ireland and seems pleased to swim with whatever person comes his way. A lot of people have availed themselves of the opportunity, so many that the Dingle dolphin has become an important tourist attraction.
A fruit fly • Photo by Hannah Davis (CC BY-SA 4.0)
All hail the fruit fly
Like a Newton, a Darwin, or an Einstein, Drosophila, the fruit fly, begins life as a single cell. Within that cell are the genes that will lead, in the fullness of time, to a human of genius, or to an insect with…ah, shall we say, another sort of scientific fame.
Valles Marineris on Mars • Image by Kevin Gill (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Voyage to Mars
Next month [Sep. 1988] the planet Mars will be closer to Earth than at any time since 1971. For telescopic observers in mid-northern latitudes, the viewing will be best since 1955.
Period table of elements, Houston Museum • Photo by Shadow Byrd (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Nature’s music
Somewhere on the wall of every high school or college chemistry laboratory hangs a periodic table of the elements. Every student of chemistry has an image of the table graven on his brain.
Artist's impression of space travel via wormhole • Les Bossinas (Public Domain)
Space travel is bilge
Ah, yes. Galactic travel. A zip through hyperspace. The meat and potatoes of science fiction. We have traveled so often to Antares and beyond, in books, films, and television, that it seems only a matter of time before humans must actually embark upon such a voyage.
Fossilized crinoid in chalk • Photo by James St. John (CC BY 2.0)
Chalk talk
In the summer of 1868, the British Association for the Advancement of Science held its annual meeting in the town of Norwich, 90 miles northeast of London. At that meeting, Thomas Henry Huxley, one of the greatest natural historians of his day and a champion of Darwin’s new theory of evolution, delivered a talk entitled “On a Piece of Chalk.” His audience was the ordinary workingmen of the town.
Strawberry begonia, neither a strawberry nor a begonia • Photo by Alpsdake (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Poetry it’s not
In his Field Guide to the Birds, Roger Tory Peterson gives this characterization of the purple finch: “Male: About the size of a House Sparrow, rosy-red, brightest on head and rump.” Then he adds a traditional description — “a sparrow dipped in raspberry juice.”
Greater sage grouse lekking • Jeannie Stafford/USFS (Public Domain)
Singles bars in the bird world
Here’s one for the habitués of the singles bars. Looking for the perfect mate? Or just a one-night stand? What defines a good pick-up bar? A choice location? A standout crowd? Who’s pulling the strings — I mean really pulling the strings — that control the pickup dynamic?
Denizens of an EcoSphere • Photo by David Goehring (CC BY 2.0)
A world under glass
I have on my desk a clear glass sphere about three inches in diameter, on a plastic stand. The sphere is two-thirds filled with water. The remaining volume contains air. A snip of green algae, sea grass, floats in the water, and four tiny pink shrimp swim lazily about. The sphere is completely sealed. With the exception of heat and light, there are no transactions with the outside environment.