Category: Uncategorized

The FB post a few days ago about the Siberian worms (nematodes) that revived after 30k years in permafrost made me remember, back in my teaching days, of seeing similar-looking horsehair worms (or having students bring them in for extra credit). They were rather common around farms and wet margins of yards. Often they’d be found in a tight ball resembling the mythical Gordion Knot, giving them one of their common names. You can see how they move in this video:  They are not …

Common But Commonly Overlooked: Horsehair Worms Read more »

And so this is where the actuarial rubber meets the road. Baby boomers appeared of a sudden, historically. We swelled the ranks of the middle class. We demanded and got affordable housing just out of town, and cheap gas to get us back and forth to the places we spent our money. Now we’ve grown up, grown old and grown to need a lot of new things that society is just now wondering how to offer to both the well-off and the not-so-well-off elders …

Aging in Place Read more »

…and smells. Petrichor (/ˈpÉ›trɪkɔːr/) is the earthy scent produced when rain falls on dry soil. The word is constructed from Greek πέτρα petra, meaning “stone”, and ἰχώρ Ä«chōr, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. You are welcome.