LATEST BLOG POSTS

I posted a few months ago my before and after two months on my singing practice. People I talk to have heard me talk about how much I’m growing to love singing, not that after only singing a few months daily I’ve caught up to a skill level a lot people probably got as children. I just barely sang before. Any art allows us to express ourselves in new ways,[…] Keep reading →

When you talk about population as often as I do, the topic of vasectomies and other forms of contraception arises. People think vasectomies are about not having children. They’re not. A discovery I made about a different surgery will clarify. Almost two decades ago I got lasik surgery for my eyes. One day I needed glasses, the next I didn’t. I thought lasik gave me 20/20 vision, but that’s not[…] Keep reading →

I had heard of plogging before John Lee Dumas, but hearing his transformation on my podcast to enjoy picking up garbage inspired me. Before trying, I wondered if I could make it one block, given New York’s litter. Looking back I can see that temptation to analyze and plan to make me feel like I’m acting without doing anything. As with avoiding packaging, the solution was to act. Actually running[…] Keep reading →

Which came first, the 1956 Montgomery Bus Boycott or the 1964 Civil Rights Act? No trick question. The boycott was closer to grass roots people-led project and it preceded the Civil Rights Act, as big a step as governments make. We may not have reached the Civil Rights Act had they not boycotted. Government action results from people acting first, which we can do. Corporations react to people too. We[…] Keep reading →

Though I haven’t actively practiced physics since defending my thesis in 1999, it felt great to talk science with the author of a book named one of the best non-fiction books of all time. The conversation stayed where nonscientists could understand, but we spoke, I think, how physicists do, though I’m out of practice. We talked about values, the difference between theory and experiment, the beauty of experiment, running experiments[…] Keep reading →

I’m no epidemiologist, but some trends seem pretty obvious. While we haven’t suffered pandemics every hundred years as some have said, several have hit us and the last big one was about a hundred years ago. Then again, we’ve seen others more recently, like SARS and MERS. The causes of pandemics have been increasing. Not just happening, but we humans have increased them. I’m not saying we deliberately chose to[…] Keep reading →

Nearly five years ago I set a rowing personal best for 5,016 meters in 20 minutes. Twice after, I rowed over 5,000 meters in 20 minutes. I posted then: I can’t tell you how good the accomplishment feels. I didn’t plan on doing it today. I started rowing faster and harder than usual, felt good, and kept the pace. Not long ago, I struggled to keep up 900 calories per[…] Keep reading →