Today I Learned

When the COVID-19 pandemic began (need to be specific here, to avoid confusion ...), I recall a lot of people emphasizing the need to...

“Give me a place to stand on, and I will move the Earth” “δῶς μοι πᾶ στῶ καὶ τὰν γᾶν κινάσω” Archimedes is described as a...

Who’d have thought that music could be political? Or that musicians might have political views? Let’s take the song Killing in the Name ...

As I have noted before , I tend to avoid politics as a primary focus of my writing. But this last Ontario election worries me quite a...

It’s been a while, but the Latin plural should be “Linuces” ( 3 rd declension noun ), but don’t worry – I won’t use that. Non-technical...

The Greek philosopher Diogenes is famous for carrying a lantern during the day, claiming he was “searching for an honest man”. Yet...

“Why can’t we all just get along?” This was the question asked by the incomparable Jack Nicholson in Mars Attacks! Nicholson’s...

“That is the question!” Or is it? The problem with many questions nowadays lies in the motivations behind the asking. By quoting out of...

M. C. Escher has always been one of my favourite artists. From the moment I first saw his work (I think it might have been Waterfall ),...

Some films age well. An example is the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still , which was fairly successful when it was originally...

#TIL that the iconic image of the album cover for the famous album The Wall was not actually the original cover. In fact, the text “Pink...

When I write, I sometimes have a topic in mind, and look for an interesting way to introduce it. This time, I ended up going down an...

“Only a Sith deals in absolutes.” A vastly amusing quote from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith , about which I will, erm,...

In Canada, it was almost exactly two years ago that the COVID-19 lockdowns started. When students went away on March break, and didn’t...

The great John Cleese describes the Dunning-Kruger Effect in a brilliantly concise way which is vastly entertaining. Brilliant!...

Over the decades, the way we listen to music has changed, and it’s interesting to wonder about the implications of those changes. Prior...

A farmer asked a physicist to help him figure out how to increase milk production. After gathering data and studying the problem, the...

Recently, I was listening to an old episode of The Skeptics Guide to the Universe , (actually, episode 803, dated 28-Nov-2020 ), in which...

It’s interesting that everyone needs to come up with their own “process” for writing. And, while there are certain common elements, each...

Mr. Peabody ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mister_Peabody ) is a figure whose influence is truly incalculable. For any not familiar...