Of all the basic elements of our planet －earth, water, air and fire－the least substantial is the air that invisibly surrounds us. Of course we can see and feel the effects of air, such as the wind blowing leaves on a tree, or an ocean breeze cool...
Dear Annie: I've been married to Clem for two years. I have a full-time job and a part-time job, plus I do all the household chores. Many nights I only get four or five hours of sleep. Clem works part time and is home a lot. He expects me to pay the...
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is proposing to list six species of penguin as threatened and one, the African penguin, as an endangered species. It has denied protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act for three others, including the empero...
Yael: It's time once again for the mailbag. Let's see what we have today. Dear A Moment of Science: I went to sleep one time and slept for twenty years. What in the world happened to me? Signed Rip. Don: Well, Rip, you came to the right place. What h...
Don and Yael give a movie review of sorts on this Moment of Science D: Welcome to another episode of A Moment of Science at the Movies. Y: Today we're reviewing Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park. D: As I'm sure you recall, Jurassic Pa...
Yael: What's the matter, Don? You look worried. Don: Well, Yael, you know how people are always predicting that one day women will be able to have babies without men? It turns out that some species of the Whiptail lizard have figured out how to do th...
At the end of the day, Bolt is a sweet Disney family film, but its characters have pleasantly wacky attitudes. It has an intriguing plot that is kind of an animated version of The Truman Show. Similar to Jim Carrey's Truman, Bolt (John Travolta) is l...
Harvard University professor John Palfrey recently spoke in Taipei on the subject of youth and contemporary media, the digital age, and parenting. I read the news on his lecture with care. (Palfrey) said it is down to parents and schools to determine...
The flood of e-mail spam, or junk e-mails, that bombards Internet users daily has become a nagging problem, according to a survey released by the Taiwan Internet Association. The survey found that Internet users receive an average of 29 junk e-mails...
With its origins in baseball (and possibly cricket as well), this idiom describes that moment when the ball is struck by the bat and immediately begins flying through the air. It happens quickly, and there is no hesitation or delay. In the same way,...
Yal: We often hear about how human activity and expansion can endanger wildlife habitats. But can you think of any animals that might be threatened by the disappearance of humans? Don: It must be something that depends on humans for food or shelter....
Scientists say they have reconstructed around half of the genome of the woolly mammoth, a species that became extinct at the end of the last Ice Age some 11,000 years ago. The sequence comes from DNA in hair snipped from two woolly mammoths whose bod...
Dear Annie: Today I mourn the loss of a dear friend. She was vibrant, energetic and full of life, but on a crisp autumn afternoon, she committed suicide. I do not know what transpired in the final hours of her life, but I do know she had been under a...
Mike: Wow! These stores are packed! I thought you didn't like waiting to do things at the last minute. Amanda: I don't usually, but I still have to find something for my grandfather. My family's all going to my grandparents' house the day after Chris...
This idiom has two different origins, resulting in two slightly different meanings. The first is that, before the invention of microphones and loudspeakers, people at noisy sporting events needed a signal that was easy to see at a distance in order t...
