Lights! Pheromones! Action! (Behind the Scenes with Fireflies)

Some days I just have to ask – do humans live in an insect world, or do insects live in a human world?  This may seem like a dumb question to anyone not familiar with my world, where both insects and humans leave a lot of room for improvement, but at least I don’t go

Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?

As best I can tell, life evolved to be an endless series of choices.  This would be fine if it hadn’t also evolved parents to endlessly criticize those choices.  Announce that you’re choosing to become a writer if you don’t believe me.  But I really don’t think things would get any better if we could

How Many Trees Can’t We See?

A long time ago, probably before anybody really thought about what they were doing, our ancestors lived in the trees.  Trees gave them everything they needed then.  But everything isn’t always enough, especially when your only dreams are of falling.  So eventually they came down, their dreams evolved to include world domination, and they went

It’s a Small Brain After All

I’m sure most readers would agree with me that brains are important, and not just because they allow us to think that we’re smarter than we are.  Brains take up nearly half the volume of our heads, so without them our heads would be only half the size they are now and we would look

I’m Only Half the Man I Thought I Was

OK, so I woke up this morning and it sure seemed like a typical day.  I mean, I felt like myself, as near as I could tell.  Not that I ever felt that I really KNEW myself, if you know what I mean, but I was pretty sure I could still recognize myself in the

Greatest Hits of the Enlightenment

The best thing you can really say about the Age of Enlightenment is that it was nice while it lasted.  Sure, it was better than the Dark Ages, but what wasn’t?  In any case I have to wonder where it all got us in the end.  To my thinking, without the Age of Enlightenment, we

Beavers vs the Army Corps of Engineers

It probably comes as no surprise to anyone that North America was once ruled by giant beavers.  It should also come as no surprise then, given the state of things today, that there are many people who wish for their return.  These peaceful, bear-sized rodents reigned for quite a long time, from 1.4 million years

In Vegetables We Trust. Or Do We?

There has been some disturbing news of late coming out of the Vegetable Kingdom that all is not well, that, in fact, there may be a traitor in its midst.  This may not strike the average meat eater as surprising, much less worrisome, but for those upstanding vegetables and such others as feel a close

Some People Know How to Spoil Everything

Have you ever noticed how every now and then adventurous humans seem to discover an exciting new hot spot, and before you can even think about taking a selfie there, everyone’s  already on the way?  Isn’t that just like us humans – never satisfied where we are.  Always wanting to get to the new “in”

When Scientists Fight

            “Nasty, Brutish, and Short” was not the name of a 17th century law firm, and neither was it a completely apt depiction of the six foot Thomas Hobbes (1588 – 1679), who coined the phrase to describe life in mankind’s natural state.  What he thought about lawyers, accountants, and others who tend towards some