Alex DeCasien, a doctoral student in biological anthropology at New York University, recently published the results of a research study in Nature Ecology & Evolution, which found that the only factor that seemed to predict which species of primates had larger brains was whether their diets were primarily leaves or fruit, Apparently the nutrients from leaves … Continue reading Scientific Proof That Green Smoothies Are the Ultimate Brain Food? →

For the past 10 years, someone has been going around Bristol, England in the middle of the night, and fixing signs that contain poor punctuation. His journey began when he scratched out an extraneous apostrophe on a sign. His methods now are a bit more sophisticated. He has built an “apostrophiser” – a long-handled device … Continue reading The Grammar Vigilante →

Georgia’s legislature passed a bill last Friday that would allow individuals over the age of 21 with a concealed weapons permit to carry a gun on public college and university campuses. The bill has been sent to Gov. Nathan Deal, who vetoed a similar law last year. I'm hoping he does so again. When I read … Continue reading Concealed Handguns on College Campuses? Just Say No →

You know that phrase, if you want something done, give it to a busy person? Well President Trump seems intent on testing the accuracy of such a saying. There was a segment on the news tonight about Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law and one of his senior advisers. I have to admit that I don't … Continue reading Talk about Multitasking! →

April Fools' Day - it's one of my favorite days of the year, and I try to celebrate it by pulling off a prank that may trick a few people. Last year I tried to convince my students that Anna Kendrick and Ben Affleck were coming to Villanova to film a scene for the movie, … Continue reading April Fools’ Day, 2017 →

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting story today, Grasping Giant Numbers Is Far From Second Nature, by Jo Craven McGinty. The thrust of the article is that we have trouble fully grasping big numbers, and our lack of comprehension compromises our ability to judge information about things like government budgets, scientific findings, the economy, and other … Continue reading While Some Numbers May Seem Insignificant, Their Impact Could Be Life Changing →

The above was a headline to a story in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week. I can't wait for the day when two words would no longer appear in such a headline - "death-row". In a 2002 case, Atkins v. Virginia, the Supreme Court held that executing intellectually disabled convicts violated the Eighth Amendment … Continue reading Supreme Court Sides With Texas Death-Row Inmate Who Claims Intellectual Disability →

Fred Wilson, of avc.com fame, published a blog today where he gave a shout out to Scratch, a visual programming language that makes building software as easy as building a Lego project. Scratch is a project of the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, … Continue reading Scratch and Play, the MIT Way →

If someone came along that had these qualities, and no college degree, it seems to me that such a person would still be fully capable of handling the demands of many jobs. However, such individuals are often not given the opportunity to pursue such jobs becuase many employers require applicants to have a college degree. … Continue reading Wanted: Hardworking, Personable, Honest, and Curious Person; No College Required →