The Florida-based mystery writer John D. MacDonald, who like his funny counterpart Carl Hiassen unabashedly displays a wide streak of caring for the land and the sea on which he lives, tells a story about the way of buzzards in The Lonely Silver Rain. This is the 21st and last of his great series of TravisContinue reading “John D. MacDonald: Nature’s tricks of interdependence”
Category Archives: subjects for further research
How to salve the pain of long-term unemployed: Retire
Could early retirement be even better for the long-term unemployed than marriage? A new study by a team of German economists tests a theory that suggests so. The thery posits that we all have a "identity utility," and thus the unhappiness we feel due to unemployment — which in countries like Germany and even theContinue reading “How to salve the pain of long-term unemployed: Retire”
Country music helps mourner find father’s ghost
If there's one thing you learn working with story ideas in the movie industry, as I did for many years, is that people, ordinary people, desperately want to hear from the realm beyond life. ("The undiscovered country," as Hamlet memorably put it, "from whose bourn no traveler returns.") Here's a spooky, memorable example from PostSecret: Continue reading “Country music helps mourner find father’s ghost”
Condors vs. wind turbines: Wildlife vs. green energy
Here's my story on this fascinating topic from the Star on Sunday, which my editor liked and nicely smoothed out for the centerpiece of the front page. Always interesting, watching a good editor at work. Great pics, too, from personal fave Juan Carlo.
Wind turbines threaten condors — or is it vice versa?
Amazing story in Forbes from January, about how a burgeoning wind turbine industry in the Tehachapis may be shut down by the possibility that a wind turbine could kill an endangered California Condor. At this point it’s unknown whether the federally protected bird, which can fly some 200 miles in a day, will avoid hugeContinue reading “Wind turbines threaten condors — or is it vice versa?”
Heard any frogs in your backyard lately?
A UC Berkeley researcher quoted in the U.S. News and World Report warns that the frogs in your backyard — if any — may be on their way out. If you happen to see a frog hopping around in your back yard, take a good look— it might not be around for much longer. Ecologists areContinue reading “Heard any frogs in your backyard lately?”
Living alone and liking it: Wave of the future?
Not everyone is afraid of being alone; in fact, reports sociologist Eric Klinenberg in a sterling essay (with charts!) in the juggernaut known as The New York Times, about 40% of households in prosperous cities such as San Francisco and Boston are inhabited by "singletons," and up to 50% in D.C. and NYC. The decision toContinue reading “Living alone and liking it: Wave of the future?”
A persistent La Niña leads to a long stretch of dryness
This year national weather and climate forecasters said they saw a La Niña condition developing in the Pacific, and promised dryness, as they did last year. This year, for virtually all of California, and much of the nation as well, they've been right. Here's the drought forecast, in a graphic from NOAA [National Oceanographic and AtmosphericContinue reading “A persistent La Niña leads to a long stretch of dryness”
To the stars, through the thorns: Gov. Jerry Brown
Jerry Roberts knows more about California than you, and me, and probably most of the people in the state put together. He's edited major newspapers, for decades; written columns, for decades; launched websites, written books, taugth at university — his rap sheet is as long as a cliche. He left teaching a year ago toContinue reading “To the stars, through the thorns: Gov. Jerry Brown”
Researchers find high levels of mercury in CA coastal fog
This is the story I found at this year's fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union — how fog off California's coastal coast may be importing mercury from the ocean on to the land. The team, led by chemist Peter Weiss-Penzias, reported finding "very high" levels of mercury, a neurotoxin, in the fog, according toContinue reading “Researchers find high levels of mercury in CA coastal fog”
Kit Stolz 