Posted Archive

Why Tunis could be the new Rome

Tunis is bursting with the creative energy of a generation taking full advantage of its newfound freedom of expression and fervor for preserving its heritage in unexpected ways. – By Erin Clare Brown – The wait for admission to the Colosseum was approximately …

 

Why we knock on wood

Knocking on wood may be a holdover from the pagan days of Europe, when tree spirits were believed to bring luck.  Saiful bahri 46/Shutterstock.com. – By Rosemary V. Hathaway, Associate Professor of English, West Virginia University – Ever said something like, “I’ve never …

An atomic marker hidden in plain sight

Most visitors will walk past 109 East Palace Avenue in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and have no idea that they are passing the site that once served as Robert Oppenheimer’s office. By Larry Bleiberg, 29 January 2020 – In the courtyard of a …

The surprising history of the word ‘dude’

Many common terms in English have unexpected roots. Kelly Grovier explores the origins of seven words coined in art history, including the political meanings of ‘silhouette’ and ‘picturesque’, and how ‘mobile’ became ‘mob’. By Kelly Grovier – Which came first, the chicken or …

Why your zodiac sign is probably wrong

As the Earth orbits the Sun, the Sun appears to move through the ancient constellations of the zodiac. Tauʻolunga/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA.  By James Kaler, Professor Emeritus of Astronomy, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign – I was born a Capricorn (please don’t judge …