Can We Date?
Experts answer what they know. The Non-Expert answers anything. A reader wants to know if it’s OK to date a distant relative. We answer by way of flowchart.
Archive
A collection of 14287 issues
12 August 2010: Afternoon
Putin co-pilots plane and dumps 24 tons of water on forest fires outside Moscow. Assessment of the current global orangutan population in light of mankind's tendency to hunt. Nature report says hominins used tools to butcher meat 3.4 million years ago. See also: Blooper reel from
Spanking the Arils From a Pomegranate
Aril: “an extra seed-covering, typically colored and hairy or fleshy, e.g., the red fleshy cup around a yew seed.”
12 August 2010: Morning
Early findings in a U.S. investigation show driver error, not auto defects, was behind most of Toyota's accident woes. "The battle has shifted to the states." The health care war rages on, and insurers are leading the charge. In 2006, attacks by patients or their
11 August 2010: Afternoon
Obama and Democrats see good news in Tuesday's primaries, suggesting 2010 storyline rewrite. Explanation of the jobs of Obama's advisers. She told a reporter she could end her husband's career with a single interview. Story of Newt Gingrich's political career, as told
11 August 2010: Morning
With economic recovery slowing, Fed warns of deflation--what's Japanese for "schadenfreude?" U.S. attorneys say day care workers bribed N.Y. officials, stole millions from child care fund. In Jamaica, criminals target returning retirees, waiting until their pension checks arrive from abroad. Steven Slater'
Finding Positive
When pregnancy showed up unbidden, a writer demands a second test, and a third, and a fourth. But then she saw a result many women spend years searching for.
Top 10 Books of the Year
Last week’s version of this bulletin included notice of Tony Judt’s latest opus. Sadly, this week’s news is that Judt has passed on, as some express it, to his greater glory. Here’s the New York Timesobituary. My colleague Mike Smith at this fortress of truth and
What Mad Pursuit
After his odd job draws to a close, the Golem, still on protection duty, realizes a new task lies ahead.
10 August 2010: Morning
As deal nears to guarantee BP's $20 billion payout, U.S. is reluctant to partner up with the oil giant. New York colleges begin reporting back to their students' high schools, informing them what they forgot to teach. "You have to be acceptable-looking, but being