February 2020
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Dear T, O, E, L, L, C, and A: A friend told us that when she entered Pomona College in 1961, it was the custom that all the newly arriving women ("co-eds" they were called in those dark days) were "measured" by the sophomore men. She said that the women were lined up and their…
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Even though the universe is only 13.8 billion years old, more or less, the era of star formation is nearly complete. Because our universe expands so rapidly, the effects of gravity continue to lessen and therefore matter will soon cease to clump. Existing stars and galaxies will become more and more isolated. In a hundred…
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I have the hardest time remembering the number of stars in our home galaxy, the Milky Way. Is it 300 million or 300 billion? Either number is so far out of my ken, so far beyond my ability to grasp, that it won't stick in my head. Moreover, it doesn't seem to make much…
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Dr. M.: "I grew a mustache but shaved it off. It made me look like my own elderly uncle." Old Friend: "I keep my mustache because when I shave it off I look like my grandmother."
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I must be watching too many 1940-50s film noirs. They're infiltrating my dreams. Last night, in my very own bedroom, I hosted a noir festival. Fragments of a more intricate dream are all I can remember now, but the bits my memory retained were mighty vivid. The dream featured an attractive young couple. He's handsome…
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For all its fabled color, life in 40s and 50s Flatbush was extraordinarily provincial. In terms of sophistication, it might just has well been central Nebraska or U. P. Michigan. First generation working-class Brooklynites were simply too busy making ends meet to acknowledge that there was a great world outside. Although "The City" — i.e.…