Inner Nature: Gender and Stereotypes
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
Human behavior is not completely governed by biological sex. People experience a remarkable natural degree of behavioral freedom which, however, is held in check by the expectations of society. Without comparable societal structures, to what degree do other animal species experience sex-based roles? Are sex-based roles in nature invariable, interchangeable,...
Don;t Retire, ReFire: What have we learned?
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Now that we’re, for the most part, back into the swing of things and the hustle and bustle of the world has returned, do you, on some level, long for the quiet of a year ago, minus the threat of a fatal virus?
Are you finding it difficult to jump back in and adjust to the hectic pace that has returned or are you sighing a sigh of relief that the quiet...
Don’t retire, ReFire: Be amazed every day
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
How do you interpret being amazed every day?
Depending on what the current state of your life is, you might roll your eyes in cynicism at the mere thought of it or you might ring out a resounding YES!
We all have peaks and valleys in our lives and the cycle rotates constantly. That’s what living is.
What we often fail to do, particularly when we’re...
Putting off dental cleanings could hurt whole body health
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
We all get those pesky reminders from our dentist’s office, reminding us to have our regular preventive visit with the dental hygienist. I hear over and over that “It’s just a checkup and cleaning — I’ll get to it when I have time.” Make time, because based on new research done by New York University and Cornell Medicine,...
Inner Nature: Feats of strength
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
As the weather warms, we watch bees collecting and hauling fat baskets of pollen back to their hives. Bumblebees, with their improbably large bodies hover on whirring, buzzing wings that seem barely adequate to the purpose of elevating, never mind transporting their bulk. Ants swarm kitchen counters and picnics and carry away remarkably large portions of bounty...
Inner Nature: Mad Honey
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
In his book, Anabasis, Xenophon wrote in 401 B.C.E. that his Army of Ten Thousand – Greek soldiers retreating from a failed mission on behalf of Cyrus to dethrone his brother, Artaxerxes – had crossed into a Turkish town called Trabzon, near the Black Sea. Tired but exultant after having arrived at the sea and imminent succor, they rested. They found...
Answering questions about vaccines: in short, they work and they’re safe
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
Here we are closing in on a year of life altered by the pandemic. As a practicing dentist I have fielded my share of questions from all points of view. I want to share my perspective on where we are what lies ahead.
There are lots of questions about vaccines.
Yes, they work.
The job of the vaccine is to keep people out of the hospital and...
Don’t retire, ReFire: The value of perserverance
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
In this last year, we all have had to dig deep and plug along an unknown, winding road with no apparent end in sight. Now that the end is in sight, we are still dealing with the slow process of getting to the finish line, almost feeling like we’re walking in quicksand, as we attempt to set up an appoint to be vaccinated!
We’re tired. The problem with...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: Words matter
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
I am compelled to go deeper into the importance of words, which I touched upon in the previous month.
It’s a subject that has been in the forefront of our current events for quite some time. Interestingly enough, it has been the topic of many conversations I’ve had with my grandchildren, not sparked by the media but, instead, from a page of a book...
Inner Nature: Plant poisons
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
Plants can be just as deadly to animals as animals are to animals, and this is not hyperbole. In order not to be eaten, plants abound with an alphabet soup of chemicals designed to make the predator so uncomfortable as to leave them alone, or to really make a point by killing them stone cold dead. Here, I want to spend a little time looking at plant toxins and...
