One of the most striking transformations in our perception of dinosaurs in the past couple of decades is the revelation that many of them had feathers of one sort or another.  As I discussed in my last post, birds are living dinosaurs.  However, feathers are incredibly complex structures.  They couldn’t have just popped up out […]

Hello again!  To get started with this special feature, I’m going to explain just what it is that makes a dinosaur a dinosaur.  There is a lot of confusion among the general public about what constitutes a dinosaur.  Before I get into the details, a couple of rules of thumb are these: 1) dinosaurs walk […]

Hello, everyone!  My name is Adam Laing, and I am a student of paleontology. I got my BA and MS in paleontology at the University of Pennsylvania and am now pursuing my PhD at Stony Brook University.  I’ve been obsessed with all things prehistoric ever since I can remember.  I basically grew up in the American Museum […]

Two disgraced politicians from different sides of the political aisle are currently getting media attention for their comeback bids. Anthony Weiner, my one-time congressman, will decide within a few days whether he will run for mayor of New York City this year. Former Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, a man Erick Erickson of Red State […]

Peter Hampsen of the New Hampshire House of Representatives used vaginas as shorthand for women in an email to colleagues. This news item has been picked up by Think Progress, The Political Wire, Mediaite, and New York magazine, which currently lists “N.H. Defends Vaginas’ Right to Bear Arms” as a top story. He hasn’t been the only […]

Earlier, I considered how Hillary Clinton would fare in a presidential primary. Of course, whoever wins the Democratic primary will have to face a Republican nominee. The Republican National Committee is currently meeting in Hollywood to discuss their strategy in the aftermath of President Barack Obama‘s reelection in 2012. But we don’t even know how meaningful Obama’s victory […]

Hillary Clinton‘s return to the public sphere has led to speculation about the prospects of another presidential bid. The death of Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first female Prime Minister, raises the question of when the United States will finally have a female President. The former First Lady, New York Senator and Secretary of State remains the […]

Senator Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is demanding an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office to determine if its headquarters was covertly bugged. At the center of the brouhaha is none other than actress Ashley Judd who was once considering a run for McConnell’s seat in Kentucky but who’s since decided against running. A recording […]

The NHL is returning to the ice after a work stoppage that wiped-out half the current season before it ever got started. The big question I have is, will fans return or will there be large number of discontented souls who’ve lost interest as a result? For me, the stoppage was a real punch to […]

The following story involves a rather fascinating (to me) repair job that I’m quite impressed that I could do and that’s both easy and inexpensive. I’m still driving a an older Chrysler Town & Country van that I’m hoping to keep going for a bit until my son moves out and we move into new […]

Every Christmas night I head over to my Father’s house and spend the evening with various members of my family. We generally hunker down around the dining room table and converse deeply about all manner of topics—and usually quite loudly (we’re a noisy bunch by default). It should come as no surprise that we often […]

Last night I had an interesting conundrum. At 1am my 17 year-old son called with the the worst sort of opening you want to hear from your child: “Dad, there’s a problem. You need to come get me from the police.” So what was the situation? My son—who’s been driving a year—was out with two […]