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 protect...
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 of...
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 review...
Breaking those bad dental health habits
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
Bad Habits? You betcha – we all have then,nobody’s perfect. We all pick up bad habits along the way. Our personal oral health is no exception. Odds are you, like just about everyone else has picked up a habit or two that is not beneficial. It’s human nature to cut corners in the name of time or money, but with oral health care, the...
Don’t Retire, ReFire: ReFirement at Any Age!
By Gail Supplee Tatum, Columnist, The Times
Four and a half years ago, when I started writing articles, my focus was on offering different perspectives to facing retirement and the questions that arise.
As the months and years passed, and the articles continued, it became clear that what I was sharing had a more universal message that spanned the ages.
While a sixteen year old isn’t thinking about...
Don’t let a cold sore ruin your smile
By Dr. Stephanie McGann, DMD FAGD, Columnist, The Times
Nothing like holiday pandemic stress to trigger a cold sore. People who get these regularly know the feeling when one is brewing just under the skin. It never fails that a cold sore appears at the worst possible time. Finding which cold sore treatment works best for you can help speed along its healing. Here’s how to treat It quickly.
The...
Inner Nature: Parasitic control of host behavior
By Vidya Rajan, Columnist, The Times
We act, we think, rationally. But our thoughts are subject to manipulation: by new ideas, new experiences, psychoactive drugs, and … parasites.
Parasites are organisms that take up residence in a host, and then proceed to use the host’s energy to replicate themselves and spread. If the host is killed as part of the process, then the parasite must find some way...
