Posts by Trisha Leigh Zeigenhorn

You might have heard of these things called “Little Free Libraries” that are popping up in towns all over the world. You just need a box sturdy enough to protect books from the elements, a sign, a collection cup for donations, and of course, some books. People are free to check them out, return them,...

Once you’ve had a dog and gotten used to all of the ways they bring joy and meaning to your daily life, living without one can be hard. Like REALY hard. But if you find yourself living somewhere pets are not allowed, what can you really do? Been saying we’d love a dog about the...

I think I’ve been pretty clear and consistent in all of my writings that birds totally freak me out. They’re a little too smart, their beaks a tad too sharp…they’re just too much like dinosaurs for my liking. That said, I have no trouble admitting that they’re interesting, and fun facts are business, so…here are...

Sorry, Brits. It’s time to ditch those pretty, whistling teapots (and having to wait 10 minutes for hot water) because science says the best way to brew a cuppa is in the microwave. There is a method to measure a good cup of tea, apparently, and it is by how much of the catechins and...

The men who served the United States in WWII are a dying breed – in fact, most of them have already passed on from this plane of existence to the next (where hopefully they will not be asked to save the world by enacting great mental and physical trauma on themselves). They’re not all gone,...

When we know better, we do better. And to know better, we have to listen when marginalized communities tell us that something is offensive, hurtful, dismissive, or all of the above. So read through this list of 14 phrases that can be taken as ableist, then do your best to remove them from your vocabulary...

Unfortunately, stories from all over the country have made clear that doing pretty much anything while also being black can be enough for racists to call a person out – or call the police. It’s a horrible comment on the state of affairs in the U.S., and a disappointing, frustrating, and humiliating way to expect...

Leaders everywhere, from cities to workplaces to schools and other educational institutions, are looking for better ways to punish bullies. There are initiatives from the White House all the way down to small communities, but on a big scale, nothing really seems to be moving the needle. So Shawano, Wisconsin, is trying something new –...

Riddles are a great way to keep your mind fresh, make sure you’ve still got it, or just semi-productively pass the time. Whatever your reason for wanting to solve a few, we think these 5 tricky ones are going to be just what the brain doctor ordered! 5. Don’t soil the produce! 4. Short on...

Progress seems to come in fits and starts. We take two steps forward, one back, some more back, a few forward, eventually pushing new boundaries and into new territories. One point to progress: a woman has finally managed to win a full, four-year scholarship to college based on her football skills. American football, to be...

Reddit is a great place to go when you want to muse on the “what ifs” of life – even when they’re silly or throwaway musings like this one. Basically, someone asked: if you removed a single letter from a film title, how would that change the plot? If you’re in the mood for random,...

You could make any number of arguments against eating other human beings – moral, societal, sanitary – but you really only need one: Eating human flesh is really, really bad for our brains. It’s been difficult to study the effects of cannibalism, since the stigma against eating other people is and always has been strong...

Intellectually, we know how closely related we are to the great apes, at least genetically. It’s another thing for the evidence to be clearly presented to us by nature, though. A gorilla named Anaka has strange pigmentation on one hand that is a truly eye-opening genetic glitch. Anaka is 6 years old and lives at...

We all know the story of the friendly ghost who just wants to make friends – and if you’re anywhere close to my age, you have a strangely romantic relationship with Casper, since we all immediately fell in love with Devon Sawa when this happened: https://www.instagram.com/p/BMEr8kVjLdX/ But where did the story come from in the...

I, for one, am not someone who will be easily – or ever – convinced that wasps are in any way lovable. That said, they can built some pretty-looking nests if you give them some colorful tools! https://www.instagram.com/p/B63sJ8CAGD0/ University of Florence biology major Mattia Menchetti came up with the idea: he would slowly fed a...