By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Plants are not as dumb as they look. At least to me, plants have never seemed like the brightest bulb in the box. They stand around, looking green, hoping for a sunny day but not able to walk, talk or […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – A good friend of mine checks each morning on the Web for the final “Jeopardy” game show question. It’s the last question on the taped TV program to be broadcast later that day. I don’t go to movies or follow […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – It certainly sounded like a fad to me. A while ago I caught a program on public television about a medical doctor in Great Britain. Dr. Michael Mosley, like millions in both that country and in the U.S., found that […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – My day starts with coffee. I’m too cheap to buy it by the cup from baristas, so I just brew my own Folgers by the pot. I have a cup or two as I settle into work each morning and […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Most of us don’t spend a lot of time cooking from scratch. What’s known as processed foods – everything from snacks to boxed dinners – makes up a great deal of what most Americans eat. Indeed, the majority of what […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – This is the time of year to get outdoors and observe Mother Nature in all her glory. With a simple field guide to trees or birds and a Sunday afternoon trip to a local park, you can play amateur scientist […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – Think about the most complicated machine you’ve dealt with in the past year. Was it a beeping monitor tethered to a high-tech device in an emergency room? Or was it a superfast computer you used at work?
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – My elderly aunt recently came into some money. She decided – very generously – to send part of it to each of her nieces and nephews. This gave me the task of choosing how I wanted to spend an unexpected […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – When you fill your tank, you likely see a little sticker on the pump saying part of the fuel is ethanol. Ethanol is a biofuel, which means it comes from plants like corn rather than from fossil fuel – ancient […]
By E. Kirsten Peters, College of Agricultural, Human & Natural Resource Sciences PULLMAN, Wash. – I once experienced a small earthquake when I was visiting the San Francisco Bay Area in California. The natives thought little of the temblor but I was impressed that the ground beneath my feet could suddenly and without warning start […]