Category Archives: Uncategorized

The journal Nature recently published this letter announcing the exciting discovery of seven exoplanets 40 light-years away from Earth: only 235 trillion miles away! Does this mean it would take us 40 Earth years to reach those planets if we … Continue reading →

We totally understand why such insignificant states like Idaho or Nebraska might want to enact such insular and small-minded legislation. But California and Florida …? 

Have you ever seen any of those cheesy infomercials for Snuggies? (Check out the YouTube clip below, if you like to watch low-budget ads. Snuggies are wearable fleece coverings, i.e. blankets with sleeves.) As a matter of tax law, is … Continue reading →

Legal philosopher Ronald Dworkin once asked, “Is wealth a value?” Isn’t the answer obvious?

As the map below shows, the E.U. is not a single transnational entity but rather is composed of six separate European alliances.

We have been using Google’s gmail service since 2006, so we have always hated the hideous Microsoft Outlook (see here, for example) by comparison. Last week, my home institution switched over to “Microsoft Surface,” an even more complicated and cumbersome … Continue reading →

Monday Math Day?! Meet Robert Fathauer and Henry Segerman, authors of the Dice Lab and creators of “skew dice” (pictured below)–strange-looking dice that still generate fair odds. In their words: “When tossed, a fair die yields its various numbers or … Continue reading →

No, this is not the name of some fictional judge from the Star Wars expanded universe. Instead, it is one of the candidates on President Trump’s short list of potential nominees for the U.S. Supreme Court. In particular, our colleagues … Continue reading →

At some restaurants (like Qdoba), a side of guacamole is included in the price of your burrito, while at other places (Chipotle), the guac is extra. Not surprisingly, the cost of a burrito is about $1 more at Qdoba than … Continue reading →