The Colonists

They were the first to attempt to colonize Mars. They had landed with grass seeds to plant and horse, sheep and cattle embryos. But the grass wouldn’t grow and none of the calves would survive. The horses and sheep were doing well, but there were not enough to meet their needs. So they sent a … Read more

Sublimation

Some time ago, I was taking a ground school class for private pilots. During the sessions on weather, the instructor wanted to discuss the concept of sublimation–the act of going from a gas to a solid skipping the intermediate stage(s). e.g., frost — water vapor in the air becoming a solid on surfaces without first … Read more

Just Extra Baggage

There once was a rich man who was dying. While on his death bed, he tried to negotiate with God to have God allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him to heaven. ‘God, please, I have worked so hard to accumulate all these riches. Can’t I bring them along?” “This is very unusual,” … Read more

The Parrot

There was this quiet, conservative man who happened to own a parrot. Unfortunately for the man, this parrot swore like a sailor. He would swear for five minutes straight without repeating himself. This bird’s foul mouth was driving the man crazy. One day, it just got to be too much. The guy grabbed the bird … Read more

Contemporary Art

A tiny but dignified old lady was among a group looking at an art exhibition in a newly opened gallery. Suddenly one contemporary painting caught her eye. “What on earth,” she inquired of the artist standing nearby, “is that?” He smiled condescendingly. “That, my dear lady, is supposed to be a mother and her child.” … Read more

The Chem Final

This past fall semester, at Yale University, there were two sophomores who were taking organic chemistry. They did pretty well on the labs, the quizzes and the mid-terms. So well that the weekend before finals week, even though the chem final was on Monday, they decided to go up to Harvard and party with some … Read more

Thermodynamics

A thermodynamics professor had written a take home exam for his graduate students. It had one question: “Is hell exothermic or endothermic? Support your answer with a proof.” Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law or some variant. One student, however wrote the following: First, we postulate that if souls … Read more

Facts of Life

1. The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. 2. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you. 3. Money can’t buy happiness. But it sure makes misery easier to live with. 4. Deja Moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull before. 5. Psychiatrists say that 1 … Read more

The Memory Course

An elderly couple were experiencing declining memories, so they decided to take a power memory class, where they teach you to remember things by association. Later, the man was talking to a neighbor about how much the class helped him. “Who was the instructor?” asked the neighbor. “Oh, let’s see,” pondered the man. “Umm…what’s that … Read more