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Posts Tagged ‘WritingResearch’

Poison Garden

Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , on July 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

A random guide that may or may not be related to the last scene I wrote: A Naturalist’s Guide to the World’s Most Lethal Plants

Not every threat in nature has fangs. Some sit quietly, rooted in soil, dressed in flowers, laced with poison.

And since we’re on the topic, what about the (mostly but not entirely historical) trend of poison gardens, and how are they related to the history of medicine?

Welcome To The Poison Garden: Medicine’s Medieval Roots

Visitors to the Poison Garden are allowed to look but not touch, says head gardener Trevor Jones. “They’re not allowed to stand too close to the plants. They’re not allowed to smell them or touch them or taste any of them, because they do all have the ability to kill you.”

In this as in so many other cases, knowledge is power!

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Photo by Bobby on Unsplash

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What Is It Like?

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to be someone else, either because you need background for a character or because some days, daydreaming about a different life is all that’s standing between you and a very impolitic email to your boss, this podcast may interest you!

What It’s Like To Be…

Curious what it would be like to walk in someone else’s (work) shoes? Join New York Times bestselling author Dan Heath as he explores the world of work, one profession at a time, and interviews people who love what they do. What does a couples therapist think when a friend asks for relationship advice? What happens if a welder fails to wear safety glasses? What can get a stadium beer vendor fired? If you’ve ever met someone whose work you were curious about, and you had 100 nosy questions but were too polite to ask … well, this is the show for you. 

Today’s episode? What it’s like to be A Professional Santa Claus.

You know you want to know!

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Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash

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Which is Witch

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , on February 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

I’m working on a project and recently found myself at the CIA’s website (as one does). After finding the information I needed I was about to leave when a link caught my eye. Spy Kids. What, I wondered, would the CIA use to appeal to children?

Answer: stories and games.

Well, I had to check that out. 

Next thing I knew, I’d lost a considerable amount of time playing with codes. 

It turns out that ChatGPT is magic at some codes, and spectacularly bad at others. The key seems to be in knowing which is which.

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Photo by Yohan Marion on Unsplash

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