The apple will take 31 years to reach the store
An apple breeder plants for customers who have not been born yet. In 1998, at a Washington State University research orchard, someone hand-pollinated a…
Author: Rick Good
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader's money, real estate, and business coverage.
The question is not which apple tastes best
Most people pick apples by flavor. For eating out of hand, that is the only test that matters. Every other job an apple does asks a different question,…
Pork and apples have a long-standing romance
The pairing of pork and apples is one of the oldest in Western cooking, and it began as an accident of scheduling. Before refrigeration, farm families…
What happens when a spare battery meets a pocketful of keys
A company put a question to OSHA last winter. Employees were bringing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries from home to power e-cigarettes, and carrying…
Your everyday glasses were tested — just not for this
Prescription eyeglasses sold in the United States are impact tested. Federal rules have required it since 1972. The test is specific: a 5/8-inch steel…
What the code inside your safety glasses means
Look at the inside of the temple arm on your safety glasses. Somewhere on that narrow strip is a manufacturer’s mark and a short string of letters and…
Careful with money, invisible to lenders
Somewhere there is a 47-year-old woman who pays her rent on the first of every month and carries no credit card debt. She also does not appear on a credit…
Retirement account for a grandchild starts with a summer job
The obstacle is almost never the money. A custodial Roth IRA can be opened for a child at any age, and the money inside grows tax free for decades. But…
Why this AI bubble could reach your savings
When the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, Amazon’s stock lost about 90 percent of its value, falling from around $107 to near $6 a share. The company did not…
The mystery of the purple seal
When a bright purple elephant seal turned up on a Northern California beach this year, the internet feared the worst. The truth was far less dramatic….