From the Editor

by Dan Radebaugh

Well, here we are at the end of 2022. Covid hasn’t gone away, but the current strains of the virus don’t seem to be as deadly as those that typified the early pandemic. It’s still causing worldwide problems, but certainly not on the same scale as did the earlier versions of the virus. Those who have cloistered themselves at home certainly were not wrong to do so, as a review of the worldwide death statistics will verify, but nevertheless, we’re in a better place now than we were not so long ago.

Sound familiar? It should! That was how I began this column back in December of 2022. Things have surely changed since then, and yet Covid is still profoundly affecting the way we live our lives. To be sure, we've made some progress. Many more people have been vaccinated, and the current strains of the disease don’t seem to be as lethal as the earlier forms. Nevertheless, it may yet be too soon to declare total victory, so be careful out there, and check with your physican to assess your own risk level.

You’ll see several familiar names among our authors in this issue. On page 17 Jason Gold contributes another entertaining article in his series on a ‟Life In Fish,” Steve Sica describes (p. 11) his experiences with some new little bitty buddies in ‟Downsized,” and Dan McKercher discusses ‟Inbreeding and Line Breeding” on page 13.

Denver Lettman challenges us with a new Cartoon Caption Contest entry on page 8, and on page 14 Joe Ferdenzi chips in with another terrific historical article—this one on ‟The First Fish of the New York Aquarium.” I have to say that I was astounded by some of the species he mentions, as well as by where they were collected!

We have two exchange articles in this issue. The first, on page 9, is a news article explaining that for the first time, UN members have agreed on a unified treaty to protect biodiversity in the high seas. The second is an article from Mike Hellweg. Several of you here know Mike, a prolific author who has also been a speaker for us at Greater City.

The issue closes, as it has since long before my time here, with The Undergravel Reporter (‟An Alien Among Us”) and our Fin Fun puzzle page (this one entitled ‟Green Wet Thumb.”) Enjoy!

March 1

April 6

May 3

June 7