A statement in this recently published paper makes a point that is largely at odds with the main point of the paper that is cited. Stating that higher air temperatures lead to greater evapotranspiration is an oversimplification; the true story is more complex. Although this is by no means central to the conclusions of the paper being commented on, we have demonstrated the danger in taking too l...

When the moon is absent from the night sky, stars remain as celestial visual cues. Nonetheless, only birds, seals, and humans are known to use stars for orientation. African ball-rolling dung beetles exploit the sun, the moon, and the celestial polarization pattern to move along straight paths, away from the intense competition at the dung pile. Even on clear moonless nights, many beetles still...

Modern uses of the word literally are surveyed, and the solecistic misuse of this word as an expression of speaker commitment is shown to be a natural semantic extension of its basic metalinguistic meaning. The development appears to be typical of a large class of intensifiers, though it is argued that literally itself is only in the early stages of such an evolution. Aspects of this developmen...