Recently, one of our more flamboyant seasonal residents has been performing at a variety of obscure local venues, venues that you might describe as off-off-off Broadway. Performances generally take the form of a one man show, and they only work nights, so don’t even think about catching a matinee.

Mindy Todd talks with bestselling author Louise Penny before a live audience at Sandwich High School. The mystery writer talks about her new book Kingdom of the Blind, and the other books in the Inspector Gamache series. We also hear about her writing process and get a glimpse into her life in a small village south of Montreal.

I have often wondered how our year-round fauna and flora manage to withstand the extremes of weather that a Cape Cod year comprises: temperatures at or below freezing at one end and sweltering heat in the 90s at the other.  I know some of the physiological adaptations involved, but, really, it is hard to imagine the experiences of our oaks and pines, our chickadees and cardinals.

The newly opened Martha’s Vineyard Museum sits on a bluff with stunning views of Vineyard Haven harbor. It’s a renovated structure with an interesting past.

Many of our most important social and political debates have science at their core – from climate change to genetically modified foods. When policymakers want expert input on what we know about these subjects, they often turn to massive synthesis reports known as assessments. 

It’s not every day that a scientific study reads like great literature, but here’s how a recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences begins:

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a pair of grape hemispheres exposed to intense microwave radiation will spark, igniting a plasma.”

Jenny Wilkerson, University of Florida and Lance McMahon, University of Florida

Cannabidiol, or CBD, has become a household name. On many social media sites, people suggest “but have you tried CBD oil?” on posts pertaining to any health-related issue.

The White House Budget plan for fiscal year 2020 is out. It’s a record $4.7 trillion, but science agencies and activities take cuts almost across the board. The president envisions an EPA budget cut by almost a third and a decrease of about 12 percent at the National Institutes of Health. 

WCAI News Director Steve Junker hosts a roundup of some of the top local and regional news of the week, including: three men with Cape Cod ties are named in the national college admission scandal; two people are killed in a Wellfleet house fire, pointing to larger difficulties for firefighters in that area; and community leaders meet to tackle the problems of litter and plastic pollution.