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Rick LeCouteur
Inviting young readers to marvel at the wonder of nature's creatures
Rick's Blog
#bunyipsbooksbeyond
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Lest We Forget: The Spirit of ANZAC (#310)
Every year on April 25th , Australians and New Zealanders come together to commemorate ANZAC Day, a solemn occasion that honors the...
Rick LeCouteur
Apr 24, 20252 min read
Rocketing Toward Climate Disaster: The true cost of an 11-minute space flight (#305)
Last week, six women boarded Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin rocket and made headlines for their 11-minute suborbital flight. It was hailed as...
Rick LeCouteur
Apr 18, 20253 min read
Growing Up Under the Stars: Trailblazer Edna Zigenbine (#301)
In the vast, untamed landscapes of Northern Australia, where the sky stretched endlessly and the land whispered stories of resilience, a...
Rick LeCouteur
Apr 16, 20253 min read
Rethinking “Pet Parent”: Language, Expectations, and Animal Welfare (#300)
A fellow veterinarian recently asked me why I object to the term pet parent. It’s a fair question. After all, it’s everywhere: in...
Rick LeCouteur
Apr 11, 20253 min read
Wi-Fi to Why Try? The rise and stall of Aussie science (#284)
It’s a classic pub-quiz trivia question: Who invented Wi-Fi? The answer, Australians love to say with pride, is: We did! Not so fast...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 25, 20253 min read
Nikola Tesla’s Pigeon: Love, loneliness, and a global vision (#277)
Nikola Tesla , the brilliant inventor whose name is synonymous with electricity and wireless technology, was a man of boundless intellect...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 17, 20253 min read
More Than a Story: Branding in children's picture books (#276)
Admiral William H. McRaven, renowned for his distinguished 37-year career as a U.S. Navy SEAL and leadership roles, including overseeing...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 16, 20253 min read
Elephants and Cancer: Peto’s paradox (#275)
Cancer is a disease that affects millions of species, including humans, yet some animals have developed remarkable resistance to it....
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 16, 20253 min read
Veterinary Business Practices: Lessons from the Boxer Rebellion (#274)
You have to know the past to understand the present Carl Sagan The Boxer Rebellion (1899-1901) was more than just an anti-foreign...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 14, 20255 min read
Whiskers and Worship: The Enigmatic Cats of Gokogu Shrine (#272)
Nestled in the coastal town of Ushimado, Japan, the Gokogu Shrine stands as a testament to harmonious coexistence between humans and a...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 12, 20253 min read
The Nostalgia Effect: How memories shape our well-being (#267)
There’s something about nostalgia that tugs at the heartstrings. A bittersweet feeling that blends joy with longing, and warmth with...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 9, 20253 min read
International Women’s Day: Exploring inclusivity (#266)
For years, I have celebrated International Women’s Day (IWD), honoring the achievements of women in veterinary medicine and beyond. But...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 9, 20253 min read
Hierarchy of Life: How humans rank the natural world (#264)
Anthropocentrism and speciesism are closely related but distinct concepts. Both involve human attitudes toward other species, but they...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 5, 20253 min read
Failing Forward: A lesson, not a verdict (#263)
Failure is a universal experience, yet it remains one of the most feared aspects of life. We are conditioned to avoid it, to view it as...
Rick LeCouteur
Mar 4, 20253 min read
Building America: The immigrant influence (#262)
The United States has long been a nation built by immigrants. Many who arrived on its shores seeking a better life went on to make...
Rick LeCouteur
Feb 28, 20253 min read
Dual Citizen, One Heart: My story as a proud immigrant (#261)
An immigrant to the United States is an individual who relocates from another country with the intention of residing permanently. Until...
Rick LeCouteur
Feb 28, 20253 min read
NIH Funding Freeze: A crisis for comparative oncology research (#258)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) , the largest public funder of biomedical research globally, has been forced to halt the...
Rick LeCouteur
Feb 25, 20253 min read
A Promise to Pay: A woman who wouldn’t accept charity (#250)
The first time I saw her, she was sitting at the traffic light near my neurosurgery practice in Sydney. A small figure wrapped in layers...
Rick LeCouteur
Feb 13, 20252 min read
Folding the Umbrella: The power of perspective (#240)
This cartoon uses irony and metaphor to depict how people often create their own problems or fail to see the bigger picture. The people...
Rick LeCouteur
Jan 26, 20251 min read
A Silent Shift: Corporate ownership in dentistry and veterinary medicine (#239)
In recent years, the dental landscape has undergone a significant transformation as privately-owned dental practices are increasingly...
Rick LeCouteur
Jan 26, 20255 min read
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