Archives
The physics of driving
A lot of people will be driving a lot of kilometres over the next few months, as Canadians rush frantically around the country to make the most of summer. Unfortunately, quite a few accidents will undoubtedly result, some of which could be prevented if people better understood the physical forces at work when they drive their cars. The most important thing to remember is that a car weighs a lot, which, as Isaac Newton pointed out, means that once it's moving in a certain direction, it will continue moving in that direction until quite a lot of force is applied to it. It has "inertia." Inertia means that your car ...Future cars
Like many other small boys, I was fascinated by cars, not least because my oldest brother was a bit of a car guy and subscribed to cool magazines like Car and Driver and Motor Trend. Every so often, one of those magazine (or other cool magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanics) would run an article on the "Car of the Future." They featured way-out styling and things like (I swear I saw this more than once) small nuclear reactors as power sources. Yet, frankly, my car doesn't do anything that my brother's Studebaker didn't do. It goes, it stops, it burns gasoline, it plays music (albeit it via a CD player rather than an AM radio). I still have to steer ...Car sound
One of my earliest childhood memories is of sitting in the front seat of my father's Studebaker, listening to the Beatles. Since those early days in Lubbock, Texas, I've listened to a great deal more music in many more cars. In the Studebaker, and in the '63 Plymouth that followed it, if you wanted to listen to music, you listened to AM Radio. But then in the early '70s we got the Toyota--and my brother installed an eight-track in it. We didn't know it then, but that was just one shot in a revolution that led to today, when most cars (including my own) have stereo systems far superior to the one in ...Car care
I like my car a lot. But I have to admit, it doesn't look as good as it used to. And probably yours doesn't either. That's because the moment your car rolls out the factory door, its finish starts to deteriorate. It's not too surprising, since a car's surface is attacked by ultraviolet light, ozone, heat, acid rain, industrial fallout, squashed insects, bird droppings, tree sap, road salt, and even hard water. Of course, as I mentioned last week, the first step in fending off the damage from all these things is painting the car, but you want more than just color: you want a shiny, reflective coating that will ...The science of tires
It happens to all of us sooner or later. We're in a hurry, we head off in our car--and discover we have a flat tire. This happened to me twice in December, and got me thinking about tires, which is unusual, because usually we don't think much about tires at all. After all, they're pretty simple devices, aren't they? They're just round rubber doughnuts pumped full of air, right? Wrong. The modern automobile tire is really as much a technological marvel as the car itself, a complicated device made of thousands of individual pieces created from dozens of materials. Of course, they weren't always so complicated. The first pneumatic tire, or "elastic bearing," patented in ...
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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