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Seizing appetite by the NAPE
’Tis the season to begin newspaper columns with the phrase “’Tis the season,” and who am I to resist?Failing to resist that particular temptation is of little moment, of course. Failing to resist another temptation endemic to this time of year is not: the temptation to eat...and eat...and eat.Why do we eat more food than we need to survive, with consequences that range from the annoying (clothes now too snug for comfort) to the serious (diabetes, heart disease, etc.)?Because as a species, until the last century or so, we’ve been more likely to be short of food than not, and so we are hardwired to eat whatever is put before us--particularly fatty foods ...I itch, therefore I scratch
Before you read any further, let me warn you: today’s column may cause itching.It’s got nothing to do with the ink it’s printed with, either, or mysterious radiation from your computer monitor. It’s simply because I’m going to write about the science of itching, and one of the peculiar things about itching is that talking about it can cause it.You would think that such a universally experienced sensation would be well understood by now, but you’d be wrong.Itching was in the news recently because Zhou-Feng Chen, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis, announced at the recent annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in Washington that he and his colleagues had discovered ...The cold facts
We are, alas, heading into winter, which is not only the cold (Brrr!) season, but also the cold (Ah-choo!) season.We all get colds. That’s not surprising, because, as the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in the U.K. likes to point out, we breathe in some 15,000 litres of germ-laden air every day.Which is why New Scientist magazine’s Brussels correspondent Debora MacKenzie did us all (and especially me, since I got this column out of it) a favor last week by posting “Eight Cold Facts” on the New Scientist Short Sharp Science Blog. She presented eight statements you’ve probably heard about colds, and then detailed whether they’re scientifically accurate.First off: “Colds are caused ...Tinnitus: the sound of silence
“The Sound of Silence” is not just a title of one of Simon and Garfunkel’s biggest 1960s hits, it’s also an ironic reality for millions of people who never experience real silence--because they hear noises all the time.It’s a condition called tinnitus, and it’s one of the most common hearing afflictions around. The Tinnitus Association of Canada says more than 360,000 Canadians suffer from it “in an annoying form,” and the number of people who have it in a less-annoying form is undoubtedly far higher: estimates range from one in 10 to as high in one in five.I’ve written about it before, about six years ago, but recently there’s been some new research that made me ...A vaccine for Ebola?
They're about to start testing one in humans that has proved effective in non-human primates. keep your fingers crossed!This caught my eye because I wrote a book on Ebola a few years ago.Why is winter the flu season?
Scientists may have finally figured out why there's a "flu season," why flu is so much more prevalent during the cold months:Dr. Zimmerberg and his colleagues found that at temperatures slightly above freezing, the virus's lipid covering solidified into a gel. As temperatures approach 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the covering gradually thaws, eventually melting to a soupy mix.Cooler temperatures, apparently, cause the virus to form the rubbery outer covering that can withstand travel from person to person, Dr. Zimmerberg said. Once in the respiratory tract, the warm temperature in the body causes the covering to melt to its liquid form, so that the virus can infect the cells of its new host, he added.This ...Hemophilia: stopping the bleeding
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.To receive these columns weekly by email, just provide me with an email address at edward(at)edwardwillett.com or in comments.***A few years ago, I wrote a children’s book on hemophilia, an inherited condition in which the blood fails to clot properly.Which meant a news item this week about a successful cure in mice for the most common form of the disease really caught my attention.First, a little background. Whenever blood vessels are damaged, the body undertakes a three-step process to stop the bleeding.First comes vasoconstriction, the narrowing of blood vessels in the injured area. Next comes ...What lies beneath
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.The house in which I live was built in 1926. Over the years, as we discovered recently when we had the walls of a couple of rooms repainted, several layers of wallpaper and paint have accumulated.Peeling back those layers is a bit like going back through time (and reveals quite a bit about the decorating sense of the original owners). And really old buildings sometimes have much more exciting things to find beneath the current paint and plaster than old wallpaper.Archaeologists in France examining a 12th-century church, for example, recently discovered an ancient mural beneath five layers of plaster.Buildings ...A new way to control high blood pressure?
Like millions of other people, I have mildly high blood pressure: nicely controlled with drugs, thank you, but still a concern.Which is why this item caught my eye:Surgeons recently implanted the RheosR System into the first clinical trial patient. When the device was turned on, the patient's blood pressure measurements significantly decreased. The patient reported no discomfort.The device is designed to reduce blood pressure by using small electrical signals to influence the body's blood pressure regulation system, called the baroreflex. The Rheos System is a pacemaker-like device that is implanted under the skin in the upper chest cavity and connected to two leads that are placed on the carotid arteries.It's a ...Promising Alzheimer’s news
This sounds promising:Reversal Of Alzheimer's Symptoms Within Minutes In Human StudyAn extraordinary new scientific study, which for the first time documents marked improvement in Alzheimer’s disease within minutes of administration of a therapeutic molecule, has just been published in the Journal of Neuroinflammation.I wrote a book on Alzheimer's a few years ago.
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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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