Archives
My short story in Space and Time
My short story "Waterlilies" has finally appeared in Space and Time Magazine, which bought it months and months ago (as is obvious by the bio, which refers to my seven-year-old daughter--that would be the one who just turned nine). Anyway, it's nice to see it in print, my name up in lights--well, on the cover, at least. "Waterlilies" is a humorous apocalyptic nanotech art story. Just so you know. The cover art at left is by Patrick Thomas. My story is illustrated by Alan Beck.Spray-on liquid glass
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/02/Spray-on-Liquid-Glass.mp3[/podcast] “Spray-on liquid glass” sounds like a product you’d see advertised at two o’clock in the morning in an infomercial. It sounds even more like a 2 a.m. infomercial product when you see headlines about it that claim it is “about to revolutionize everything.” Maybe it’d sound more impressive if I used its more formal name, which is “SiO2 ultra-thin layering,” but that’s hard to type, so I’m going to stick with “spray-on liquid glass.” Besides, that’s exactly what it is: an extremely thin layer of glass that can be sprayed onto...well, just about anything. Though it was invented in Turkey, the patent for spray-on liquid glass is held by the German company Nanopool. It consists of almost pure silicon dioxide, a.k.a. silica, extracted ...A needle today keeps disease away
Download the audio version.Get my science column weekly as a podcast.****Children, I have observed (and recall, for my own childhood has not yet faded into the misty depths of time) do not enjoy getting stuck with needles.And yet, getting stuck with needles is a part of growing up, because vaccinations, unpleasant as they momentarily are, are far less unpleasant than the diseases they help prevent.There are vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio; for Haemophilus influenzae type b (which causes meningitis); for measles, mumps and rubella (German measles); for varicella (chicken pox) and hepatitis B. There are puneumococcal and meningococcal vaccines, and, of course, the annual influenza vaccine.Many of us of a certain age still bear ...Scientists achieve levitation
And, no, they're not members of Canada's old Natural Law Party (the one that advocated research into something called "yogic flying"). They say they can reverse the Casimir force:The Casimir force is a consequence of quantum mechanics, the theory that describes the world of atoms and subatomic particles that is not only the most successful theory of physics but also the most baffling.The force is due to neither electrical charge or gravity, for example, but the fluctuations in all-pervasive energy fields in the intervening empty space between the objects and is one reason atoms stick together, also explaining a “dry glue” effect that enables a gecko to walk across a ceiling. Now, using ...Nanotechnology marches on…
...to the soccer field.Near-microscopic robots playing soccer. Is this a great time to be alive, or what?This could be big!…er…small!
Spintronics+plasmonics=spinplasmonics:A University of Alberta research team has combined two fields of study in nanotechnology to create a third field that the researchers believe will lead to revolutionary advances in computer electronics, among many other areas. Dr. Abdulhakem Elezzabi and his colleagues have applied plasmonics principles to spintronics technology and created a novel way to control the quantum state of an electron's spin. The new technology, which the researchers call spinplasmonics, may be used to create incredibly efficient electron spin-based photonic devices, which in turn may be used to build, for example, computers with extraordinary capacities.Ho-hum. Another day, another possibly world-chaning scientific breakthrough. Is that the Singularity I see in the middle distance?...Good news for fighting viral pandemics:
A 60-second test for virus infections.Best bit:"You could actually apply it to a person walking off a plane and know if they're infected."The long-lost secret of Damascus blades:
Carbon nanotubes?Talk about a chill down your spine…
From Live Science:"...a team headed by Dr. Moshe Shoham of Haifa's Technion has created a novel propulsion system for a miniature robot to travel through the spinal canal, powering through cerebrospinal fluid."Anti-fogging nanoparticles
Those of you who don't wear glasses don't know how lucky you are. I've been a contact-wearer now for many years, but from the time I was about five until I was almost thirty I wore glasses, and I the most annoying thing about them was their inclination to fog up the minute you came inside from outside on a cold day. And, of course, fogging isn't just a problem for eyeglass wearers. It also plagues automobiles, bathroom mirrors, camera lenses, ski goggles...the list goes on and on. But now researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology may have come up with a solution: a coating made of nanoparticles that, they say, can create surfaces that never fog. "Nano" means very, very small. ...
Edward Willett is a The Shards of Excalibur, Book 1: Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel, coming in October 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….
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
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).
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.
