Archives
Disease-Hunting Scientist: Dr. Laurie Richardson and black-band disease in coral
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/05/laurie-richardson-and-black-band-disease.mp3[/podcast] My newest book, Disease-Hunting Scientist (Enslow Publishers) has now been officially released, and so this week I’m giving you a column-sized version of another of the lengthy chapters devoted to individual scientists in the book. Dr. Laurie Richardson, Professor of Biology at Florida International University in Miami, is researching black-band disease in coral reefs—which means she spends a lot of each summer scuba-diving, often for hours a day. At 287,231 square kilometers, coral reefs are less than a tenth of a percent of the total ocean floor. But they support more than a million species of marine life. They are also dying, from pollution, overfishing—and black-band disease, among others. Dr. Richardson started her career researching “microbial mats,” communities of ...Searching out shipwrecks
Earlier this month, a company called Odyssey Marine Explorations Inc. announced that it has discovered the sunken wreck of the S.S. Republic, a steamer that went down in a hurricane off Savannah, Georgia, on October 25, 1865, carrying $400,000 in $20 gold coins--worth $120 to $180 million today. There was a time when sending a ship to Davy Jones’s Locker was thought permanent. These days, though, thanks to technological advances, Davy Jones’s Locker doesn’t seem all that well locked. That’s got a lot of would-be treasure hunters and archaeologists alike very excited: by UNESCO’s estimate, there are three million sunken ships scattered around the world’s oceans. Traditionally, treasure hunters and archaeologists have been in ...The colossal squid
I don't know how you feel about calamari, but it's always been a little too rubber-band-like to be one of my favorites. However you feel about it, though, I'm pretty sure you can agree with me that it's far better to eat calamari than to have the calamari eating you. That unsettling prospect was raised recently with discovery of the first nearly complete specimen of the largest known species of squid, Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni, in the waters near New Zealand. Up until now, like many people, I thought the so-called giant squid, Architeuthis dux, was the largest. Didn't Kirk Douglas battle one in Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea? Turns out, though, that this other squid, nicknamed "colossal squid," is an order of ...Sharks
It's that time of the year again. The weather is turning cooler, the leaves are changing color, Canadians are leafing through travel brochures featuring sandy beaches, blue water, and warm sunshine. Except... ...except, there's been a lot of news about shark attacks coming from those very same sunny beaches. Some could be excused for wondering if maybe a skiing vacation to Whistler might not be safer. Even if they can't ski. The last time I can remember so much talk about sharks was the summer Jaws was released. To judge by media coverage, beaches have suddenly become much more dangerous places. But is it true? First, a little basic information about sharks. Sharks are present ...Submarines
Submarines have been much in the news lately. Not only has world attention has been riveted on the tragic sinking of the Russian submarine Kursk, but Canada is in the process of getting new submarines and, in the U.S., the Civil War submarine that was the first to sink another ship has just been hauled out of Charleston Harbor. Aristotle described a type of submersible chamber used clear back in 332 B.C. by Alexander the Great. However, the first serious discussion of a submarine was written by William Bourne, a British mathematician, in 1578. A submarine similar to what he proposed, made of greased leather over wood and propelled by oars, was built by the Dutch inventor Cornelis Drebbel ...Aquarius
We've heard a lot recently about the Russian space station Mir and the new International Space Station. But most people don't know about a third station designed to allow humans to live and work in a hostile environment--not space, but the sea. It's called Aquarius, and recently a team of six "aquanauts" completed an eight-day mission to it, one of more than 20 that have been carried out in the past five years. Aquarius, built in the mid-1980s, is owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and operated by the National Undersea Research Center through the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Since 1993, it has been anchored at Conch Reef in the Floriday Keys ...Black smokers
Deep beneath the oceans, continental plates grind together. Sea water seeps into the ocean floor, contacts superheated rock and roars back out through hydrothermal vents. Surrounding those vents, darkness, pressure, poison gas and heavy metal, acidity and temperatures ranging from freezing to hot enough to melt lead create a zone that would instantly kill most forms of life on this planet--and yet, life thrives there. It's so difficult to reach these regions of the ocean floor that we know very little about them. But we're about to learn more. Just a few days ago, a remote-controlled Canadian robot called ROPOS (Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Science) descended 2,500 metres to the bottom of ...Icebergs
They say that a movie is only as good as its villain, and the new movie Titanic, now packing people into theatres all over the world, has a whopper: a giant block of ice that tears open the "unsinkable" ship's hull and, a couple of hours later, send it to the bottom. Icebergs have bedevilled ships in the North Atlantic since the earliest crossings. You might say they automatically have right of way: they don't move for nobody, not even the mightiest passenger liner ever to set sail. But you can hardly blame them for that: after all, the iceberg that the Titanic hit, like every other iceberg in the ocean, began forming thousands of years ...Scuba diving
Now that winter has descended upon us in earnest, many Canadians are planning a trip south to Florida or the Caribbean, where they'll bask in the warm sun, eat exotic foods--and maybe even try a little scuba diving. "Scuba" is a word in its own right now, but originally it was an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus." Attempts to develop such apparatus began in the early 20th century, but it wasn't until 1943 that what we think of as the typical scuba, called the Aqualung, was invented by Jacques Coustau and Emil Gagnan. It was the aqualung that opened up recreational diving to the likes of vacationing Snowbirds. Scuba divers wear tanks that carry a ...The ocean
I've always been fascinated by the ocean: the endless rolling of the waves, the water's changing moods, the limitless horizon. Or maybe it's just because, coming from the dry prairies, I'm amazed that anything can be that big and wet. How big and wet? The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth's surface: 361 million square kilometres, and holds roughly 1.34 billion cubic kilometres of water. Close to continents, it's relatively shallow, slowly sloping out, over a distance of many kilometres, to a depth of about 200 metres. This "continental shelf" gives way abruptly to the continental slope, which descends steeply to about 3500 metres; then there's an area called the continental rise, which slopes more ...
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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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