Archives
Red means stop, green means go, yellow means…?
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/06/The-Yellow-Light-Dilemma.mp3[/podcast] I went through a yellow light today. I’d glanced away at the wrong moment, looked up to see the light had gone yellow, and realized I couldn’t stop without slamming on the brakes and probably skidding into the intersection. Later, I was crossing a street downtown when a van went through the yellow in front of me. It looked to me like the driver had plenty of time to stop—but no doubt he had his own excuse. It’s a rare driver who doesn’t run through a yellow light on occasion, and in most cases it’s barely even a conscious decision. You have a split second to decide to brake, keep going...or even speed up. So how do we make that decision? A transportation engineering ...Fuel from germs
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2010/01/Fuel-from-Germs.mp3[/podcast] For years, we’ve been turning crops such as corn, wheat and sugar beets into fuel, using yeast to convert sugar into alcohol. But there’s an obvious problem with this. That stuff we’re turning into fuel is also food for humans and feed for animals. (And as an aside, how come we always call it “animal feed” as opposed to “animal food”? And why don’t we ever refer to “human feed”? Hmm?) A lot of the plant is wasted when you grow crops for fuel or food. The leaves and stems, with their tough cell walls made of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, are more of a nuisance than anything else. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a use for what is now plowed ...Liquid fuel from solar power
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/07/Liquid-Fuels-from-Solar-Power.mp3[/podcast] In recent years, scientists and engineers have turned to biofuels—fuels generated from living things, and hence renewable—as a means of weaning us off of fossil fuels in favor of something cleaner, less likely to run out, and less wrapped up in international geopolitics. Fermenting the sugars found in corn or other grains into ethanol has been around for a long time, of course, and it’s pretty much a proven technology. On the other hand, do we really want to be turning food into fuel? More promising have been recent advances in turning lignocellulose, the stuff that makes up the cell walls in plants, into ethanol and other fuels: that would allow us to use grasses, wood chips, straw and other non-food as ...The washboard effect
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/upLoads//2009/07/The-Washboard-Effect.mp3[/podcast] Saskatchewan, as has oft been noted, has a lot of roads: more than 190,000 kilometres in all, in fact, giving it one of the most extensive road systems in Canada. Not all of those roads are paved, however. In fact, most aren’t. And as anyone who has had occasion to drive extensively on the rural road system can tell you, while gravel roads are better than mud roads, they have their own...interesting...characteristics, of which one of the most annoying is the “washboard effect.” Washboards are fine if you’re a 19th century pioneer woman trying to clean the clothes or the abs of a 21st century male bodybuilder, but washboard-like ridges on a road are downright dangerous, reducing traction, causing extreme wear and ...Airships, airships, airships!
I've blogged before about my fondness for airships. Popular Mechanics has a roundup of some of the latest developments, should you share my odd obsession.(Via Instapundit.)Airships, airships, airships!
I've blogged before about my fondness for airships. Popular Mechanics has a roundup of some of the latest developments, should you share my odd obsession.(Via Instapundit.)A 737 hitchhiker?
This is literally unbelievable:MOSCOW, September 24 (RIA Novosti) - A 15-year-old boy from the Urals suffered acute frostbite after riding the wing of a Boeing-737 plane on a two-hour flight from Perm to Moscow, Russian radio station Mayak reported on Monday. After clinging on for the entire 1300-kilometer (808-mile) flight to Vnukovo Airport, the boy, named Andrei, collapsed onto the tarmac. His arms and legs were so severely frozen that rescuers were at first unable to remove his coat and shoes, the radio station said. What on Earth is there to hold on to on a 737's wing? At 900 kph?More likely he was in the wheel well, if this incident really happened at ...Candle on the water
Download the audio version.Get my column as a podcast.***Lighthouse keeping has always sounded like a romantic occupation to me. As a kid, I even won honorable mention in a creative writing contest with a story featuring a lighthouse keeper.Of course, being a prairie boy, I had never actually even been in a lighthouse. And that held true until just recently, when, on a trip to Ontario, I climbed two of them, on the shores of Lake Huron.Lighthouses are not a new invention. The Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World in ancient times, was built in the third century B.C. and stood something between 115 ...Your flying saucer is ready:
Moller International has started production of a hovercar, a small two-passenger saucer-shaped vehicle designed to take off and land vertically. It's going to be priced at $90,000 to $125,000 U.S.Tired of computer flight sims?
Now you can build your own Spitfire...from a kit.The importer of the packs, Kieran Padden, says that business is booming - and for many reasons. "It is so easy to fly," he claims of the plane that costs a tenth of the original to buy. "Even old Spitfire pilots I have spoken to say it flies just like the original. It's lighter but has the same performance, so it's much more agile."The V6 engine means that the completed plane will travel at 222 mph and can fly up to 18,000 feet. "The manufacturers have even recreated the sound," says Mr Padden. "Every time I hear it, the hairs on the back of my neck stand ...
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.
