Author's posts

Adapting to the cold

Every January, we residents of Saskatchewan ask ourselves the same question: why are we here, instead of in the tropics? There’s a scientific version of that same question: how have humans, who evolved in the tropics, managed to survive in the even-icier-than-Saskatchewan climes of the far north? The January 9 edition of the scientific journal …

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A Modest Proposal (

Another good response to the proposed Moon/Mars focus for NASA.

It just ain’t good English

I get very tired of seeing this particular grammatical error, from an ABC story: “After receiving a friendly reception at the church, more than 100 demonstrators chanted ‘Down with Bush’ from behind barricades a block away from the D-Day Museum, where Bush attended a fund-raiser.” This says, of course, that the demonstrators received a friendly …

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We’re going back…

And, as often, James Lileks writes what I feel, too.

This week’s column…

Here’s this week’s science column… SCIENCE Edward Willett CES 2004: A Gadget Odyssey I’ve always been a gadget guy, so I would have been in heaven at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where gadgets from the way cool to the way weird were on display. Alas, I didn’t get to attend, but …

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Linked to by Instapundit!

My year-old column about drilling on Mars got linked to by Instapundit, and I can already see the results on the page’s hit counter…. Cool!

CES 2004: A Gadget Odyssey

I’ve always been a gadget guy, so I would have been in heaven at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where gadgets from the way cool to the way weird were on display. Alas, I didn’t get to attend, but here are some of the highlights, gleaned from the extensive coverage atPCWorld.com. If …

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Back to the Moon, Onward to Mars!

I thope this is true–and that it actually leads to something.

Saskatchewan on the Discover list…

Here’s this week’s science column: ***** SCIENCE By Edward Willett Each year, Discover Magazine creates a list of the top 100 science stories of that year. This year’s list is especially exciting for the University of Saskatchewan, because one project conducted at the University and another involving a U. of S. professor were on the …

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Weekly science column

Here’s this week’s science column, just a trifle later than usual… SCIENCE Edward Willett Why we make mistakes The holidays are supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation, but if you’re like me, after several nights of parties, you feel pretty much as sleep-deprived as you did before the holidays, if not more …

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Astronomers scout out life-friendly stars

Australian astronomers have created the first tentative map of the Galactic Habitable Zone.

Scientific literacy is our best hope for the future

This excellent article makes the point that to deal with the future, we need citizens who are scientifically literate–and few are.