In computers, we have software and hardware. Jokingly, the human brain is sometimes called wetware. Up next: pulpware! OK, technically it’s hardware–wires, sensors and computer chips–embedded in paper or cardboard. A spiral of conductive ink can be a speaker, or a touch sensor. Two layers, and a page can tell when it is being bent. …
Category: Blog
Photo of the Day that Was Actually Taken Some Time Ago: Chequamegon Bay, Ashland, Wisconsin
I haven’t been posting a photo of the day because I took so many photos on our recent driving trip to Ontario that I’m a little burned out on photography. So instead, I’m going to start posting some scenes from our vacation, beginning with this view of a very small part of Lake Superior from …
The wave of the publishing future?
Harlequin, the world’s biggest publisher of romance novels, is going to start making all of its new titles available for download on the Internet – 120 titles a month. Will more “respectable” publishers follow suit?
Genetic modification of large animals just got easier
Efforts to genetically modify large animals have been hindered by the fact that the two methods currently used to effect it, somatic cell nuclear transfer or pronuclear injection, are costly, inefficient, difficult, and carry a risk of producing abnormal offspring. Now researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine have successfully produced genetically …
They like me, they really like me!
Just heard from my agent that DAW is going to buy my proposed sequel to Marseguro, working title Terra Insegura. Woo-hoo! Watch for the return of “the first sentence I wrote today” in the very near future…
Well, it was nice while it lasted…
…but it turns out there was an error in my Persephone Theatre contract and I really am playing Monsier D’Arque, as I originally thought, not Maurice, in the upcoming production of Beauty and the Beast. That’s life upon the wicked stage, I guess. It makes more sense, though; I thought I would be an odd …
Smarter than the average Harvard senior!
I got 51 right out of 60 on this quiz about American history, government and politics, for an 85 percent average, and most of the questions I missed I don’t feel too badly about, although there were a couple where, when I read the correct answers, I felt extremely “Duh!” The quiz has been in …
An amazing compendium of visual illusions…
…can be found here. Well worth your time. You’ll never believe everything you see again. (Via Science Blog.)
"The most important words in journalism"
From GetReligion, a blog that examines the coverage of religion in the mainstream media, these words of wisdom: It’s a mantra that I have used with my students for years now. Repeat after me: The most important words in journalism are “comma, space, said, space, name, period.” In other words, mainstream journalism is not supposed …
Meteor strike makes Peruvians ill
Here’s an intriguing story: Villagers in southern Peru were struck by a mysterious illness after a meteorite made a fiery crash to Earth in their area, regional authorities said Monday. Around midday Saturday, villagers were startled by an explosion and a fireball that many were convinced was an airplane crashing near their remote village, located …
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 …
Guess who’s one of the new bloggers for Futurismic
Why, that would be me, thanks. What is Futurismic? I’ll let them answer that: Futurismic is a website for people interested in the future and the effects of science and technology on the present. Futurismic comes in three parts: the blog section consists of short, well-written, opinionated introductions to content that exists elsewhere on the …
My latest live walk and vlog
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