Category: Blog

That was the focus of NextFest, sponsored by Wired magazine and reported on by the BBC here. Flying cars, invisibility cloaks–maybe the future Popular Science used to promise us is going to make it after all.

A climataologist casts a jaundiced eye at the latest example of bad Hollywood science: The Day After Tomorrow.

SpaceShip One makes its third rocket-powered flight. I think most people think its the leading contender for the X-prize, but I’m personally rooting for the Da Vinci Project, since it’s set to launch from right here in Saskatchewan.

I turned in my kids’ book on the basics of quantum physics (specifically the photoelectric effect and line spectra) today. It’s an invigorating 6,000 words, aimed at high school students but with a lower reading level (I hope). It was fun to write, really, since I didn’t know much about the topic ahead of time …

Continue reading

Check out this press release from the Governor’s office in New Mexico. The X-Prize hasn’t even been won yet and they’re already talking about spacecraft races. Spacecraft races! In New Mexico! I knew I picked the right state to be born in. I’m so proud.

I do not run, if I can avoid it. Nor do I play any sports, aside from golf (unless musical theatre counts). Which means the latest computerized sports shoe from Adidas is not for me. The new shoe, named “1,” continuously reconfigures its sole to provide a constant level of support. The wearer sets the …

Continue reading

With the revamping of Blogger, I decided to change templates. Like it? I do. Well, I think I do…

Scientists have discovered that a drug that targets the capillaries in white fat can cause overweight mice to lose nearly a third of their body weight in a month. And here I just finished doing it the old-fashioned way, losing 50 pounds since November following the Weight Watchers regimen. Then again, I’m not a mouse.

I’ve just received my author’s copies of my latest nonfiction book, J.R.R. Tolkien: Master of Imaginary Worlds. It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Spring and summer, to many people, means barbecuing. This isn’t surprising, when you consider that the activity of cooking meat over an open flame has been indulged in by human beings for a very long time–a lot longer than anyone dreamed, according to recent research. For a long time the earliest evidence of a human-controlled …

Continue reading

Check out the masthead of the Vulcan Advocate in Vulcan, Alberta!

Here’s an interesting article on just how (and how quickly) a meme can spread through the blogosphere.