It’s Christmas, a time many people claim to dread because of what they might call “sappy” music, or “sickly-sweet” sentiment, or “corny” expressions of goodwill and happiness. For some reason, there are critics–a majority of them, I sometimes think–who believe art is only worthwhile if it’s “edgy” or “dark” or “explores the seamy underbelly of …
Category: Blog
Science gifts for Christmas: 2000
Of all my Christmases as a small boy in Texas, the one I remember best is the one when I was seven, which is when my parents gave me my first microscope. Asked what I would recommend in the way of holiday gifts for children, then, a microscope–or something similarly scientific–is always at the top …
A shortage of sleep
Are you feeling sleepy? If you are, you might think it’s the busy time of the year, but sleepiness isn’t limited to the holidays. According to scientists, around two thirds of North Americans are sleep-deprived all the time. Over the past century the average amount of sleep people get has shrunk by more than 20 …
Nanopropellors
One of the first science-fiction movies I can remember seeing was Fantastic Voyage, in which a submarine and its crew are shrunk to microscopic size and injected into an injured man. Their mission: to vaporize a life-threatening blood clot in his brain. Among other things, the movie featured Racquel Welch in a wetsuit. In a …
Contract bridge is the best medicine
Most of us assume that, when it comes to resisting infectious diseases, are pretty fatalistic. In the absence of a vaccine, we may try whatever currently popular substance is supposed to “boost our immune system,” but we figure that’s about all we can do. Yet, there has always been tantalizing evidence that some people seem …
Beethoven’s hair
Ludwig van Beethoven was known for being both a brilliant composer and a difficult human being. For most of the almost two centuries since his death, his tendency toward irritability and depression has been put down to the fact he was a genius, since there’s a common perception that genius and eccentricities go hand in …
The shock of the new
The Apple Tree, the Broadway musical Regina Lyric Light Opera is presenting at the Shumiatcher Theatre in the Mackenzie Art Gallery through Sunday afternoon, is a fabulous, funny show that shouldn’t be missed. Unfortunately, judging by the half-full houses on Wednesday and Thursday, it is being missed, by far too many people. Why? Most …
Fuel cells
In twenty years, will you still be driving a car with an internal combustion engine? Not if the future unfolds the way auto industry experts expect it to. The car of 2020, it seems increasingly likely, will be fueled with methanol or hydrogen and driven by an electric motor powered by fuel cells–most likely, fuel …
Of bats and balls
The Subway Series is not, as a non-sports-fan might be forgiven for thinking, an exciting new lineup of sandwiches from a popular restaurant chain. It is, instead, this year’s World Series of baseball between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, and even if you’re not interested in watching New Yorkers battle each …
Robots
Once upon a time, robots existed only in science fiction.. In fact, the word itself originated in a science fiction play. It comes from the Czech word “robota,” meaning “work,” and was coined by Czech playwright Karel Capek in his 1920 play R.U.R., which stands for “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” In Capek’s words, a robot was …
The Ig Nobel Prizes of 2000
This is the time of the year when the winners of the prestigious Nobel Prizes are announced with great fanfare and acclaim. That’s all well and good, but the real Nobel Prizes, frankly, take themselves far too seriously. They tend to support the prevailing belief that science is stuffy, boring, and, well, nobel–er, noble. Fortunately, …
ChiCon: The 2000 World Science Fiction Convention
As I mentioned last week, 6,000 people recently gathered in Chicago for the 58th annual World Science Fiction Convention, myself among them. Mention “science fiction convention” to most people and they immediately think of a Star Trek convention. However, science fiction fans have been getting together long before Star Trek penetrated the public consciousness. At …
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