I just attended a convention in Calgary. I listened to and participated in panels on topics as diverse as dinosaurs, communicating the process of science to the general public, Mars, and the social responsibility of novelists. What kind of convention deals with such a wide range of fascinating topics? Only one: a science fiction convention. …
Category: Blog
Language
Perro, chien, hund, sobaka, kelev, mbwa, animush, inu. No, those aren’t the ingredients for tonight’s special at a vegetarian restaurant–at least, one hopes not: they’re all words for the creature we who speak English would call a dog. At first glance, the languages from which those words come would seem to have little in common …
The science of things Canadian
What makes Canada Canada? It’s a question Canadians always seem to be asking themselves, and in honor of Canada’s 130th birthday, just past, I’ve decided to do my bit to bolster Canadian identity by presenting the science behind a few things we associate with this great land. Take beavers, for instance. Canada was built on …
Fingerprints
“Your Honor, the accused’s fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime.” In how many novels, movies and TV shows have those words, or variations on them, spelled doom for a criminal? Of all the tools available to criminal investigators, fingerprinting is probably the one most familiar to the public at large. That’s not …
Golf technology
If I had to name two sports that are heavily technology-driven, I’d probably name auto racing–and golf. Auto racing is an obvious choice. But golf? Golf looks so simple. A player, a club, a ball, a hole. Player swings club, hits ball, puts it into hole. Where’s the technology in that? If you have to …
The physics of driving
A lot of people will be driving a lot of kilometres over the next few months, as Canadians rush frantically around the country to make the most of summer. Unfortunately, quite a few accidents will undoubtedly result, some of which could be prevented if people better understood the physical forces at work when they drive …
Landfills
ou know, I produce a lot of garbage (and no, I’m not talking about this column). I’m not alone, either: Canadians produce more garbage per capita than any other nation in the world. Regina alone produces, on average, 600 tons of residential waste a day. That garbage has to go somewhere, and in most communities, …
Mir
I’m very much a child of the Space Age. I was born the year after Sputnik became the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, celebrated my 10th birthday on the very day that humans first set foot on the Moon, and turned 17 on the day that the first Viking lander set down on …
Sports injuries
Ah, warmer weather at last! Time to get out there and throw that–ouch!–ball, and swing that–ooh!–golf club, and jog around the–oof!–lake…and then, more than likely, turn on that–aah!–heating pad, fill that–mmm–ice pack, and slip into–whew!–bed. Yes, ’tis the season for athletic injuries, as those who haven’t done anything except shovel snow for half a …
Hormones
“The Devil made me do it,” said comedian Flip Wilson in the ’70s. These days, though, it’s hormones that get the blame. Teenagers becoming uncontrollable as spring kicks into high gear? Hormones. Blowing up at your boss/spouse/children for no reason? Hormones. Overweight? Hormones. Underweight? Hormones. Feeling depressed? Euphoric? Romantic? Hormones, hormones, hormones. All of which …
The science of the stock market
After 145 years, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s 30,000-square-foot trading floor, where traders bought and sold equities primarily by shouting at each other at the top of the their lungs, closed recently. Buying and selling can now be done much more quickly, easily and efficiently using computers, so the TSE has gone to a completely …
Future cars
Like many other small boys, I was fascinated by cars, not least because my oldest brother was a bit of a car guy and subscribed to cool magazines like Car and Driver and Motor Trend. Every so often, one of those magazine (or other cool magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanics) would run an article on the “Car of the …
My latest live walk and vlog
Buy Autographed Books
