I’m writing this on January 2, which means that, for more days than not over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been able to sleep in. But today, at 6:40 a.m., the alarm clock went off, and I staggered out of bed, a stumbling, half-blind example of the effects of sleep inertia (not that having …
Category: Science Columns
It’s the end of year as we know it, and I feel fine
It’s the most wonderful time of the year, when a columnist can fill his allotted space simply by looking back on everything he wrote about in the previous 365 (give or take) days. However, it would be too easy to simply look back at the columns that appeared in the newspaper. Instead, here is “the …
Sword-swallowing safety tips:
Concentrate. For instance, if there is a misbehaving macaw on your shoulder, ignore it. Avoid unusual swords, such as curved sabers. Don’t try to swallow multiple swords at a time. Safety tips you can use, courtesy of the British Medical Journal.
Colossal calamari caught on camera:
Japanese scientists herald live giant squid footage (from PhysOrg.com): Japanese scientists have released what they say could be the first live video footage of the elusive giant squid, exposing some of the creature’s underwater secrets. Note this is a giant squid, not a colossal squid, which I only mention because “colossal squid” is a search …
Ho, ho, ho and the world ho, ho, hos with you
‘Tis the season to start columns with the phrase ’tis the season…and, if you’re fortunate, to laugh a lot, at parties, at kids, at TV Christmas specials–or just because other people are laughing. Why is laughter contagious? A new study, just published in the Journal of Neuroscience, provides a hint. Researchers at University College London …
It’s the most wonderful time of the year…
…when five of the top 15 (I know, there are more than 15 listed here, but some of them tied) search terms bringing people to edwardwillett.com relate to Christmas. Here are the terms and (new feature!) the links they take you to on my main site: 42 flying reindeer 40 christmas chemistry 32 animal intelligence …
Researching the glue that holds the universe together
Sometimes I think I’m a little too focused in these column on the practical applications of recent scientific research. That’s understandable, since it’s through technology and new ways of doing things that science impacts on our everyday lives. But underpinning all scientific advances is basic research: research conducted, not to enable us to make a …
Building a better Christmas with technology
The march of science and technology can be breathtaking, can’t it? Just consider these recent developments in the all-important field of Christmas-related…um, stuff. First, there’s the Lightset Repair Gun. If you have a string of mini-lights that isn’t working, it’s probably because of faulty shunts. Designed to prevent a whole string of lights wired in …
It’s déjà vu all over again
It’s the strangest mental phenomena most of us ever experience: the feeling that we’ve already done or seen something that we’re really doing or seeing for the first time. This week an interesting new aspect of the phenomenon came to light: for the first time, researchers have reported a case of a blind person experiencing …
What’s real, and what’s pretend?
My five-year-old daughter just received her first visit from the Tooth Fairy. Soon, of course, she’ll be visited by Santa Claus. Being the scientifically minded parent that I am, I’m always providing my daughter with information about things like why it’s dark now when she gets up in the morning when it used to be …
Movie monster biology
Not long ago I wrote an article emphasizing that science fiction is, first and foremost, fiction, and that a little fudging of the science for the sake of the story is expected and accepted. Having said that, however, I must also admit that nothing warms the cockles of my heart (what exactly is a cockle, …
The 2006 Ig Nobel Prizes
Scientists have a pop-culture reputation as either a) boring or b) mad. That they are not necessarily the former (although, based on the evidence, the jury is still out on the latter) was proven once again last month with the annual awarding of the Ig Nobel Prizes “for research which first makes you laugh, then …
My latest live walk and vlog
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