Russian astronauts plan to hit a golf ball into orbit from the International Space Station. And there’s a Canadian connection: The plan is part of a commercial deal between the Russian space agency and Element 21 Golf Company, based in Toronto, Canada. NASA has to approve the plan, which some experts fear could create a …
Blondes seem to attract more than their fair share of attention, both positive and negative. From “Blondes have more fun” to a plethora of “blonde jokes,” there’s something about the fair-haired that draws attention. So when Canadian anthropologist Peter Frost wrote a paper, published this week in Evolution and Human Behavior, setting forth an explanation …
The rise of the robots continues, with news of a tick-catching robot in a denim skirt.
As a former newspaper reporter and editor I try not to bash the media too much, but… The last paragraph of a just-released UPI item about research on the origin of blondes reads: A study by the World Health Organization found that natural blondes are likely to be extinct within 200 years because there are …
New Scientist reports: Motion compensation software that synchronises the movement of robotic surgical tools with that of the heart will make it possible to operate without stopping or even slowing the heart down. I do love living in a science-fictional age.
Octavia E. Butler, one of the few (and certainly the most successful) African-American women to write in the field of science fiction, has died. I’ve read and admired a great deal of her work; she’ll be sorely missed.
Terry Teachout writes about the death of Don Knotts, and the death of an era that both he and I remember (although, I hasten to add, he’s much older than me, since he was born in 1956 and I didn’t come along until…195…um, a LONG time later…)
Last night I posted a lengthy report on the wine and cheese tasting held by the German Wine Society at its annual general meeting last Sunday night. Check it out on the joint blog run by my wife and me, Willetts on Wine.
