This looks like a really interesting story, but I fell asleep before I made it all the way to the……endzzzzzzz…
Why we enjoy Christmas
I love the Christmas season–everything from the decorations to the TV specials. And now, a new study reveals that so do most other people–or, at least, they enjoy the things that Christmas entails. How people choose to use their time, and how they experience their day-to-day activities and settings, is of interest to everyone from …
"Conditions at Meridiani may have been habitable"
In a special issue, the magazine Science notes the conclusion from a Cornell University-led Mars rover science team: “Liquid water was once present intermittently at the martian surface at Meridiani, and at times it saturated the subsurface. Because liquid water is a key prerequisite for life, we infer that conditions at Meridiani may have been …
Da Vinci Project builds balloon
The Da Vinci Project keeps moving ahead; it’s announced that it has completed construction and flight qualification of the world’s largest reusable helium balloon, which will carry the Wild Fire MK VI spacecraft to its launch altitude ot 21.3 kilometres. They’re looking at a launch early in 2005 now, they say.
Stupid SF TV premise of the week
Check out the third paragraph of this story about a new SF series planned for Fox TV: When they arrive on the other side of moon — which is cloaked in perpetual darkness and beyond radio contact with earth — they discover a mysterious compound. News flash: there is no “dark side” of the moon. …
The CICLOPS Captain’s Log
The home page of the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations (CICLOPS) is not only the best place to see the latest images from the neighborhood of Saturn, it’s also proof (if any more were needed) of the level of ubiquity achieved by Star Trek.
Giant space rock named after Saskatoon man
Amateur astronomer Richard Huziak is the first Saskatchewan man to have a minor planet named after him. Of course, back before I lost weight, I was in danger of becoming a minor planet…
A Canadian Arrow moment
Here’s a nice UPI story about one of the Canadian Arrow used-to-be-an-X-prize team’s private astronauts. Although I’ve blogged more about the Da Vinci project, I hope to see the Canadian Arrow do well, too. For one thing, since it’s a modified V2 rocket, it looks the way God and Heinlein intended rockets to look, darn …
Learning without trying
I cut my teeth as a science writer at the Saskatchewan Science Centre, where I wrote most of the copy for the original exhibits (and continue to write most of the copy for new exhibits, on a freelance basis). The goal of the Science Centre has always been to make science fun, the idea being …
An American talks about living in Canada…
…and no, it’s not me. But she echoes a lot of my own feelings, even though she’s only been here about four years and I’ve been here most of 37.
Da Vinci project still holding fire
The Da Vinci project’s first launch is still on hold. By the way, it’s not in this story, but in a newspaper story I saw (but haven’t found online), Feeney is now saying there’ll be an unmanned launch or two before he rides the rocket himself. In the absence of the X-prize incentive, I think …
No joy in Regina…
…well, at least not for me. My bio of J. R. R. Tolkien did not win a Saskatchewan Book Award at last night’s gala dinner. It was short-listed in the Children’s Literature category, which was won by Flux, by Beth Goobie. Beth Goobie was not there to accept the award, but cries of “Draw again!” …
My latest live walk and vlog
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