Two years or more to Mars is too long. Fortunately, there may be a better way.
I’m back!
No blogging for the past few days due to a trip to Saskatoon (and back, and there, and back again). We went up to see Sting and Annie Lennox at Saskatchewan Place. Fabulous concert (not the greatest venue in the world, being a hockey rink, but adequate). I had to drive back the very next …
Why do curling rocks curl?
Among the mysteries of the ages are burning questions whose answers have eluded great thinkers for decades, centuries, even millennia: What is the meaning of life? How do they get the caramel into a Caramilk bar? And why do curling rocks curl? For the first two questions I have no answers at this time. For …
Switching off gene switches off cancer
Promising news on the cancer-treatment front:switching off a particular gene in mice–using a common antibiotic–also switches off liver cancer cells. Of course, fighting cancer always seems to be easier in mice…
How to build the Universe
Take teeny-tiny four-dimensional building blocks, add a dash of causality, and let stand for 20 billion years.
Death of a seminal figure in spaceflight
The designer of the Mercury spacecraft has died at age 83.
More signs of water on Mars
This planet isn’t unique. I don’t believe for an instant that we’re the only intelligent species in the universe. Whether we’ll ever prove that I’m correct, or make contact with our fellow sapients…well, that’s another question. One that science fiction is quite prepared to tackle, I might add.
Writing Diary: October 7, 2004
Light blogging the last couple of days, except for posting my science column, but I’m still ticking! I’ve gotten in some good licks on Excalibur Reforged, and, of course, there was the aforementioned science column on the Ig Nobels (always one of my favorites). I’ve also had some Regina Lyric Light Opera stuff to work …
After the X-Prize: America’s Space Prize
There may be another big space race in the offing to put the first private manned spacecraft in orbit.
The 2004 Ig Nobel Prizes
In what has become an annual tradition, I’m pleased to bring you the results of this year’s Ig Nobel Prizes, awarded by the science humour magazine Annals of Improbable Research to those who have done something that “first makes people laugh, then makes them think.” The awards were presented on September 30 at Harvard University …
Writing Diary: October 4, 2004
Well, that’s better! Tried to blog off and on all day (and last evening, too, come to think of it) and Blogger did not seem to be working. But, here I am! Not much to blog about at this hour, though. No science column today–that’s tomorrow’s duty since this is a non-CBC week. (Sniffle. I …
And the winner is…
The Ig Nobel Prizes have been handed out for 2004. Fish flatulence, hula hoops and more are featured. More details may very well be forthcoming in next week’s science column…
My latest live walk and vlog
Buy Autographed Books
