Let’s see, I must have done some writing today… Well, not much, actually. I had to several queries to answer on the physics book whose page proofs I dealt with yesterday; then I had to design an ad for Regina Lyric Light Opera‘s upcoming auditions, then I had a lunch date. In the early afternoon …
…and what’s most exciting about this one is that it’s the smallest yet found (only about the size of Uranus) and it appears to be a rocky body with a gaseous atmosphere–the closest thing to an Earth-like planet discovered so far. The galaxy is lousy with planets. I can’t prove it, but I’m betting it’s …
Australian scientists say that they have a method to generate hydrogen from water that could lead to simple pollution-free energy-harvesting devices within seven years.
Not much creative writing today, I’m afraid. I edited down my CBC version of the science column into the lean, mean columning machine you see a couple of posts down from here, then spent the rest of the day reading and correcting the page proofs for Introduction to Quantum Physics: The Photoelectric Effect and Line …
I stumbled across this old news story from England today: The Mirror (London, England); 1/31/1997 Snooty residents of a street named after a road sweeper say it devalues their homes. They claim house prices have dropped 10 per cent on Eddie Willett Road. Resident Reg Stanley said: “If people had known the road name when …
This one is 500 light years away, and is the first (of, one hopes, many) discovered by the Trans-Atlantic Exoplanet Survey, a network of small, relatively inexpensive telescopes designed to look specifically for planets orbiting bright stars.
Time flies when you’re having fun, the saying goes; now there’s scientific evidence to back that up. Dr. Anthony Chaston and Dr. Alan Kingstone of the University of Alberta’s Department of Psychology gave subjects tests that required them to find specific items in various images. Before they began, they were told that once the test …
Morning: column on time perception (to appear in this space later today). This was one of those science columns where I thought, “Oh, this should be easy,” and a couple of hours of clicking and printing out and reading and digesting later, finally set words to paper. Fiction writing followed; I got a few good …
…and in related news, odd rumbling sounds are heard from Lord Nelson’s grave.
…all us writers, anyway. Louis de Bernieres, author of Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, had his laptop computer stolen–containing the first 50 pages of his new novel, which he had not backed up. D’oh!
I haven’t kept this up as well as I’d hoped, but I’m back again with another thrill-a-minute report on What I’m Reading. I finished off the latest Locus–that always goes to the top of the pile–this week, and am still reading The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan. I still can’t believe I managed to buy …
The CBC reports on an “arts invasion” of a building a short distance from where I live. Apparently, this neighborhood is deteriorating. You’d think I’d have noticed.
