It looks like SpaceShipOne is almost ready to try for the X-prize. I haven’t heard a peep out of the Da Vinci Project boys for a while…
Do you know where germs lurk?
I’m currently suffering my second cold of the spring and summer. Maybe that’s why a recent survey on germs caught my eye. It seems most people have a skewed perception of where germs really lurk in the environment. Since 80 percent of infectious diseases are spread through hand contact, that means many people may not …
The grandmother factor
The elderly played an important role in the success of early humanity. Nice to know as I approach my 45th birthday…because, you know, when your average Homo erectus was my age, he was dead.
Writing Diary: July 5, 2004
Today is Monday–science column today. Today’s column was all about germs, and where they really lurk, as opposed to where people think they lurk; a recent study by “Dr. Germ” tells all. Details tomorrow when I post the column itself. That done, it was off to Second Cup for an hour with Excalibur Reforged; today …
Gratuitous anti-Americanism
From The Globe and Mail: Yes, as the tributes have insisted, Brando was indeed an American icon, but that cliché needs dusting off too, and then re-examined in all its paradoxical wonder. Because, ultimately, Marlon Brando seems as complex and as simple as the country that revered and reviled him — so perceptive and so …
More from Titan…
…but just a taste of what we can expect as the Cassini-Huygens mission continues.
SF Canada Web site updated
I’ve just updated the SF Canada Web site; the Summer 2004 “issue” features an interview with agent Donald Maass by Celu Amberstone and a short-short fantasy story by Matthew Hughes. Check it out!
First pictures of Titan
They’re from 200,000 miles out, but they’re far better than anything taken before. No sign of the telltale glint of liquid on the surface, though, that scientists were expecting. Stay tuned–there are many, many more flybys of Titan to come, including one at just 745 miles distance in October–and, of course, the Huygens probe will …
Good news for diabetics?
A tiny, under-the-skin sensor that can continuously monitor blood sugar levels is in the works: this could be great news for diabetics.
Reading Diary: July 2, 2004
My wife and I continue to read The Subtle Knife; we’ll probably finish that up over the weekend and move on to the final book in the trilogy. After that, in probably another month or six weeks, I think we’re headed for Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men. On my own, I finished the latest …
Writing Diary: July 2, 2004
Not much writing today; it’s not exactly a long weekend, but my wife took the afternoon off (lots of people took the day off!) and we went to see latest Harry Potter flick. Our favorite of the three, and the book was probably our favorite of all five so far. Afterward, I did get in …
Meanwhile, back here on Earth…
All the attention is on Cassini and the Mars Rovers these days, but there’s another interesting spacecraft about to be launched, whose focus is good ol’ Mother Earth.
My latest live walk and vlog
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