These days, when the world is covered by cities, we can be forgiven for thinking that there’s nothing much special about them. You get a bunch of people together, you put them in houses, you add a few businesses, and presto! Instant city. But in fact cities are a relatively recent invention. Modern humans have …
Here in North America we’re obsessed by cleanliness. We shower daily, sluice down our kitchens with anti-bacterial soap, try to keep our children from playing in the mud. Through good hygiene, we’ve eradicated or reduced the incidence of many diseases—but some scientists are now beginning to think we may have gone too far. Nearly 700 …
Have you ever felt like your computer knew what you wanted to accomplish—and was determined to stop you from doing so? Right now, that’s just anthropomorphic thinking—but in the not too distant future, a computer may know what you’re thinking. It might even be doing some thinking—or, at least, data processing—for you, without you having …
I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to anyone, but Regina has a seasonal problem with potholes. But there may be hope for our pothole problem, and similar problems all over the world, thanks to the work of two University of Washington State University civil engineering professors. Dr. Thomas Papgiannakis and Dr. Eyad Masad …
It’s all very well scientists spending their time on cures for cancer, faster computers and a general Theory of Everything, but every once in a while, I firmly believe, they need to get their heads out of the clouds and concentrate on things that are really important to the average Joe: things like pizza, beer …
“Write what you know” is one of those tiresome bits of advice that beginning writers are forever having thrown at them. As a science fiction writer, I’ve always rejected this particular maxim out of hand, because, after all, I’ve never been a homeless street musician who ends up sharing a cheap hotel room with an …
Sound is all around us, to the point where those of us blessed with good hearing take it for granted. But there is a thriving field of science for whose researchers sound is more than just background noise. They see sound as a potential tool for everything from new forms of transportation to new …
There are a lot of talented young people in Regina. Some of the most talented will be on stage this week and next, as Do It With Class Young People’s Theatre Inc. presents two musicals, Two Gentlemen of Verona and Alice in Wonderland. Do It With Class, now in its seventh season, began with just …
“Modern dance” and “prairie pioneer life” are two phrases that don’t get used together very often. This weekend at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, however, they’ll merge, under the direction of local dancer and choreographer Tracy Houser. On the Edge: Prairie Women , presented Saturday, April 1, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 2, at …
Seven years ago, it was the Mississippi. Three years ago, it was the Red River. Two years ago, the Yangtze River in China. This year, Mozambique. Recent years have seen a, well, a flood of devastating floods all around the world. And they’re getting worse. In 1998, total losses from weather-related natural disasters, including floods …
Just as (at least according to the old saying) there’s more than one way to skin a cat, so there is more than one way to approach the craft of acting–and lessons in one new approach are about to be offered in Regina. Probably the most famous method is usually called, capital letters and all, …
People with pets find it hard to believe, but scientists continue to debate whether or not animals are conscious–that is, whether they’re aware of themselves as individuals. Some still claim that anything animals do is strictly the result of conditioning. Others are willing to grant animals a certain amount of intelligence, but argue that animals …
