The end of one year and the beginning of another has been a time of celebration from time immemorial. But celebrating the new year on January 1 is a relatively new innovation. In the Middle Ages most European countries used the Julian calendar (still used by Orthodox churches), and each New Year began, not on …
[podcast]http://edwardwillett.com/wp-content/uploads//1995/12/The-Science-of-Flying-Reindeer.mp3[/podcast] At this festive season, aerotarandusdynamics, one of the least-known branches of the vast tree of science, finally comes into its own. “Aerotarandusdynamics” comes from “aero,” air, “tarandus,” the latter part of the scientific name for reindeer, Rangifer tarandus, and “dynamics,” moving. Hence, aerotarandusdynamics is the study of reindeer moving through the air: flying reindeer. …
We haven’t been setting any records, but all the same, it’s been pretty darn cold recently. Not that there’s anything new about that. Saskatchewan is a wonderful province and I’m very fond of it, but (I trust I’m not revealing any state secrets here) it’s cold. In winter in Canada, the cold can begin to …
When I was a kid, nothing made me happier at Christmas than a present that had something to do with science. Of all my Christmases as a small boy in Texas, the one I remember best is the one when I was seven, which is when my parents gave me my first microscope. Asked what …
The Grey Cup in Regina is over. You could tell the day after the game by the number of people wandering around with dazed expressions and bags under their eyes…which inspired me to write this week about two souvenirs of the festivities almost everyone picked up: fatigue and/or a hangover. Fatigue is characterized by an …
Christmas is a time of reflection, a time to think deeply about some of the important questions the Yuletide brings to mind. For example: Q. How come Christmas trees keep sucking up water even after they’ve been cut down? A. A tree slurps up six or seven litres when you first put it up, and …
In case you haven’t heard, there’s a little football game being played over at Taylor Field next Sunday between a team from Calgary and a team from Baltimore. Canadian football is known as a pass-happy game, so I thought I’d delve into the aerodynamics of a flying football. Football aerodynamics, however, isn’t something you just …
Like most kids, I was fascinated by secret messages. No, I didn’t have a secret decoder ring–I guess my parents bought the wrong kind of cereal–but I spent hours writing things out in code and trying to write with lemon juice (the original invisible ink). The trouble was, I never had anybody to send a …
Vampires are popular right now. There have been more vampire books, movies and TV series than you could shake a cross at in the past few years. Vampires, of course, have a number of unfortunate personality quirks–invisible in mirrors, can’t abide crosses, don’t like the sun–but we’d be willing to overlook all that if not …
“Keep your feet on the ground” is good advice for anyone–unless, of course, you’re inside, in which case you can only keep your feet on the ground if you happen to live in a sod shanty. Otherwise, you’re going to have to keep your feet on some kind of flooring: and most likely, that flooring …
I love to perform. Getting up in front of an audience and singing, acting, reading or just speaking is about the most fun thing I can think of. But many people find that hard to imagine. Research shows that what North Americans fear more than anything else–more than snakes, heights, disease, going broke, even …
We wax floors, cars and skis; make wax paper and wax candles; use wax in the creation of batik wall-hangings, lost-wax bronze sculptures and wax-crayon masterpieces; use mustache wax and at Hallowe’en have even been known to wear wax lips. Which, naturally, brings up the question, “What is this thing called wax?” “Wax,” says the …
