Those who are old enough to remember Paul McCartney as a Beatle probably also remember longing for a colour television. (Nowadays, of course, you hardly ever see a black and white one.) There was something about watching television in colour that made even programs like My Mother the Car sparkle. And as for Star Trek–wow! Human beings have …
Considering the number of books written on the subject, the stacks of pamphlets available at any doctor’s office, and the fact that a column concerning it already appears in weekly newspapers across the province (I used to edit a weekly newspaper, so I know), you could consider it an act of hubris that this week …
Ah, summertime! Time to get away from it all; to sit in the shade with a cold soft drink or a bowl of delicious homemade ice cream (such as the batch I made Saturday). Doesn’t seem very conducive to thinking about science, does it? Think again. Consider that soft drink (or any other bubbling brew) …
“To sleep, perchance to dream. Aye, there’s the rub . . . “ Aye, there’s the rub indeed–the rub being, nobody’s really sure why we sleep. Or why we dream. Or why either is important. Some scientists doubt that dreaming is of any great importance. They don’t have those doubts about sleep. We know …
Submitted for your consideration: a blue, pungent gas that used to be simple oxygen –but now is something quite different. You are about to enter…the O-Zone. Ozone, at first gasp, doesn’t seem like something to be concerned about. Normal oxygen molecules–the ones we breath–consist of two oxygen atoms. Add one more, and you get ozone. …
Presumably, by now, you’ve heard of something called the “greenhouse effect.” (If you haven’t, we’ll pause briefly while your next-of-kin checks to see if you’re still breathing.) The term “greenhouse effect,” as usually used today, refers to the predicted gradual warming of the Earth due to an increase in various gases in the atmosphere, primarily …
Several centuries ago Shakespeare titled a play Much Ado About Nothing. If I gave these columns titles, that’s what I’d call this one–not because I think I write as well as Shakespeare, but because that’s what this column is about: nothing. Nothing is very important. Um, what I mean is, the concept of nothing is …
G. D. Fahrenheit, Anders Celsius and William Kelvin may sound like prospects for the Roughriders’ defensive backfield, but they probably wouldn’t work out very well. For one thing, they’re all dead. For another, they weren’t football players, but scientists–and two of them, at least, are household names, which is far less common for scientists than …
Want to start an interesting discussion? Go up to someone and say, “I think Barry Manilow represents the pinnacle of music in the rock era.” Assuming you can avoid being locked and/or beaten up, you will have demonstrated the fact that music is a topic of great interest to just about everyone. Topics of great …
Welcome back (those who came back) for the promised look at Einstein’s general theory of relativity. I hope you remembered the billiard balls and rubber sheet… Einstein’s special theory of relativity, which we looked at last week, states that nothing can travel faster than light. Isaac Newton’s laws of gravity, however, assumed that somehow gravitational …
If you were asked, on the spur of the moment, to state a famous scientific equation–any old equation–the odds are you’d say “E=mc2.” Almost everyone has heard of it, and most people have also heard of Einstein and the theory of relativity. Sooner or later, then, a science columnist like myself pretty well has to …
“Have a heart!” “You’re breaking my heart!” “He’s a man after my own heart.” “He showed a lot of heart.” “He wears his heart on his sleeve.” “Hey, wanna play hearts?” We use the word “heart” in a lot of different ways–so many, in fact, that the Oxford English Dictionary (which admittedly is not known …
A long chat with Genevieve Gornichec, author of the historical fantasies The Witch’s Heart and The Weaver and the Witch Queen. Websitegenevievegornichec.com Facebook@gengornichec Twitter/X@gengornichec Instagram@gengornichec Genevieve Gornichec’s Amazon Page The Introduction Genevieve Gornichec earned her degree in history from Ohio State University, but she got as close to majoring in Vikings as she possibly could, and her…
An hour-long chat with fantasy writer M.J. Kuhn, author of the internationally bestselling Among Thieves and its new sequel, Thick as Thieves. Websitemjkuhn.com X (Twitter)@mjkuhnbooks Instagram@mjkuhnbooks TikTok@mjkuhnbooks Facebook@mjkuhnbooks The Introduction M.J. Kuhn, author of the internationally bestselling Among Thieves and its new sequel, Thick as Thieves, is a fantasy writer by night and a mild-mannered…
An hour-long conversation with Hayden Trenholm, award-winning playwright, novelist, and short-story writer and member of the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association Hall of Fame. Websitehaydentrenholm.com X@HaydenTrenholm Hayden Trenholm’s Amazon Page The Introduction Hayden Trenholm is an award-winning playwright, novelist, and short story writer. He has also been a public servant, an actor, a bartender,…
An hour-long chat with award-winning Canadian horror writer Edo van Belkom, author of the Wolf Pack YA books, now a Paramount+ TV series. Websiteedovanbelkom.com Twitter@edovanbelkom Instgram@edovanbelkom Facebook@edo.vanbelkom Edo van Belkom’s Amazon Page The Introduction Edo van Belkom is an award-winning Canadian author who began his career as a reporter for newspapers in and around Toronto, mainly…
An hour-long chat with Natalie Wright, author of the new fantasy novel Season of the Dragon, as well as the H.A.L.F. series and the Akasha Chronicles. Websitenataliewrightauthor.com Facebook@nataliewright.author Twitter@nataliewright_ Instagram@nataliewrightauthor Natalie Wright’s Amazon Page The Introduction Natalie Wright writes fantasy and science fiction novels and short stories. She’s the author of the award-winning H.A.L.F. series…
An hour-long chat with Evan Graham, author of the Calling Void series of science fiction stories and the new novel Tantalus Depths. Websiteevangraham.org Facebook@AuthorEvanGraham Twitter@evanmgraham Evan Graham’s Amazon Page The Introduction Evan Graham consistently refuses to seek help for his lifelong sci-fi addiction. Since there are not enough stories currently in existence to satisfy him,…
An hour-long interview with M.C.A. Hogarth, prolific and award-nominated science fiction/fantasy author and artist. Websitemcahogarth.org Twitter@mcahogarth M.C.A. Hogarth’s Amazon page The Introduction Daughter of two Cuban political exiles, M.C.A. Hogarth was born a foreigner in the American melting pot and has had a fascination for the gaps in cultures and the bridges that span them…
An hour-long interview with J.G. Gardner, scientist and author of the new high-fantasy novel The Path from Regret. Websitejgardnerauthor.com J. G. Gardner’s Amazon page The Introduction J.G. Gardner has a Ph.D. in Microbiology and is currently a researcher working on new ways to generate renewable energy using bacteria. While having published many technical papers on…
An hour-long chat with Rebecca Yarros, the USA Today– and New York Times-bestselling author of more than fifteen novels, including the just-released Fourth Wing, book one of the new fantasy series The Empyrean. Websiterebeccayarros.com Facebook@RebeccaElizabethYarros rTwitter@RebeccaYarros Instagram@RebeccaYarros Rebecca Yarros’s Amazon Page The Introduction Rebecca Yaros is the USA Today– and New York Times-bestselling author of…
An hour-plus chat with Brent Weeks, bestselling and award-winning author of the Night Angel Trilogy and the Lightbringer Series and the just-released Night Angel Nemesis, first book in a new series, The Kylar Chronicles. Websitebrentweeks.com Facebook@BrentWeeksAuthor Twitter@brentweeks YouTube Brent Weeks’s Amazon Page The Introduction In a small-town Montana school at age twelve, Brent Weeks met…
Facebook
LinkedIn
GoodReads
RSS
Twitter
Email
Youtube