I’m currently in the middle of a Saskatchewan tour with the Canadian Chamber Choir. In fact, we have a joint concert with Juventus in Regina on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Westminster United Church. Because my brain is currently stuffed full of music, it’s hard for me to come up with a scintillating new science …
Tag: science
Examining autumn, reviewing Shakespeare
I have two pieces in today’s Regina LeaderPost. On the front page of the Weekender section you can read my article on the science of autumn, which comes complete with a rather odd picture of me holding up a leaf and looking slightly deranged. Then, in the Arts and Life section, I’ve got a review …
Male managers as animal show-offs
I’ve been a freelance writer for 15 years now, so the world of office politics is something I know about only through second-hand accounts and television shows. I say that just so you know I can’t personally vouch for the accuracy of the study that caught my eye this week. The study, authored by Jeffrey …
The 2008 Ig Nobel Prizes
It’s October, which means not only that I am now getting up in the dark, but that it is time for the Ig Nobel Prizes, given annually by the Annals of Improbable Research “For achievements that first make people LAUGH then make them THINK” (apparently IN CAPITAL LETTERS). The 2008 prizes were handed out last …
My latest posts on Futurismic, from robot milkmaids to unversal ‘flu vaccines
After a bit of a hiatus, I’ve been posting fairly regularly over on Futurismic recently (which is why there are fewer science posts on here than there used to be). Here are my recent Futurismic posts to check out if you’re interested: “I, for one, welcome our new robot milkmaids…” “Sex, fish, extinction and the …
Car faces
Every once in a while my seven-year-old daughter will watch a car go by as we’re driving and comment, “That car looks angry,” or “That car looks sad.” It’s something we’ve all thought at some point or other (or at least I have) regardless of age: the fronts of cars look just enough like faces …
"I never forget a…"
Wasps have a good memory for a face Chimps never forget a bum Since I’m more closely related to chimps than to wasps, perhaps the difficulty I have in remembering people’s names simply boils down to looking at the wrong spot.
"I never forget a…"
Wasps have a good memory for a face Chimps never forget a bum Since I’m more closely related to chimps than to wasps, perhaps the difficulty I have in remembering people’s names simply boils down to looking at the wrong spot.
A taste for cooked meat
It’s not very often you come across new science related to the history of cooking meat, possibly because it’s such a widespread human activity–especially in the summer–that everyone takes it for granted. Also, we’ve been doing it a very long time. As I wrote in a column four years ago: “Evidence…suggests our hominid ancestors were …
The cold facts
We are, alas, heading into winter, which is not only the cold (Brrr!) season, but also the cold (Ah-choo!) season. We all get colds. That’s not surprising, because, as the Common Cold Centre at Cardiff University in the U.K. likes to point out, we breathe in some 15,000 litres of germ-laden air every day. Which …
Why flies are so hard to swat
Michael Dickinson is a genius. At least, in 2001 the University of California, Berkeley, professor received one of the $500,000 “genius” grants given annually by The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to creative individuals “who provide the imagination and fresh ideas that can improve people’s lives and bring about movement on important issues.” …
Books, movies, reality are all equally disgusting–and that’s a good thing!
I write nonfiction (obviously), but I also write science fiction and fantasy. We who write such stuff are occasionally asked (and occasionally wonder) if our works can continue to compete in a media universe in which “science fiction” and “fantasy” conjure up for most people Hollywood special-effects extravaganzas first, and the written word second (if …
My latest live walk and vlog
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