Right now, on a dry lake bed in Black Rock, Nevada, two teams are locked in a fierce competition. Using exotic, jet-propelled vehicles, they’re striving to break the sound barrier–on land. In the process, they’re pushing technology to its limits. What makes the competition even more interesting is the contrast between the two teams. On …
Tag: science
Tea, revisited
I drink a lot of tea. In my family, every meal except breakfast was accompanied by a tall glass of iced tea, and today, I almost always have a glass of iced tea at hand when I’m watching TV, reading, or writing this column. Which means that recent studies touting the health benefits of …
Asthma
Most of us breathe without even thinking about it. In and out, in and out, the air moves easily and effortlessly. But there are millions of people for whom breathing can never be taken for granted, and their numbers are increasing: asthmatics. Asthma is a narrowing of airways in the lungs that causes coughing, wheezing …
Learning
It’s September, and that can only mean one thing: the Roughriders are losing. Oh, all right, TWO things: the Roughriders are losing, and kids are back in school. School, in theory, is where we learn what we need to know to be a useful member of society. How these things are taught has changed drastically …
The ocean
I’ve always been fascinated by the ocean: the endless rolling of the waves, the water’s changing moods, the limitless horizon. Or maybe it’s just because, coming from the dry prairies, I’m amazed that anything can be that big and wet. How big and wet? The ocean covers 71 percent of the Earth’s surface: 361 million …
Lightning
Maybe it’s because, in the last couple of years, I’ve taken up golfing, but I’ve become increasingly fascinated by lightning. (There’s something about standing in the open holding a metal rod that’ll do that to you.) I’m certainly not alone. Lightning has fascinated people throughout history. It took Benjamin Franklin, though, to demonstrate its electrical …
Gambling
Ever since there have been human beings, human beings have gambled. Dice carved from the ankle bones of antelope have been found in prehistoric tombs. The ancient Egyptians played a game calle datep, which involved guessing how many fingers someone was holding up. The classical Greeks and biblical Jews had forms of dice, and the …
Con-Version XIV
I just attended a convention in Calgary. I listened to and participated in panels on topics as diverse as dinosaurs, communicating the process of science to the general public, Mars, and the social responsibility of novelists. What kind of convention deals with such a wide range of fascinating topics? Only one: a science fiction convention. …
Language
Perro, chien, hund, sobaka, kelev, mbwa, animush, inu. No, those aren’t the ingredients for tonight’s special at a vegetarian restaurant–at least, one hopes not: they’re all words for the creature we who speak English would call a dog. At first glance, the languages from which those words come would seem to have little in common …
The science of things Canadian
What makes Canada Canada? It’s a question Canadians always seem to be asking themselves, and in honor of Canada’s 130th birthday, just past, I’ve decided to do my bit to bolster Canadian identity by presenting the science behind a few things we associate with this great land. Take beavers, for instance. Canada was built on …
Fingerprints
“Your Honor, the accused’s fingerprints were found at the scene of the crime.” In how many novels, movies and TV shows have those words, or variations on them, spelled doom for a criminal? Of all the tools available to criminal investigators, fingerprinting is probably the one most familiar to the public at large. That’s not …
Golf technology
If I had to name two sports that are heavily technology-driven, I’d probably name auto racing–and golf. Auto racing is an obvious choice. But golf? Golf looks so simple. A player, a club, a ball, a hole. Player swings club, hits ball, puts it into hole. Where’s the technology in that? If you have to …
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