A lot of people will be driving a lot of kilometres over the next few months, as Canadians rush frantically around the country to make the most of summer. Unfortunately, quite a few accidents will undoubtedly result, some of which could be prevented if people better understood the physical forces at work when they drive …
Tag: science
Landfills
ou know, I produce a lot of garbage (and no, I’m not talking about this column). I’m not alone, either: Canadians produce more garbage per capita than any other nation in the world. Regina alone produces, on average, 600 tons of residential waste a day. That garbage has to go somewhere, and in most communities, …
Mir
I’m very much a child of the Space Age. I was born the year after Sputnik became the first man-made object to orbit the Earth, celebrated my 10th birthday on the very day that humans first set foot on the Moon, and turned 17 on the day that the first Viking lander set down on …
Sports injuries
Ah, warmer weather at last! Time to get out there and throw that–ouch!–ball, and swing that–ooh!–golf club, and jog around the–oof!–lake…and then, more than likely, turn on that–aah!–heating pad, fill that–mmm–ice pack, and slip into–whew!–bed. Yes, ’tis the season for athletic injuries, as those who haven’t done anything except shovel snow for half a …
Hormones
“The Devil made me do it,” said comedian Flip Wilson in the ’70s. These days, though, it’s hormones that get the blame. Teenagers becoming uncontrollable as spring kicks into high gear? Hormones. Blowing up at your boss/spouse/children for no reason? Hormones. Overweight? Hormones. Underweight? Hormones. Feeling depressed? Euphoric? Romantic? Hormones, hormones, hormones. All of which …
The science of the stock market
After 145 years, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s 30,000-square-foot trading floor, where traders bought and sold equities primarily by shouting at each other at the top of the their lungs, closed recently. Buying and selling can now be done much more quickly, easily and efficiently using computers, so the TSE has gone to a completely …
Future cars
Like many other small boys, I was fascinated by cars, not least because my oldest brother was a bit of a car guy and subscribed to cool magazines like Car and Driver and Motor Trend. Every so often, one of those magazine (or other cool magazines like Popular Science and Popular Mechanics) would run an article on the “Car of the …
Frankenstein
It’s a safe bet most of those who dressed as Frankenstein’s monster on Hallowe’en didn’t do so to honor the birth of a new form of literature and a new way of looking at the world–but Frankenstein, or, The Modern Prometheus, was both. At first glance, Frankenstein seems like just another Gothic novel, full of dank castles, wandering …
Virtual reality
My first novel is coming out next month. Entitled Soulworm, it’s a young adult fantasy set mostly in Weyburn–sort of. For plot purposes, I moved the hospital of my fictional Weyburn up onto South Hill. With just a few words, I created an artificial reality, distinguishable from the real thing only by those who have …
More about memory
A friend recently told me about visiting a family friend’s house as a small child. When they arrived, a huge St. Bernard bounded up to her, put its paws on her shoulders, and pushed her to the ground. She remembers it as though it were yesterday. Her mother and the family friend remember it too–except …
More about memory
A friend recently told me about visiting a family friend’s house as a small child. When they arrived, a huge St. Bernard bounded up to her, put its paws on her shoulders, and pushed her to the ground. She remembers it as though it were yesterday. Her mother and the family friend remember it too–except …
Food coloring
Today is the day when all across our land, people gather to celebrate food coloring. In kitchens, in restaurants, in bars, they partake of special holiday foods, each given “a touch of the green”–green beer, green milkshakes, green pasta. It’s a touching and important reminder of the importance of color additives to our diet. What’s …
My latest live walk and vlog
Buy Autographed Books
