The Groundhog Day Syndrome

The Groundhog Day Syndrome

This feeling is known to everyone, it does not discriminate.   Most people do however learn to adapt to the overwhelming emotions ( perhaps exclusively negative ) that are inherent in this…
Journalists, scientists and new media

Journalists, scientists and new media

As a journalist I have seen many misunderstandings not only in the field of science. The relationship between journalists and other kind of professionals, for example medics professionals, is…
The Daytime Astronomer on Hyper-Specialization

The Daytime Astronomer on Hyper-Specialization

Astronomy as a profession is hyper-specialized.  What do you study-- planets, stars, galaxies, clusters, cosmology? Oh, if only it were that simple.  Say you study stars.  It doesn't…
What probably happens inside a black hole

What probably happens inside a black hole

I have read many works about black holes and one thing is possible to say for sure: nobody knows what really happens inside a black hole. There is a lot of theories about that. But they don’t have…
The Bowron Lakes: Geologic Gem III

The Bowron Lakes: Geologic Gem III

To reach the west side of the Bowron Lake paddling route, we must first face several kilometres portaging muddy trails to meet up with the Isaac River and then paddle rapids to grade two. At the…
The team that switched off that cancer

The team that switched off that cancer

The trigger was a gene. In service to humanity was a tiny fly, Drosophila spp aka fruit fly. This space pioneer that was flown to space first for radiation studies has been a…
Implications of The Sexual Attraction Exception

Implications of The Sexual Attraction Exception

There was a study done over a decade ago by Claud Wedekind in which 44 men wore the same T-shirt for three days, refraining from deodorants and scented soaps so they wouldn’t interfere with their…
Poor OCO, and Launching Flight Spares

Poor OCO, and Launching Flight Spares

Sadly, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) had a launch failure, and is now spread out on Antarctica somewhere. Ironically, I'd written earlier today about the economics of the New Horizons mission…
Scientific Authorities As Honest Brokers

Scientific Authorities As Honest Brokers

In a recent piece entitled Politics in the Guise of Pure Science, John Tierney asks whether scientists can be "honest brokers" on controversial and politically charged issues like global warming and…
The iPhone versus Pluto

The iPhone versus Pluto

Sending stuff into space requires it be lightweight and functional. And people seem to really like their lightweight, functional iPhones. But if we just sent an iPhone to Pluto, it wouldn't be able…
311 days left in the IYA

311 days left in the IYA

We're 54 days into the International Year of Astronomy, and what better way to celebrate than to peer at the heavens through your very own Galileoscope? Orders begin shipping in April. Until your…