Tag Archives: physics

Volcanic Precognition

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An article in Science relates a study of earthquake activity near volcanoes being used to warn of impending eruptions. The study was based on the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands chain that erupted last September. Data from the article is shown to the left. This isn’t the …

Where’s my robot?

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As a kid who grew up obsessed with robots, I have to wonder why I’m still mowing my lawn or grocery shopping. Where’s my personal robot? Perhaps the same place my flying car got lost. Oh well. More seriously, we are on the verge of some very cool robotic things. I had the opportunity to …

Alien Radio

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No, I’m not talking about Orson Welles invading homes with his War of the Worlds radio broadcast (something I imagine would spread on social media today). I’m talking about radio signals from space finally resolving the Fermi Paradox: Where are all the aliens? Radio signals abound in space from natural phenomena, so an alien signal …

1st Known Alien Comet Visits Solar System

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We are currently experiencing the first know visit by an alien comet to our solar system. Last Saturday, 7 December, marked its closest approach to the sun. The only other object ever detect coming in from deep space was a rock. This doesn’t mean this never happened before, only that we’ve recently gotten good at …

Ad Astra’s Inspirational Message

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I was stunned to discover an inspirational message within the movie Ad Astra. I’d read about the dramatic cinematography and went into the theatre expecting an entertaining but essentially “light” experience. In all honesty, I’d avoided reading much about it, because I didn’t want to read any spoilers. The only thing that might have given …

Image of a Black Hole Event Horizon

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First image from the Event Horizon Telescope, a global collaboration of radio telescopes from around the world, all synthesized into one big virtual telescope. The whole point was to find out what a black hole looks like, and now we have it. This is a bit blurry and low-resolution, but still amazing when you realize …

“The Road Not Taken” Published!

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The Road Not Taken is in the April 2019 Bards and Sages Quarterly William Tobias found a way to loop around space-time and meet a young version of himself. Can he change the destiny of his younger self?   My story “The Road Not Taken” is now published in the April 2019 issue of Bards …

“A Matter of Nurture” Published!

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A Matter of Nurture in Neo-opsis 29 Dani Díaz is a virtuoso in a dark but necessary profession. Or is she? A job gone horribly wrong makes her doubt everything she thought she knew, including her own identity. My story “A Matter of Nurture” is now published in issue 29 of Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine. I …

Why Scientists are Allergic to Statistics

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This article in Medical Xpress addresses a huge pet peeve of mine. Scientists largely suck at statistics! Especially for experimental scientists, this is insane. Yet I cannot express how frustrating it has been to me throughout my career as an experimental scientist to see study after study proven invalid because the statistics were botched. And I’m not …