Aaron Freeman and I will be conversing by means of Google Hangout this coming Sunday, 28 February, at 2 PM Central Standard Time. The topic is Pluto, recently explored by NASA's New Horizons mission. If that sounds like fun, please tune in. Send your questions along ( Read more... )

Remember that time when meteors clobbered Chicagoland? Remember that other time?

The Chicago Council on Science & Technology does a variety of things to encourage public engagement with science in our city. Including holding scientific talks in a tavern.


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The Google Life trove documents a thousand encounters between scientists and photographers.

There's an oft-retold story-- it seems to have first seen print with John J. McPhaul in his 1962 book Deadlines and Monkeyshines: the Fabled World of Chicago Journalism (thanks again, Google!) -- about a photographer named Sam. He was assigned to cover a ( Read more... )

Here's what I get searching a list of Illinois towns in the vicinity of Chicago.

(Actually, I'm not "grepping," I'm using DCL "SEARCH" in VMS, with which I am more comfortable.)

( Wood burbs, lake burbs, park burbs, oak burbs )

Be sure to respond by 2 PM if you want to see the IMAX 3-D Mars movie for free tonight at Navy Pier in downtown Chicago.

Somewhere, Bill Veeck is grinning.

Wednesday night, 2 February, I will be at the Adler Planetarium, addressing the Chicago Astronomical Society on "Exploring Titan and Its Neighbors."

(My best guess: Since Titan is hazy all the time, the groundhog there will never see his shadow.)

I was looking at a story about The Chicago Folk and Roots Festival.

Only an eyeball-typo transformed it into The Chicago Folk and Robots Festival.

Which would have been more interesting, don't you think?