[My response during a discussion, 'If you could have any superpower, what would it be?']

This is the amazing thing:

WE ALREADY HAVE SUPERPOWERS!

My brain, which looks like a Jello mold made of moldy oatmeal, generates ideas, thoughts, needs, wishes, hates, loves, all by itself, and then it goes out and acts on the world to satisfy these ( Read more... )

Normally, when flying, I barely notice the 'In Case of Motion Discomfort' bags in the seat pockets. But last night, flying home on Southwest, I happened to pull the bag from the pocket and saw that it was imprinted with a single line, 'U.S. Patent No. 7,041,042 ( Read more... )

Of course, I'm being sarcastic. Medical care in Canada is available, humane, and refreshingly free of paperwork and insurance industry death panels. Below is a letter received this morning from a friend whose wife was just diagnosed with breast cancer: [Wife] and I just spent the morning at the cancer clinic. I was blown away at how efficient and ( Read more... )

I’ve been looking into my crystal ball. It’s just back from the shop after having that crack repaired, and I’m going to make a prognostication about book publishing and distribution in the near future ( Read more... )

'Open access' journals were the great hope of scientists weary of long waits for publication, especially with tenure and grants in the balance. But it didn't take the commercial journal publishers long to zero in on open access as another profit center, regardless of quality ( Read more... )

Report from the Pima College Writers’ Workshop ( Read more... )

The Christmas Police - A Love Story ( Read more... )

I've wondered why scientists spend time on global warming when the ( Read more... )

...is located on Hwy 79 about halfway between the town of Florence and Tucson, Arizona. There's a little memorial there to the cowboy movie hero, though the bronze plaque and sculpture were pried loose and stolen two years ago. Mix drove his car off a washed-out bridge into the dry river bed that now bears his name. Though he wore a seat belt, his ( Read more... )

An MIT scientist has found a way to split water with hydrogen and ( Read more... )