Copy Writing & Copy Editing
As a staffer, I was a professional, full-time science editor for more than eight years.
Robo Tanks to Guard Nuclear Facility. What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Discover, October 6 2010.
Who needs people to guard a nuclear weapons facility when you can build an autonomous robot to do it? Or, at least that’s what the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) was probably thinking when they ordered up three robo-tanks to take on the task.. →
Toxic Sludge Floods Hungarian Countryside, Threatens the Danube River
Discover, October 6 2010.
It was a deadly accident and an ecological disaster. On Monday, a reservoir at a Hungarian aluminum refinery ruptured, sending a wave of toxic sludge across three counties (click image to see a map of the area).
The spill sent 185 million gallons–a mini-tsunami–of.. →
Thrifty Brits Make Natural Gas out of Sewage and Beer-Brewing Leftovers
Discover, October 5 2010.
How to make natural gas? Flush the toilet, and wait three weeks. At least that’s the plan for homes involved in the Didcot Renewable Gas Project, which will be recycling residents’ waste into renewable natural gas, aka “biogas”.
Gearóid.. →
Climate Change Activists’ Head-Exploding Ad May Have Gone a Bit Far
Discover, October 5 2010.
In a move that some are calling a misguided publicity stunt, the environmental activist group 10:10 Climate Change Campaign produced and released a gory and disturbing short film, similar to Plane Stupid’s “Polar Bear” video, to promote the climate.. →
It’s a Rat! It’s a Toy Car! It’s RatCar?
Discover, October 5 2010.
While this contraption looks similar to a doggy wheelchair or a pair of prosthetic legs for your favorite pet, it’s actually much more sophisticated. This rat is hooked up to a prototype of a thought-guided robot wheelchair.
The robot-rat setup,.. →
Biotech on the Bayou
The Scientist magazine, October 2010.
Running from patient to patient while fielding calls from reporters, investors, biotech CEOs, and medical engineers, William Kethman isn’t your typical medical student. The calls are coming because of his second job: moonlighting as a medical device and.. →
The One True Path?
The Scientist magazine, October 2010.
Endocrinologist Kevin Niswender and neuroscientist Aurelio Galli hadn’t really kept in contact since they parted ways after beginning their respective careers at Vanderbilt University in the 1990s. But about 10 years ago, Niswender, who went to medical.. →
Dr. James’s Fever Powder, circa 1746
The Scientist magazine, October 2010.
Dr. James’s fever powder, patented by English physician Robert James, claimed to cure fevers and various other maladies, from gout and scurvy to distemper in cattle. Though its efficacy was often questioned, the powder had “a long tradition of usage,”.. →
Shivering Shavenbaby
The Scientist magazine, October 2010.
The paper
N. Frankel et al., “Phenotypic robustness conferred by apparently redundant transcriptional enhancers,” Nature, 466:490-93, 2010.
The finding
Are redundant copies of noncoding DNA sequences due to poor genomic housekeeping,.. →
Ekaterina Heldwein: Crystallizing killers
The Scientist magazine, October 2010.
Structural virologist Ekaterina Heldwein, who goes by Katya, has followed a less-than-direct path to success in science. As a Russian chemistry undergraduate with a desire to live abroad but little money, she headed to the biochemistry graduate program.. →