Copy Writing & Copy Editing
As a staffer, I was a professional, full-time science editor for more than eight years.
Google Street View Goes to Antarctica, Brings Maps to the Penguins
Discover, October 1 2010.
Google’s expansion of its Street View project to all seven continents has the sweet reward of allowing you to visit Antarctica while sitting on your couch in your leopard-print snuggie. (They also filled in the holes of Ireland and Brazil, but much as we love.. →
Ig Nobel Awards Honor Pioneering Work on Bat Fellatio, Whale Snot, & More
Discover, October 1 2010.
The list of wacky science discoveries from the Ig Nobel awards announced last night includes teams who made strides in vital fields like bat fellatio and curing diseases via roller coaster rides. The awards are given out every year for discoveries that made us both.. →
U.S. Apologizes for Deliberately Infecting Guatemalans With Syphilis
Discover, October 1 2010.
The United States government officially apologized to Guatemala today for unethical medical experiments conducted by American researchers in the country over 60 years ago, in which unwitting subjects were deliberately infected with syphilis.
Secretary of State.. →
The World’s Fastest Lawn Mower, a Fire-Throwing Bike, and More Bizarro Vehicles
Discover, September 30 2010.
Bobby Cleveland made history again today, as he stole his world record back from Don Wales by speeding across the Bonneville salt flats at an average of 96 miles per hour.
The record in question? Fastest land speed on a lawnmower (that can still cut grass)… →
Space Tourists Will Get Their Own Special Space Beer
Discover, September 30 2010.
A new type of beer is being marketed to a very select demographic: space tourists. The special beer is about to undergo testing in a near-weightless environment to qualify it for drinking in space. Unlike other space beers, which are created from barley that.. →
Long-Lost Letters From DNA Pioneers Reveal Conflicts and Tensions
Discover, September 30 2010.
Almost 50 years after they won the Nobel Prize for defining the structure of DNA, Maurice Wilkins, James Watson, and Francis Crick are in the news again. Nine boxes of “lost” correspondence (from the days before email!) between two competing groups of.. →
Russian Company Plans to Open Orbital Space Hotel in 2016
Discover, September 30 2010.
Russian company Orbital Technologies has announced its plans to build a commercial space station (to be named the commercial space station, if you can believe that), which would also serve as a “space-hotel” for visiting tourists. The company claims.. →
After 9 Years Retirement, Lab Chimps May Return to Medical Testing
Discover, September 29 2010.
The governor of New Mexico wants a say in the future of 168 chimpanzees, and has pulled scientists, government officials, and even Jane Goodall into the debate. The chimps in question are currently living (and have been for the last ten years) in a research reserve in.. →
My, What Biometrically Unique Ears You Have
Discover, September 29 2010.
It’s not in the eyes, the face, or fingerprints. For some researchers, the future of biometrics lies in the ear. Imagine walking into a store and instead of submitting to an iris scan, like in Minority Report, having the cameras scan your ear, noting its.. →
The Mass of Hurricanes Converted to More Familiar Units: Cats & Dogs & Elephants
Discover, September 29 2010.
If you were to calculate how much a hurricane weighs, what units would you pick? To understand how much water is in a cloud, it seems many researchers pick the good ole elephant unit, or sometimes a blue whale.
Choosing some of the largest animals on the.. →