Copy Writing & Copy Editing
As a staffer, I was a professional, full-time science editor for more than eight years.
Sunbather Singed by Shiny Hotel’s Reflected “Death Rays”
Discover, September 28 2010.
Poolside at Las Vegas’s Vdara hotel is a dangerous place to be. That’s according to one tourist who claims he almost had his hair singed off by a “death ray”—the term used by some hotel employees—reflected from hotel’s shiny facade… →
Bicycle Bubble/Monorail Transportation System—Crazy or Genius (or Both)?
Discover, September 28 2010.
A human-powered monorail system called Shweeb won $1 million from Google’s 10^100 innovations contest. The company that manufactured the Shweeb is one of five to be awarded a total of $10 million from the competition. They will use the money to develop.. →
Don’t Give Up Hope: Earth Has Not Yet Selected an Alien Ambassador
Discover, September 27 2010.
The truth is out there… but it’s not that Mazlan Othman is going to be our space ambassador, as recently reported by The Sunday Times (paywall) and reprinted in The Australian.
The United Nations, tackling head-on the problem of what to do.. →
It’s a Bra! It’s a Dust Mask! It’s Both! And Now, It’s for Sale
Discover, September 27 2010.
The Emergency Bra, which won both the Ig Nobel prize in public health and a spot on TIME’s list of the Worst Inventions of 2009 is now available through the website, www.ebbra.com for $29.99. CNET explains its intended use:
The bra is, of course,.. →
Modded iPod Nano Bot Dances to Its Own Music
Discover, September 24 2010.
This little 6th generation iPod nano just wants to dance. Because that’s what its human programmed it to do.
Kazu Terasaki, also known as YouTube user PachimonDotCom, is a Japanese software engineer from Silicon Valley, CA who is addicted to making.. →
Touching a Boo-Boo Really Does Make It Feel Better
Discover, September 24 2010.
Clutching an injury does make it feel better, according to a study published in Current Biology, reducing the pain on average 64 percent. But only if the injured party is the one doing the clutching (insert your own self-touching joke here). It doesn’t.. →
The First Ever Flight of a Pedal-Powered, Wing-Flapping Vehicle
Discover, September 23 2010.
August 2nd marked the first human-powered flight of an ornithopter. Wait, a what? It’s pronounced awr-nuh-thop-ter, and it’s an aircraft propelled by flapping wings, like a bird. First sketched by Leonardo da Vinci in 1485, people have been trying.. →
How to Get Rid of Invasive Tree Snakes: Bomb Them With Parachuted, Poisonous Mice
Discover, September 23 2010.
The USDA and the EPA are in cahoots, scheming against Guam’s invasive brown tree snakes, or are they throwing a party?
Using streamers, cardboard, some acetaminophen (aka Tylenol, aka hangover medicine), some dead mice and a helicopter, the team is.. →
The Public Speaks: Best Insulting New Names for High Fructose Corn Syrup
Discover, September 23 2010.
The New York Times’s health blog is asking scientists and readers what they would rename high fructose corn syrup, if they were given the chance. The ubiquitous sticky sweetener is considered poison by many foodies and some public health officials, who.. →
That’s a Relief: Ice Cream Doesn’t Cause Brain Damage
Discover, September 22 2010.
So sweet… so painful. You try to hold back, to stop yourself from over-indulging, because you know what will happen: That crippling, brain-piercing pain of the ever-feared brain freeze will ruin your ice cream love-fest.
Bjorn Carey of Popular.. →