Dave Brewer in MOPP gear.

Weapons of Mass Destruction

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As much as I hate to admit it, not all science is intended to make things better. Sometimes science is used for war.

In this month's episode of Conversations in Science, Jessie and I spoke with Dave Brewer, an active serviceman, about the training that the US military gives their soldiers, so they can better prepare themselves against some of the most frightening things that science has to offer: weapons of mass destruction.

Please be advised that this particular episode contains some material that might not be suitable for younger audiences. Parental guidance is advised.

Weapons of Mass Destruction
(First aired on KLRNRadio, Monday, July 3, 2017)

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I’m a Gluten for Punishment. Autocorrect is a Beast!

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Have you ever written a message on Facebook or Twitter (or some other social media site) only to have autocorrect kick in, changing out that carefully selected word for something that is completely wrong? What about using MS Word or some other word-processing system? Now, for the tricky question: how many times have you actually just misspelled something but blamed autocorrect? Be honest. You know you’ve done it at least once or twice.

Today, I thought I’d pay homage to some of the masterpiece moments of autocorrect and just plain bad spelling.

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It’s a milestone, but still a long way to go.

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I’m so giddy with excitement that I’m struggling to contain it. I know I should, but I can’t. I want to shout it out to the world.

Hidden Traps is now available for pre-sale.

So far, it’s listed on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and iBooks. Hopefully soon, it will also be listed on Book Depository, Fishpond, and many other places that I can’t remember the name of. It really has been mind-blowing to know how far and wide the distribution network has been cast.

It’s a massive milestone to get to this point — countless hours of hard work and very little sleep — but as much as I want to, I can’t rest. Now the really hard work begins: marketing.
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The Pleiades Star Cluster

Teaching Astronomy to Children

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Within New Zealand, June provides the perfect opportunity for astronomers to get out into the community and spark the astronomy bug in children. Not only are we currently in winter, experiencing sunset really early — 6pm in some parts of the country and earlier in the far south — but it is also the Maori New Year, or Matariki as it is called, a time of the year that is marked by the dawn rising of the Pleiades Cluster.

Every year, I get asked by at least one of the local scout groups to introduce the kids to some of the concepts behind astronomy. This month's show of Conversations in Science was all about some of the tactics that I use to explain eclipses, seasons, and our place in the galaxy.

Teaching Astronomy to Kids
(First aired on KLRNRadio, Monday, June 5, 2017)

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