For the holiday season we here at LWON are giving ourselves the gift of confronting our fears. We are writing about our most daunting science-related subjects and why they scare us. The advice came to me within the first few months of starting as a science writer: always be on the lookout for good math stories, […]
Miscellaneous
December 24 – 28 This was Secret Satan week, in which we science writers confronted our secret fears; which subjects do we find most daunting? Why do they scare us? Ann got us off to a great start last week with an erudite explanation of why biology’s not for her. Richard goes into a cold […]
“Well, you know we only use about 10 per cent of our brain.” I don’t like when people tell me this. Someday, I hope to acquire the guts to issue the following rejoinder: “Which 10 per cent do you use?” But because I don’t like confrontation, I usually just make a face of mute disappointment […]
Christie wonders if the New York Times has found the perfect format for telling a story. John Branch‘s stunning multimedia narrative Snow Fall: the avalanche at Tunnel Creek presents words, photos, videos and maps just where and when you want them, without breaking the story’s flow. We at LWON sure miss Virginia Hughes. This week on her […]
One of my favorite memories of my high-school friend Pete Dal Ferro is cruising around town with him in his red 1966 Plymouth Valiant. Fun, right? Over the years, I’ve heard bits and pieces about his adventures since—things about SCUBA diving and Antarctica and cruising around in even bigger boats than his sweet high-school ride, […]
At a recent holiday party, I was talking to an older acquaintance when out of the blue, I felt him rub his junk on my hand. I was already on my way out. My husband was a few feet ahead of me, and I’d just grabbed the sauté pan that had contained my potluck dish. […]
10 – 14 December Turbulent week here at LWON HQ. We started with a crushing loss: our Ginny decamped to National Geographic. We wish her, obviously, every success and all the happiness there — and we’re so proud that she was poached by a place with such an impeccable pedigree. But wow, will we miss […]
As the inimitable Virginia Hughes shuffles off to that corner of the internet circumscribed by the yellow rectangle, we welcome frequent guest contributor Erik Vance as a full-fledged Person of LWON. A self-described “non-native invasive,” Erik lives and works in Mexico City, thereby completing the NAFTA strategy here at LWON, and helping us colonize a […]
