Blog Entry

Having written a biography of planetary astronomer Heidi Hammel for young readers, I was delighted to learn of the launch of a program called “She Is An Astronomer” as part of the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

In reading the current issue of New Scientist, I found a pointer to a blog entry called “Bug eats electricity, farts biogas.”

Needless to say, I had to learn more.

In 1977, I had a short-term assignment to a research group competing for a magnetic-confinement fusion test reactor project. When another company got the contract, I decided to leave my employer rather than go back to its advanced fission power efforts. I ended up leaving the nuclear field for good. (No great loss–I had only been in that field for 3 years and had other interests.)

After decades of research, magnetic confinement has yet to prove itself capable of producing power in a sustained fashion. Now the main competing approach to fusion power, inertial confinement, is approaching a milestone that may, at long last, put us on the road to replacing fossil fuels on a large scale.

Thirty years ago today, March 28, 1979, with a former nuclear engineer in the White House and a newly-elected governor in Harrisburg, PA, the United States faced a crisis when a cooling system failure at a nuclear reactor at the Three Mile Island (TMI) power plant just south of the Pennsylvania capital threatened the safety of millions of people. Less than two years earlier, I had left a job in the nuclear power industry, disenchanted with my particular management but not with the technology itself.

I don’t know the statistics for events like this, but I’d like to. In any case, two Tunguska-sized objects zipping by at less than one-fourth the distance to the Moon only 16 days apart has got to be uncommon.

Tomorrow morning, if all goes according to schedule, NASA will launch the Kepler mission, which according to noted astronomer Alan Boss in his new book, The Crowded Universe, is likely to discover many Earthlike worlds orbiting in their stars’ habitable zones.

This week’s New Scientist has the kind of cover story that makes me wonder if warnings about the effects of global warming have gone over the top.

My friend and fellow children’s author Tanya Lee Stone has put all of her passion and research skills into a book that is guaranteed to change the lives of young women who dream of great achievements in science and technology. Not only do I recommend the book, but I also recommend that readers in the DC area mark their calendars for Tanya’s speaking events next month.

Are you looking for a different kind of visiting author for your school but have a limited budget? Do you live along the route from Pittsburgh PA to Rochester NY?

If so, have I got a deal for you!

My book reviewing work sometimes brings me interesting e-mails. For instance, today I got one from a book publicist with the question “Which bird is named after soiled underwear?”