Christmas Poem

Okay, I lied. It's not really a Christmas poem. But it does have antlers in it, and it is about family, and how one young boy living in the countryside in east Germany before The Wall fell saw his own. Ron Winkler, now 40, is a poet with several fine books in his wake. Hear him read the poem on the excellent poetry site, Lyrikline, and you'll want to buy the book. Well, especially when Jake Schneider's translation of it comes out in English! Maybe by Christmas...

King's Women

When it comes to putting women in positions of power, the Gulf States don't score very well. That's just one reason why the women in this story, all alumnae from King's College, London, all living and working in the Gulf, are so amazing. What a pleasure to meet Fouz Al-Sabah, Khaleejesque (lifestyle/fashion) publisher; Alanoud Al Sharekh, activist and author; Shimi Shah, entrepreneur; and Farah Foustok, ING Bank, Dubai, for this cover story featured in King's In Touch magazine.

Walking Papers

If you knew it would take two hours of sharpish striding to counteract that calzone you're eyeing for lunch, you might choose a lighter option. That was the premise behind an oven-fresh study by nutritionist Meena Shah and graduate assistant Ashlei James, both from TCU's Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences. The results, presented yesterday at the Experimental Biology Conference in Boston, have been widely reported by Time, NPR and the BBC.  Interviewing Dr. Shah last year for a story about her research, I discovered that exciting things go on in that kitchen, er, metabolic lab of hers at TCU.

Found in Space

As a kid, Lori Motes decided that the best job in the universe would be driving a truck for Bluebell Ice Cream. Now that she's a space flight hardware developer at NASA, her cargo goes much further.
Astronaut Steve Swanson installing GPS antenna B on the JAXA Section of the ISS. photo courtesy NASA


But first, she has to build it. Here she is, testing one of the antennas for the International Space Station's GPS Antenna Project. Motes was lead engineer on that one, in charge of repairing and re-certifying three antennas and then building and certifying three spares. The Space Station's GPS antennas are crucial, as they pinpoint the attitude, position and speed of the ISS as it orbits the earth. "The safety of the crew is one thing there's no cutting corners on," says Motes. "It's our first priority."

Interview: Berlin Poet Ron Winkler

Ron Winkler photo by Christine Wohlrab

In December, poets Monika Rinck and Ron Winkler were in Munich, getting a load of cash. Awarded grants by the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, they shared the stage with poets Christoph Meckel und Lutz Seiler, co-recipients of the Rainer-Malkowski Prize. I was there in spirit, working hard to finish translating an interview I'd had with Winkler into English. Just this week, that labor of love appeared in print, in the US poetry quarterly, The Café Review.

Bad Guests, Ideal Hosts

Flying foxes that killed about 60 of the Royal Botanic Garden's heritage trees in Sydney have finally gotten the push.
They may be annoying houseguests, but, like all Chiroptera, they're perfect hosts. For viruses, that is. Ebola, Marburg, coronaviruses (including SARS), and rabies have all been found in bats, but as carriers, they escape infection themselves. My article in New Scientist takes a look at two newly emerged bat-borne viruses and a breakthrough in the development of an effective therapy against both.

Volcano Love

Surtsey emerging from the sea in 1963 by Sigurður Þórarinsson.

I had a great time finding photos for my profile of James White, professor of volcanology in New Zealand. The story is about White's research into phreatomagmatic eruptions, the dangerously explosive variety that blast steam and dust particles sky-high when ground or sea water connects with magma.