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Pioneer Anomaly is no longer anomalous

Thanks to funding from the Planetary Society, of which I am a proud member, the “Pioneer Anomaly” has been definitively resolved. Physics has prevailed over speculation. Over the past 20 years, some...

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New Facebook Page To Move Kids from Facts to Questions

Fred Bortz, a noted author of books about science and technology for young readers, has launched a new Facebook page he calls SciFact Central that uses “fun” facts about science to inspire children and...

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More about Hidden Biases and Fukushima

About six weeks ago, I posted a blog entry called Subtle and not so subtle biases shape assessment of Fukushima. It led to some interesting and intelligent discussion about whether nuclear energy...

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Review of Massive: The Missing Particle That Sparked the Greatest Hunt in...

As I type this, the physics world is anticipating a great announcement from the Large Hadron Collider that the data analysis is at least very suggestive that the elusive Higgs Boson has been seen....

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The Nobel Committee’s Dilemma: Who wins for the Higgs?

Yesterday, I posted a review of Ian Sample’s 2010 book, Massive, which puts today’s announcement at the Large Hadron Collider in perspective. My review includes this paragraph: Most physicists expect...

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Author Q&A about Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future

Readers of this blog might be interested in the backstory of my book for young readers Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future. A great advocate for nonfiction who writes under...

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TEPCO admits Fukushima reactors should have been upgraded or replaced. Now what?

Since completing my recent middle grade book, Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future, which is about the implications for our energy future of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns...

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Pro-Nuclear Environmentalism

On the 46th of 64 pages of my 2012 book for middle grade readers, Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future, I finally ask the question that the earlier chapters are designed to...

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Nobel Laureates Debate the Future of Nuclear Power

At a Nobel Forum in December 2013, several past laureates discussed the future of nuclear power. Their conclusions were far from unanimous. All agreed that nuclear power is the only current technology...

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Review of Stuff Matters by Mark Miodownik

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials that Shape Our Man-Made World by Mark Miodownik (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 272 pages, $26.00, July 2014) Reviewed by Dr. Fred Bortz Discover more book...

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Science Shelf Blog, January 2018

These regular blog posts are for educated but non-expert readers who love science. For many years, I regularly sold freelance book reviews to major metropolitan newspapers. Over the past few years, the...

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Science Shelf Blog, Pi Day 2018 edition

At the Science Shelf, our favorite dessert is pi. So although it is a week past Pi Day 2018, we offer these recently released book treats to our readers (along with my picture in my Pi Day bowtie). I...

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Book Review: Chasing New Horizons

To preserve my objectivity, I have assiduously avoided reading other reviews of Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto by Alan Stern and David Grinspoon. But I would bet euros to...

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Science Book Roundup, Spring 2018

The arrival of Spring 2018 in my area has been marked by an unusually large outburst of pollen. In the science book world, it has been marked by an outburst of varied, interesting titles. And that is...

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Epidemics, Meltdowns, and Climate Change — Books about Catastrophes,...

As promised in last week’s blog, our spring roundup of science books continues with three books (or four, depending on how you count them) about catastrophes. It is a topic that is important in my own...

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Year-end roundup, books on technology and science history

As promised in my recent blog, I am returning with a few suggestions of recent science books that are suitable for gift-giving. I haven’t read all of these in detail, but they are published by...

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Science Book Roundup, January-March 2019

My catch-up science book blogging continues with a selection of titles released in the first three months of 2019 My usual caveat: I haven’t read all of these in detail, but they are published by...

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Review of A Bright Future by Goldstein and Qvist

A Bright Future: How Some Countries Have Solved Climate Change and the Rest Can Follow by Joshua S. Goldstein and Staffan V. Qvist (New York: Public Affairs, January 2019) Reviewed for The Science...

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Science Book Roundup, April-May 2019

As an ongoing feature of my blog, here is my Science Book roundup for April and May of 2019. I will occasionally publish full reviews of titles that I consider particularly important. My usual caveat:...

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Catching up, part 3, science book roundup 2019

As I begin collecting titles for an early 2020 science book roundup, I have four left over from 2019, three from the life sciences and one celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of arguably the greatest...

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