WELCOME
Thanks for coming to visit my website. I write about science, technology, foreign affairs, and other subjects.
Follow me on Twitter: @kkakaesDrones and Aerial Observation
I edited and wrote part of a short book published by New America in July 2015 and freely available online, about how drones are being used in new ways around the world. It's meant to be useful to people who want to fly drones.The Pioneer Detectives
I published a short book with The Millions.
It's the story of the Pioneer Anomaly, a long-standing mystery. The book is short and fun—the length of a novella—but also, in the words of Amazon's reviewer, "powerful and sad". If you've got any curiosity about how NASA works behind the scenes or why scientists believe what they do, I think you'll enjoy the book.
It is available on Amazon as a Kindle Single and also on Apple's iBooks.Drone Wars
I wrote a chapter on the long history of drone technology going back to the early 20th century in this edited Cambridge University Press volume.
New approaches to cancer treatment
22 January 2004
Malignant maths
Mathematical models aid the understanding of cancer.
Plus new thermal treatmentsof cancer.
Does language structure thought?
8 January 2004
Babel’s Children
Languages may be more different from each other than is currently supposed. That may affect the way people think.
Lightening, analyzed
4 December 2003
Sturm und Drang
No one understands lightning. But here are some interesting investigations into the subject.
After the fingerprint
4 December 2003
Prepare to be scanned
Biometrics: High-tech security systems that rely on detailed measurements of the human body, known as biometrics, are taking off. But should they be?
And, an accompanying leader (editorial), written with Tom Standage.
Technology
tags: biometrics, The Economist
Out of mind
4 December 2003
Out of sight
A transparent magnet could be used to make new kinds of memories and displays.
Technology
tags: display, memory, The Economist
Rushing to judgement
13 November 2003
Perishing publishing
The benefits and dangers of pre-printing scientific papers on-line.
Gamma-ray mystery
3 November 2003
Bursting with controversy
Arguments continue about the biggest explosions in the universe–just what are gamma-ray bursts, and how do they work?
Robot monkeys
16 October 2003
Monkey see, monkey do
Monkeys can be made to move robot arms with their thoughts.
The chase for artificial intelligence
9 October 2003
Agents of creation
A report from the first International Workshop on Complex Agent-Based Dynamic Networks, in Oxford, England; the latest in computer modelling of complex systems.
Talking about ourselves
2 October 2003
This headline is (half) false
A new way to analyse self-referential and contradictory statements.
Exploring Jupiter
18 September 2003
Magnifico!
The life and death of Galileo, America’s Jupiter probe.
Secrets
4 September 2003
Uncrackable beams of light
Quantum cryptography–hailed by theoreticians as the ultimate of uncrackable codesis finally going commercial.
Nanotechnology
4 September 2003
More light than heat
A new sort of nanoglass would allow offices to stay bright but remain cool.
Technology
tags: The Economist
Phrenology (but actually real)
4 September 2003
Shapely skulls
Geometry sheds new light on the first Americans