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.
The heart of radio 1
4 November 2004
John Peel
The greatest DJ in history?
Obituaries
tags: The Economist
Derek Walcott
4 November 2004
The death of earth
A review of Derek Walcott’s new book-length poem.
Book Reviews
tags: The Economist
Dodging bullets…
30 September 2004
Far away, so close
A large asteroid sweeps by the Earth. Where are the others?
Social Networks
30 September 2004
Circles of friends
What maths tells us about us.
Science
tags: graph theory, terrorism, The Economist
Looking for planets around distant stars
23 September 2004
In search of the Earth Mark II
Terrestrial exoplanets will likely be found soon.
Extreme Weather
16 September 2004
Shelter from the storm
What hurricane scientists study when they study hurricanes
Science
tags: hurricanes, meteorology, The Economist
Anatomy of a search engine
16 September 2004
How Google works
A brief history of the world’s most revolutionary search engine. Plus, an interview with me about that brief history.
Johnny Cash
16 September 2004
Ring of Firesales
A review of a new book about Johnny Cash’s Folsom prison concert
Book Reviews
tags: The Economist
Medical Testing
9 September 2004
Sounds of silence
Drug companies may soon be forced to report the results of all clinical trials.
Nicholson Baker
2 September 2004
Room with a point of view
A review of Checkpoint, Nicholson Baker’s new novel.
Book Reviews
tags: The Economist
Telescopes in orbit
28 August 2004
X-ray specs
A retrospective on NASA’s Great Observatories, Compton, and Spitzer.