Monthly Archives: June 2011
unlikely friendships
My former National Geographic colleague Jennifer Holland has a new book. It’s the #9 book on Amazon right now. The book, Unlikely Friendships: 47 Remarkable Stories from the Animal Kingdom, is about animals that are buddies. There’s a monkey that … Continue reading
museum tourist: Miraflores Locks, model edition
The visitors’ center at the Miraflores Locks, as previously mentioned, is full of models of ships and various kinds of train equipment. Both historic models, from the early days of the canal 100 years ago, and modern models. I love … Continue reading
museum tourist: Miraflores Visitor Center
Starting at the Pacific, ships in the Panama Canal go into the Miraflores locks, then the Pedro Miguel locks. That gets them up to the level of most of the canal. On the Caribbean side, they go down through the … Continue reading
museum tourist: Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá
Here’s a weird fact. The “Panama Canal Museum” is in Seminole, Florida, and it’s just about the U.S. involvement in the canal. The museum in Panama City is the “Museo del Canal Interoceánico de Panamá.” That is something along the … Continue reading
boat ride in real time
In 2009, Norway’s national TV broadcast a live, real-time train journey – the beautiful route from Bergen to Oslo. They called it “Bergensbanen minutt for minutt” – “Bergen Line, Minute for Minute.” Well, right now they’re trying to make magic … Continue reading
new sunscreen rules
One of the first stories I ever wrote at U.S.News & World Report was about sunscreen, and how the FDA was planning to issue new rules. This was in 2003. I remember it well, because it was also the first … Continue reading
art and space
My first ever story in New Scientist is out – it’s about a new exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum here in Washington. So it’s like my Museum Tourist posts right here on this blog, except (a) I … Continue reading
stupid computers
About three weeks ago I entered a stretch of a lot of work. I like work. Work is good. I like when people give me things to do. It also makes me quite busy. Right at the beginning of this … Continue reading