Helen FieldsScience Writer

This week Sarah Zielinski, a fellow science writer who writes this blog, is fact-checking a story of mine over at Smithsonian. To do this properly, she felt she had to go to the Library of Congress and look up a particular book of poems about geology. (This will make more sense when the story comes out.) She picked out some of the most cringe-inducing couplets and made a poll, so you can vote on the worst. Enjoy!

For the latest issue of Science, I wrote a short item about giraffes. People have said for a long time that giraffes are the only mammals that can’t swim, but nobody had actually tested this. Zoos aren’t interested in having their prized African mammals tossed in the water, just to see what happens. So the researchers I wrote about used computers to build a virtual giraffe, then flood it. It wasn’t graceful, but it ought to be able to float and therefore to swim, they concluded.

In a year and a half as a full-time freelancer, writing articles all the time, this is the third piece I’ve had come out in print. I mean, actual paper that you can hold in your hands. (The others were in AAA Living magazine and The Chronicle of Higher Education.) Everything else has been online only. That says a lot about the changing media world, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, that means it’s a little inconvenient to read this one – you need to find a paper copy of the June 25 issue of Science, or, if you’re a subscriber, you can read it here.

Photo: Patrick Giraud

Someone bought a facebook ad to sell experts to people like me:

You know what? Thanks, random advertiser, but I can find my own experts. I wonder if there are reporters who use services like this? I find google gets me a long way.

The internet has a lot of cats. But Maru, a Japanese cat who loves boxes, is really the best one. Just watch this one video – I think you’ll agree.

Many more Maru videos here. And thanks to CuteOverload (who else?) for introducing me to Maru.

I got my Verizon troubles sorted out, finally, after many angry phone calls (and if you know me, you know angry is not something I do a lot of) and multiple visits by Verizon techs to disconnect and reconnect my phone. The last guy they sent out was clearly the big guns – he’s been with Verizon forever and knew exactly what was causing the problem.

Of course, as a science writer, I was excited about this…and I spent way too long crafting my explanatory message to the building listserv. It was like writing a consumer health story! I told everyone: Here’s the situation, here’s what it means to you, here’s what you should do if you have this problem.

I thought I’d share it here, too, so it doesn’t go to waste.

A super-competent Verizon technician was just here fixing my phone line, and he explained what the heck is going on!

The basic problem is that the box that brings in the phone lines from outside is this funky kind of box that Verizon was thinking about switching over to a few years ago – presumably about the time this building was built. Verizon decided not to go that way, but we already had one. (If you ever happen to be in the Telcom room, it’s the pair of gray boxes all the way on the right, “Krone” brand.)

The box requires a special tool to punch a line in. He said what’s probably happening is, a tech comes out here and doesn’t have the correct tool, so he jams the wire in there some other way. The wire is making contact, so there’s a dial tone, but the connection is loose. Then if somebody else comes and works in the box – like happened Monday, when they connected [neighbor]’s line – and they jostle it a little, my wire will fall out again. (No worries, [neighbor], it would’ve happened sooner or later anyway.)

My connection is now so messed up from the techs forcing it, there’s no way to get the wire to stay in. He fixed my problem by hard-wiring my phone line to the outside line. Now, it’s possible that your phone went out as a result of his working in there. If that happens, I have his cell phone number.

So the immediate problem is that some techs are coming out without the correct tool. But the more basic problem is that we have a stupid Krone box. The tech is going to tell his supervisor that we should get a different box…but he says we shouldn’t hold our breaths. He was talking to [building manager] about this when I left.

Useful tip: If you’re calling the Verizon tech support line and the computer voice is insisting she can solve your problems just as well as a human can, and you do not wish to waste your time in such a manner, I think the magic word is “representative.” (But shouting and swearing works, too.)

If you’re trying to reach me on my 202 number and nobody answers, that means my epic Verizon problems are continuing. Send me an e-mail and I’ll get it eventually – I’m borrowing various other people’s wifi and can call back on my cell phone or skype.

Summary of epic Verizon problems: Every time they send a technician to my building to do anything in the telecom closet, they disconnect my phone (and, by extension, my internet). Monday morning my phone went out. Tuesday evening a technician came out and fixed my phone. Wednesday afternoon a technician came to fix some other problems. (Possibly caused by the guy who came Tuesday.) And guess what: my phone got disconnected.

Yeah, I’m pretty frustrated.

Washington’s famous cherry trees peaked this week. I woke up early Thursday to beautiful sun, and happened to be at a point where I needed to think about something other than the book chapter I’m writing, so I went down to see the trees for the first time in years. A tip if you ever think about visiting the cherry trees: go on a weekday, first thing in the morning.

Here’s my favorite shot:

I like the stumpy tree, valiantly blooming.

My friend and fellow science writer Sarah Zielinski has a nice blog over at the Smithsonian magazine website, Surprising Science – today’s post is about how people used to argue against extinction the way they argue against evolution today. The Earth was the way God created it 6,000 years ago, and that’s that, they said. Here’s that blog post. Check out the other recent posts, too – she’s got some nice stuff there, from whether climate change caused the downfall of Angkor to a collection of embarrassingly bad NASA posters.

Over the weekend, a friend of mine from college asked, via Facebook, how geologists know where an earthquake was. To quote:

Hey Helen, would you please write a blog explaining how geologists can tell where an earthquake’s epicenter is? Are there things stuck in the ground all over the earth? How did they get there? Are they always watching? It kinda weirds me out to think about it.

I took a stab at explaining it on Facebook, based on my foggy memories of 10th grade earth science, then asked friend and fellow science writer Naomi Lubick, who actually has a degree in geology, if she could handle this one. And she did! Here’s her blog post: How to find an earthquake.

The short version: The earthquake sends out waves in all directions, and seismometers measure the waves. If you know when the waves arrive at each place, you can calculate where they came from. But go read Naomi’s post for more about earthquakes, like pretty maps and links and stuff.

A week or so ago I went to a party that was organized around singing the Pirates of Penzance in someone’s living room. It was a great party, and it reminded me of this excellent song, to the tune of the Major General’s big moment:

I grew up on Tom Lehrer records. Of course, the kids of today, or at least the ones with cool parents, are growing up on the songs of They Might Be Giants. So, here’s a new song about elements – which, I have to admit, is a lot more educational than the Tom Lehrer one.

Fun with science!