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If you’d like to get letters in the mail from me. I send wine information, general education, as well as news and updates you probably don’t want to miss.
Smog-Eating Streets: What Photocatalytic Concrete Can Do
Concrete can support light-driven reactions with air pollutants. The field evidence is more complicated: encouraging results, null findings, and important limits.
The Gentle Weight of Light: Why Photons Can Push
Light has no rest mass, yet it can push a spacecraft or help hold a microscopic particle. A curious look at photon momentum, with the scale and science intact.
The Whispering Cure: Limewashed Trees, Natural Pesticides, and the Disappearing World of Insects
White tree trunks, neem, insecticidal soap, and the uneasy promise of a gentle cure. A closer look at the evidence—and how a garden can leave room for insects.
When the Water Can’t Defend You: What California’s SB 466 Actually Does
California’s chromium-6 law changed before it was signed. A careful look at its final scope, the health evidence, treatment timelines, and the information behind a safer tap.
The Richest Generation in History? Millennials and the Mirage of Wealth
A huge inheritance forecast does not promise a windfall for every millennial. What newer wealth data, housing, timing, and the gap between averages and medians reveal.
Is the Ring of Fire Waking Up? Quakes, Eruptions, and the Deep Breath of the Planet
The Pacific’s restless margins deserve a closer look. Dated eruption reports, earthquake science, and practical tsunami guidance help separate a real local hazard from a story of a planet-wide awakening.
The New Cold Code: China's Call for a Global AI Consensus
China’s call for AI cooperation has developed since 2025. A closer look at WAICO, the separate UN process, and what meaningful access and accountability could look like.
The Brain That Forgot How to Wander: Why Short Videos Might Be Our Newest Addiction
A short video can become a long evening. Here’s what research actually shows about scrolling, attention, memory, and making room for your own thoughts.
Why I Write (And Maybe Why You Do Too)
Writing gives my thoughts somewhere to go. A personal look at metaphor, privacy, curiosity, and why I keep returning to the page.
Gillbert the Robot Fish: Collecting Plastic, One Gulp at a Time
Gillbert began as a student’s idea for a filtering robot fish. Here’s what the battery-powered prototype actually does, and why better pollution samples matter.
The Rain Has Changed: TFA and the Chemical That Keeps Traveling
TFA travels through rain, soil, and water. A closer look at the measurements, health evidence, filtration limits, and why this is different from conventional acid rain.
The Boötes Void: Where the Universe Forgot to Speak
An enormous shortage of galaxies became a discovery. The science behind the Boötes Void, its surprisingly useful emptiness, and the wonder that survives the facts.
21 Future Inventions That Could Change the World
Teleportation, fusion, medical nanoparticles, and twenty-one ways to imagine the future—with a closer look at what researchers have demonstrated and what remains a dream.
The Forgotten Inventions of the 1800s: Machines That Glowed, Whirred, and Vanished
A closer look at ten nineteenth-century inventions, the problems they tried to solve, and what their surviving machines and records can tell us.
Bacteria That Eat Electricity: The Quiet Revolution Beneath Our Feet
From electron-sharing microbes to soil-powered sensors, a closer look at the real biology behind bacteria that “eat electricity,” with the possibilities kept in perspective.
The Man Who Dreamed in Lightning: The Life and Mind of Nikola Tesla
Tesla’s real work offers plenty of wonder: induction motors, high-frequency experiments, a radio-controlled boat, and ambitions that met the harder business of proof.
A Love Letter to Madeira: The Accidental Wine That Refused to Die
Madeira’s bright acidity, amber depth, and stubborn staying power deserve a love letter—with history, practical pouring advice, and five cocktails along the way.
The Sherry Cask Illusion: How a Rare Barrel Became Every Whiskey’s Best Friend
Sherry-seasoned casks, old solera barrels, first fill, and finishing tell different stories. Here’s how to read the claims and enjoy what’s in your glass.
The Bitter Glow of Aperol: A Love Letter, A Caution, and a History in Orange
A love letter to Aperol, with its Padua history, the classic spritz recipe, food pairing ideas, and a careful look at color, sweetness, and alcohol.
What Was the Worst Year in Human History to Be Alive?
Why is 536 called the worst year to be alive? Explore volcanic cooling, harvest risks, plague, and the evidence preserved in trees and ice.