image courtesy of The Common Online We were tipsy and in a good mood, Paul and I, coming home from our favorite bar in the whirlings of this season’s first “historic snowstorm,” when I noticed the figure floundering in the snow. He was a dark clot of winter coat and baggy pants, on his knees, …
I have an article out in Science News for Students this week, on the immune system, and how computers are allowing us to create simulated immune-cell interactions that mimic the human body and healing: Virtual Wounds: Computers probe healing It’s written for young people age 8 to 18. When the body needs to deliver immune …
Read more “Immune system in a computer”
I have a profile out today in Smith College’s Insight magazine, on Smith College Lyman Conservatory manager Rob Nicholson. It describes his adventures in plant-collecting expeditions around the globe: An Aztec curse seemed like a minor obstacle as Rob Nicholson, manager for the Lyman Conservatory of the Botanic Garden of Smith College, climbed a monkey-hand …
My first book of poetry is coming out this week! It’s an art book in collaboration with photographer Paul Ickovic, pairing my poetry with his photographs, including previously unpublished pictures. It’s titled Gorgeous Infidelities. The poems match the sense of urban and personal dislocation and storytelling imagery of Mr. Ickovic’s photography, most often focusing on …
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Alison Hawthorne Deming, a poet and essayist who focuses on issues of science and the environment, visited Smith this week to speak from her work. She had some wonderful comments during a Q&A on her writing. I always ask environmental writers how they maintain hope in the face of the immense challenges we face: species …
Health monitors to measure heart rate and steps per day are getting smaller and smaller, and cheaper and cheaper. Soon, researchers say, they’ll be the size of a band-aid, flexible, and disposable. Plus, they’ll measure chemicals in sweat that could detect stress, fatigue, or even heart or liver failure. My latest article, on new nanotechnology …
Read more “A Fitbit in a band-aid”
Latest essay at The Common Online – art and solitude in company: * Vignettes from Western Massachusetts Two men scrape blue paint from the wall of the building across the street. They sit cross-legged, each plying his scraper with energy. The one on the right is thickset, wearing a gray t-shirt stained with sweat. The …
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This is the most intense congregation of animals I’ve ever seen. I have a piece out about these salmon today in The Common Online: Alaskan Baselines.
Poet Dean Young visited Smith yesterday and said many beautiful and interesting things about poetry during a question-and-answer session on his work. Here are some of his replies, to the best ability of my hurrying pen to capture them. * Writing isn’t separate from my life … There’s always room for writing. It’s automatic. It’s …
Read more “Always turn in the direction of the skid”
There’s something special about seeking out nature in the unforgiving seasons. In memory of winter, now that spring has at last stolen over the landscape, I thought I’d share this nature notebook entry from the last days of December. The mosses were bright green in the brief melt, taking advantage of warming. Among them I …