The body is a gateway to experiencing and exploring the world. It’s the first thing people see when they look at us and it’s the canvas on which we express who we are. But the relationship we have with our bodies, or our body image, can change over time and is influenced by the messages […] … learn more→

With great interest, I read the recent news announcing that the American Council on Education (ACE) had evaluated five Coursera MOOCs and recommended them for credit. But I had hoped for something different. Having traditional prestigious institutions making their online content open to the world – of course without their prestigious credit attached – was […] … learn more→

I am not one of those people who looks down on technology in general, or the internet in particular, because of what it has taken away from us, like enjoying nature, being with family and friends, and reading actual books. I still try to do these “natural” things (as opposed to the artificial cyber world) […] … learn more→

In recent years weather events have whiplashed between the extremes of heat and cold, flooding and drought. Carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases—largely from the burning of coal, oil, and natural gas—have loaded up in the atmosphere, heating the planet and pushing humanity onto a climatic seesaw of weather irregularities. High-temperature records in many places […] … learn more→

Instead of increased reliance on gas imports expected five years ago the US now has an abundance of cheap gas for domestic use, and is even projecting LNG exports. Reliance on oil imports has fallen from a peak of 60% (2005) to a current 45%; by 2040 it’s projected to be 37%. The most recent […] … learn more→

One of the reasons I like President Obama is that he’s clearly a Dad. I don’t just mean that he has children; I mean that he’s obviously an involved parent. (If you haven’t seen the video of the two-year-old at the Medal of Honor ceremony, check it out. Obama responded as a seasoned parent would.) […] … learn more→

Two of my favourite people in the academic world are my friends Rachael Pitt (aka @thefellowette) and Nigel Palmer. Whenever we have a catch up, which is sadly rare, we have a fine old time talking shop over beer and chips (well lemonade in my case, but you get the picture). Some time ago ago […] … learn more→

An asteroid named 2012 DA14 will come within 27,700 kilometres of Earth early on Saturday morning Australian time (around 6:30am AEDT). At this distance the asteroid will pass within the orbits of several geostationary satellites. Should we be worried? Alert but not alarmed is probably a better approach. We do not know of any large […] … learn more→

Gimme an M! M! Gimme an O! O! Gimme another O! O! Gimme a C! C! What have we got? MOOC! Cornell Far above Cayuga’s waters with its waves of blue, Stand our noble M-O-O-Cs, glorious to view. Massive Open Online Courses, loud their praises tell. Hail O dig’tal Alma Mater, now called e-Cornell. On […] … learn more→

The name of the city we left last year, Champaign, is a geographical term for open, level country; prairie cut with streams. A little to my dismay, it’s champaign here too, but its use is more diversified: Rice, hay, and sorghum is grown; innumerable bayous (streams) support fish hatcheries as well as shrimp, crawfish, and […] … learn more→