Nigel Hey's Blog, page 9

Poking into the private life of one of the world's worst causes of disease

Close-up mapping of highly dangerous “Containment Level 3” pathogens -- including the viruses that cause AIDS, hepatitis, and some kinds of influenza – should soon be possible, a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science was told at the annual AAAS meeting on February 17. Development of effective therapeutic treatments and vaccines is expected to follow as better knowledge of viral structures is gained t...<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>

Pyongyang’s No. 3 nuclear test: A Chilling Reception for John Kerry

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Farewell to Broadway Market

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Fiscal cliff-itis

On Sunday, at the close of a bright December morning in London, after finishing my ticket-buying expedition to the West End theatre district, I walked down the Strand and Fleet Street, climbing Ludgate Hill to the precincts of St. Paul’s Cathedral. Even at this time of year it seemed there were tourists everywhere, happy even in the windswept heights of open-top doubledecker buses, muffled against the cold while soaking up the rays of a brilliant winter sun. One American tourist bent down to...

A time to revisit memories

Christmas in approaching fast, for me the anticipation made all the more delightful because this time all my small family will be present to share turkey and the trimmings. It will also be a time for giving thanks (and gaily wrapped gifts), for reflection, and for storytelling. Because at present the London weather is damp and blustery, I am tempted to cheer my children and grandchildren with tales about the warm summers of my own childhood.

In those summers we usually spent holidays in Yorksh...

UK tests the resilience of its Freedom of the Press principles

For the past week, the usually competitive chieftains of Britain’s newspaper industry worked together to fend off a measure that, if the pessimists are right, could put a brake on the treasured freedom of the press. They are attempting to frame a reliable way of controlling activities that support sensationalism, which have ranged from phone hacking and wiretapping to photographing the unclad derrieres of the royal, rich, and famous. Their industry comes in the wake of the disclosure, on Nove...

UK tests the resilience of Freedom of the Press principles

As I write, the usually competitive chieftains of Britain’s newspaper industry are working together to fend off a measure that, if the pessimists are right, could put a brake on their treasured freedom of the press. They are attempting to frame a reliable way of controlling activities that support sensationalism, which have ranged from wiretapping to photographing the unclad derrieres of the royal, rich, and famous. Their industry comes in the wake of the disclosure, last Thursday, of a 2,000...

Investigation forces UK to test the resilience of Freedom of the Press principles

As I write, the usually competitive chieftains of Britain’s newspaper industry are working hard to fend off something that, if the pessimists are right, could put a brake on their activities after centuries of enjoying freedom of the press. They are having to work at breakneck speed to frame a way of controlling activities that currently support sensationalism, ranging from wiretapping to photographing the unclad derrieres of the royal, rich, and famous. This comes in the wake of the disclosu...

Ronald Reagan's 'Star Wars' Revisited

I was surprised to find my non-indie book The StarWars Enigma reviewed by Indies Unlimited. Surprised but naturally pleased because this was and is a genuine contribution to the lore of Ronald Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), full of original research from my interviews with experts in the U.S., Russia, and Britain.

SDI was a massive research program, part of which visualized the use of high-power lasers that at least in theory would be able to destroy Soviet missiles coming over t...

Volatile weather, volatile life, and joy all around

Sunday was one of those wonderful days when you can get up out of bed at about 8 a.m., enjoy your early-morning coffee and toast, and skip out into a crispy, sunny November Sunday that makes you feel good to be alive. We were at our London home again, and our other home in the New Mexico desert and mountains was more than 5000 miles distant and vertically a mile farther from sea level.

We were walking through Victoria Park – at most the gate is a couple of hundred yards from the flat – among o...