As you know I bounce weekly blogging ideas off my associates at work. I ask, “What do you want to know about?” I know nothing about the Ebola crisis; I don’t take political stands in public. So what do I know enough to write about? I love the natural sciences and like to educate people who might not be familiar with the natural sciences. “Sci-fi for the Working Guy” is what I know and write about. The best advice given to aspiring authors is: Write what you know.
I am not a college-educated scientist, but since I was seven, my interest in the natural sciences never faded. With the burst of knowledge available on the Internet, my thirst for science news was quenched.
One recent midnight shift, I told everyone at work I had just witnessed a meteor falling. “You mean a falling star?” they asked. I didn’t explain that it wasn’t actually a star falling, but rather a small piece of space debris, similar to the same stuff the Earth is made of. No bigger than a pea; more likely smaller. I told them larger meteors do fall, but are rare and announce their approach with loud explosions that rock areas up to three or four states in diameter. Most of the space stuff that falls on Earth is in the form of dust. I told them that if they held a magnet to the debris in a rain gutter, some of what sticks to the magnet would likely be from outer space.
One guy was particularly interested. I told him the meteor that hit Earth signaling the end of non-avian dinosaurs is estimated to have been six-ten miles in diameter. I affirmed to him that we know about most of the asteroids this big, but when I told him I couldn’t be so sure about comets, the flush ran out of his face.
I am no expert, and sometimes I may be wrong. I will admit it if it happens. The only reason I feel I should write about the natural sciences is because I watch it more than some, and feel I need to teach anyone who is willing to listen.
Thank you for reading; I am trying to post weekly. Click follow to…follow my blog. I will be changing it in a month or so. Hope you like the new site when it’s rolled out!