Author, Scientist, …
Who can forget James Cameron’s movie The Abyss! If I need to remind you, Cameron is the creator of Avatar. The Abyss was an imaginative movie of the 1980s, where the plot concerned commercial divers who had been hired by the Navy to assist with the salvage of a nuclear submarine. It involved very deep diving, and special … Continue reading “Liquid Breathing – It’s Not As Easy as It Looks”
I’ve suffered from chord envy for years. No, I’m not talking about the chord of aircraft wings and some etymological, coincidental semblance to musical chords. No, the problem is much more serious. You see, I’m a woodwind player, a clarinetist to be exact, and like brass players, I can’t play chords. A chord is a musical … Continue reading “How Musicians and Pilots Are Alike – It’s in the Chords”
The Puerto Rico Trench is the deepest part of the Atlantic Ocean, and is only surpassed in its depth by the Marianas Trench in the Pacific Ocean. It is 500 miles long, and at its deepest plummets 28,232 feet down. After receiving my doctorate with a special interest in deep-sea physiology, I was invited on board the oceanographic Research … Continue reading “The Puerto Rico Trench and Denizens of the Deep”
This is not some random book review. I have a personal investment in Max McCoy’s underwater thriller, and to be honest, Max is a friend and mentor. As the Scientific Director and Senior Scientist of the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU), I get some unusual calls from time to time. One of the most memorable was from … Continue reading “My Pathway to Writing – Learning from Max McCoy’s “The Moon Pool””
It’s a combination of Elephant Graveyard and Hotel California, this airport in Nortwestern Mississippi, not far from the Mississippi River. Big jets fly into the small town airport, but never leave. I stumbled across the curious goings on at the Greenwood LeFlore Airport during a refueling stop on my way to the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. … Continue reading “Where Big Jets Go to Die”
Be careful what you say before going under anesthesia. I had reached the age when my internist required me to get a colonoscopy, and I was not looking forward to it. I got gowned up in one of ridiculous back open gowns, for obvious reasons, but had a darkly funny thought when the nurse attached … Continue reading “Those Doctors Are Trying to Kill Me!”
On race day during my freshman year at Georgia Tech, a pilot friend of mine offered to take me flying if I helped pay for gas. He rented a Cessna 150 at the Fulton County Airport not far from downtown Atlanta. I had time in a Cessna 140, a tail dragger version of the 150, … Continue reading “The Day I Raced in the Atlanta 500 — Sort Of”
A photo of Jello Wrestling among fully clothed adults was published today as an indictment of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and its off-duty recreation program for McMurdo Station, Antarctica. Since I’ve spent a little time at McMurdo Station, I’d like to come to the defense of the NSF – by doing nothing more than describing what life … Continue reading “McMurdo Station, Antarctica: A Research Town”
Photo taken by Pax River Naval Airstation Photography Department. Click for larger image. Did some pilot take the word “Landing” in Landing Craft, just a little too seriously? Well, not exactly. But the story behind this photo made it into Flying Magazine, as you see below in the “Ship to shore” piece. Now here’s the rest of the … Continue reading “Not What I Had in Mind for Valentines”
It was a day of contrasts when I discovered that my vinyl 45 rpm records saved since my childhood were inexplicably lost. Imagine my joy, however, when a few hours later I discovered that the much beloved songs of that era were available for downloading from the internet! I’m dating myself of course, but songs from Tex Ritter, the singing cowboy, were … Continue reading “Tex Ritter and Recovered Songs of Youth”
