The John Platt Article Library

Slow Loris Debate, Magnetic Soap and more

2012-01-30T09:00:00.004-05:00

Wow, I didn't realize how many of my headlines this week ended with a question mark until I saw them all at once. Maybe this week I'll try to work in some exclamation points.

Anyway, here are this week's articles...

First up, two very popular posts for Scientific American:

Should YouTube Ban Videos of the Adorable but Endangered Slow Loris?

Can Stem Cells Help Save Snow Leopards from Extinction?

This week's Mother Nature Network articles covered a pretty wide range of topics:

Another graphene miracle: It can distill booze

Frugal woman leaves $1.7 million to Salvation Army

Magnetic soap: New tool for oil spill cleanup?

And finally, here are several short items for Green Hands USA:

Cahaba River Society Endorses Ecosystem-Saving Car Tag

Free App Helps You Choose Healthy, Responsible Goods

Peoria Commits to Sustainability

Students Inspire Middlebury College to Go Solar

I turned in several new features last week, and will be turning in a few more this week, so expect a lot of interesting stuff in February.

Don't wait, read last week's articles...

2012-01-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

What a week! Lots of great new articles went online, and one of them resulted in my being the expert on Saturday's "Bluff the Listener" segment on NPR's "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me." The host pronounced my last name wrong (sigh), but it was still pretty cool to be invited. You can listen to the segment online here.

(Which article was it? Well, in the spirit of the show, I'll let you guess from the list below.)

So about this week's articles... of course, there were my usual two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Nearly Extinct Primate Rediscovered in Borneo [Video]

Manta Rays Endangered by Sudden Demand from Chinese Medicine

Mother Nature Network, as usual, gave me a great range of fun stories to write about this week:

South African weather bill creates a storm of controversy

Mourning the loss of 'The Senator,' a 3,500-year-old tree

Golden Globes winner Peter Dinklage calls attention to dwarf-tossing

Flesh-eating disease can be caused by illegal 'bath salts' drug

And finally, here's a short blog post for Green Hands USA:

Is Your Toilet Paper Killing Tigers?

That's it for this time around! I'm working on all kinds of cool things for the days ahead, so stay tuned for the latest links!

Apps for apes, killer crayfish, and fun careers

2012-01-16T09:00:00.005-05:00

The second week of the year brought eight new articles from my keyboard to your eyeballs.

First up, this week's two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American were quite popular:

Apps for Apes: Engaging Orangutans with iPads

(You can read all of my stories about orangutans here.)

Disease-Carrying Virile American Crayfish Invade U.K. Rivers

(I've been covering the UK crayfish plague since 2009. Here are all my stories on this invasive species nightmare.)

A reminder - you can get my Extinction Countdown articles via RSS here.

I covered a variety of environmental topics for Mother Nature Network this week:

EPA releases map of top greenhouse gas emitters in U.S.

Google can help predict flu outbreaks

'60 Minutes' exposes the dark side of the truffle trade

My latest article for Today's Engineer covered how some engineers find jobs in other professions:

Career Focus: Non-Engineering Careers for Engineers

And finally, here are two blog posts for Green Hands USA:

Help Scientists by Taking Photos of Your Local Wildlife

American University Students "Do It in the Dark" to Save Energy

I'm working on a ton of cool new articles for the coming week and beyond. Follow me on Twitter for links as they go live.

First articles of 2012 - Elephants, Vultures and Buildings

2012-01-09T09:00:00.002-05:00

2012 is off to a great start -- aside from this persistent cough that's been plaguing me for the past three weeks. But coughing doesn't affect my typing ability, so there were still several new articles of mine published last week.

First up, both of this week's Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American covered elephants, a perpetually interesting topic. I'm always amazed that I'm still writing about the illegal trade in ivory more than 22 years since it was banned.

Poaching and Ivory Smuggling at Record Highs in 2011

Unchained: Indian Elephant Rehab Center to Be a Model for Rescued Zoo Animals

(That second article was also reprinted by the Huffington Post.)

Here's a weird news item for Mother Nature Network. My editor there always digs up the coolest things for me to write:

Hundreds of vultures invade Georgia neighborhood

Here's a brief "green living" blog post for Green Hands USA:

Which Big-Box Retailers Are the Greenest?

And finally, I have a new feature in the January 2012 issue of Lion magazine, the publication of Lions Clubs International. Inspired by my own Lions Club, I interviewed club members around the country (and around the world) who also own clubhouses to come up with some best practices for a non-profit maintaining their own building. The entire issue is online here.

Last articles of 2011

2012-01-02T09:00:00.004-05:00

It's 2012, and I'm already deep into writing the first of my articles that will appear this year. But today you get one last list of links from articles I published in 2011.

Being a short week, there weren't many of them, but they were good ones. Here they are:

Lions vs. Cattle: Taste Aversion Could Solve African Predator Problem

'Poop to power' program turns pig manure into sustainable energy

'Cheetah' the chimp, Tarzan co-star, dead at age 80

PandaGate: BBC names a panda one of its 12 most interesting women of the year

I hope your New Year is off to a healthy and fun start and that good things are coming your way!

Post-Christmas article linkage

2011-12-26T11:00:00.000-05:00

As my late Christmas present to you, here are eight new articles from last week.

First up, two new Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Bad News for Christmas: Frankincense Faces Uncertain Future

Caught on Video: Endangered Pygmy Hippo Seen Slipping through Nighttime Liberia

Next up, some interesting news items for Mother Nature Network:

Iowa town's pit bull ban forces veteran cop to give up his service dog

DNA of Genghis Khan's descendant sequenced in Inner Mongolia

Liquid metal capsules make self-healing electronics possible

And finally, three new "green living" blog posts for Green Hands USA:

How to Find the Greenest Restaurants in Your Area

Your Business Can Help Preserve Biodiversity

Outdoor Play Cuts ADHD Symptoms

This week will see me battling a nasty cold while writing several new features. I wonder what cold medicine will do to my prose? Stay tuned to find out!

Banning bullfrogs, breeding devils, saving money and a mystery

2011-12-19T09:34:00.001-05:00

Last week's articles and blog posts ran the gamut from good news to bad news to the just plain weird.

First up, my latest articles about endangered species for Scientific American:

Should California Ban American Bullfrogs? [This was reprinted by the Huffington Post]

Sperm Bank and Reproductive Research Could Help Save Tasmanian Devils from Extinction [You can find all of my SciAm articles about the communicable cancer that has killed 70-90% of the world's Tasmanian devils in past 15 years here]

Mother Nature Network gave me two interesting stories this week:

'Like' this: Facebook and Greenpeace to collaborate on clean energy

Medical mystery robs voiceover artist of his voice, but finds magic pill in Ambien - [This was reprinted by Yahoo, who also put it on their front page.]

And finally, here are three new blog posts for Green Hands USA:

Hasbro Greens its Toy Packaging

Volkswagen Has World's Greenest Auto Plant

Taking Public Transportation Could Save You $816 a Month

There's lots more coming before the end of the year. What's that, time off for the holidays? Nah, not me!

Hellbenders, Angry Birds, How to Develop Apps, Mobile Learners and lots more

2011-12-12T12:01:00.001-05:00

Nine new articles saw print last week. At this rate, I'd better ask for a new keyboard for Christmas.

Here are this week's links. First up, my usual two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Endangered Ozark Hellbender Salamanders Breed in Captivity for the First Time

Do PCBs Still Threaten Humans? A Turtle Study Suggests They Might

Also, last week's article on rare Hainan gibbons was reprinted by the Huffington Post

Mother Nature Network had three new Platt bylines this week. I particularly enjoyed this first one, but all were interesting to research and write:

iSchool Initiative inspires students to go paperless and become 'mobile learners'

Should New York City ban horse-drawn carriages?

Former missile complex to become 'mock city' for training first responders

I loved conducing the interviews for my latest Today's Engineer article, which looks at a growing technology career:

Career Focus: App Development

And finally, after some time off, the folks at Green Hands USA have started up again. Here are three short new articles for them:

Does Your Tuna Contain Mercury?

Save Green While Going Green: Try Leasing Solar Power

Angry Birds Helps Fight Bird Extinctions

That's it for now. More next week!

From the archives: 4

2011-12-07T13:55:00.005-05:00

Another ad from the archives. I'm pretty sure this came out around the same time as the awful Fantastic Four movie. Luckily, it stands on its own.

Click the image to see it full-sized.

New articles: Rarest of the rare, dogs, sex symbols and graphic novels

2011-12-05T09:09:00.001-05:00

I have about 187 new articles to write this coming week, so let's get right to last week's links:

First up, two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American, both about species on the razor's edge of extinction (one of which might already be gone):

Have You Seen This 'Extinct' Snake? Snapping a Photo of It Alive Could Be Worth $500

Illegal Deforestation Threatens the Last 23 Hainan Gibbons

Mother Nature Network kinda put me on the dog beat last week, with two good stories about dogs. I also got to write about actress Hedy Lamarr and her hidden history of invention. (CNN linked to that article and gave it a great push).

Military dogs suffer from PTSD

You can thank 1940s sex symbol Hedy Lamarr for today's Wi-Fi and Bluetooth devices

Bulldogs face health problems from reckless breeding

Finally, here are two new book reviews for Graphic Novel Reporter.

I Will Bite You! And Other Stories

Uncle Scrooge: Like a Hurricane

Next week's list will be about twice as long. Keep an eye on my Twitter feed for the links as they happen!

From the archives: Bioengineering

2011-11-30T13:50:00.000-05:00

I just found a scan for an ad I never posted here, part of this series that I both wrote and modeled for, one of the more interesting chapters in my professional career.

Anyway, click the ad to see this full-sized. And no, that's not me in the photo.

The Most Interesting Wombat in the World

2011-11-28T13:54:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the shortened Thanksgiving week, I only had one article published last week, but it was an...interesting one. I interviewed the advertising icon "The Most Interesting Man in the World" about his efforts to save one of the world's rarest mammals from extinction.

Can the Most Interesting Man in the World Help Save This Critically Endangered Wombat?

This was not only fun to write, it was a chance to write about a species I have hoped to cover for months now. And it's done some good. The auction mentioned in the article just closed after raising well over $1,000. That's impressive.

More next week!

From the archives: DNA

2011-11-22T15:22:00.000-05:00

The archives are producing a treasure trove of projects I enjoyed working on over the years. Here's an ad I wrote for IEEE about five years ago. I still like it.

(Click on the image to see it in all of its glory.)

Spongetastic

2011-11-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Huh. You'd think that will all of the hours I put in last week I would have published more articles. But most of that work was interviews and research for upcoming features and other projects, so I don't feel bad. Not every article I write can come out within a day of my writing it!

Anyway, here are this week's links -- two new Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American and two news items for Mother Nature Network.

Amazing Neptune's Cup Sponge Rediscovered in Singapore

Another Rhino Goes Extinct and Other Updates from the Brink

Family mourns pug's death on transatlantic flight

Co-founder of Facebook competitor Diaspora dies at 22

There probably won't be a huge amount coming your way this week -- it is almost Thanksgiving, after all -- but you never know, maybe I'll surprise you.

From the archives: Just Right

2011-11-16T12:17:00.001-05:00

Digging into the marketing archives again, here are two of the four pages from a large-format brochure I wrote to launch a new IEEE informational product. (As memory serves, the product didn't last, but it set up the market for several more successful services that followed behind it.)

(You can click on this image to view it in more detail.)

Traumatized chimps, gay penguins, icky diseases and a poem

2011-11-14T09:07:00.000-05:00

Looking back on it, last week was pretty wild as far as my writing was concerned. My articles were all over the map, but in a good way. That's the fun thing about being a freelance writer: you never know what the next assignment or story is going to bring.

This week's two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American covered important topics, and they both generated a fair amount of discussion:

"Save the Chimps" Sanctuary Builds a Home for Traumatized Apes

Should Gay, Endangered Penguins be Forced to Mate?

I usually do one feature a month for IEEE-USA's Today's Engineer, but I did two for the November issue. Here they are:

New Jobs Council Report Addresses Entrepreneurship, Promises 10,000 New Engineers A Year

Career Focus: Systems Engineering

Mother Nature Network continues to let me report on a wide variety of stories. Here are this week's including one of the ickiest things I've had to write about in a long while:

Christo's $50 million 'Over the River' art project approved

Steven-Johnson syndrome: HIV drug can cause life-threatening skin reaction, says FDA

Is there evidence of extraterrestrial life? Nope, says Obama administration

And finally, on a completely unrelated note, I have I have a science fiction poem called "Manscaping" in the latest issue (#15) of Illumen magazine. I sold it back when "Manscaping" was still a commonly used word.

That's it for this week! More links in seven days!

From the archives: Passion

2011-11-09T12:07:00.004-05:00

Here's an advertisement from several years back: a full-page ad for a technical journal that we tried to make more lively. I still like it.

(Click to view in full size.)

From the archives: The China Syndrome

2011-11-07T14:39:00.000-05:00

(Originally published in Kyoto Planet, January 2008, and still quite topical.)

The China Syndrome:
Can the World Be Saved if China Doesn't Go Green?

By John R. Platt

There's a lot of talk these days about China's impact on the environment -- and with good reason. China is now the world's top producer of greenhouse gases, it's the home of 16 of the world's 20 most polluted cities, and some of its factories have infamously shipped tainted goods to clients around the globe.

China produces 70-80% of its electricity in coal-burning plants, and its energy needs have more than doubled since the beginning of the decade, according to the Worldwatch Institute. Meanwhile, its population is moving from rural areas to cities, where they use more power and buy cars, which adds to the country's demand for fossil fuels.

China's growth has been fueled by an export-driving economy that finds it supplying goods and services to companies and countries around the globe. According to the World Trade Organization, China became the world's second-largest exporter in 2006, and the WTO predicts it will become the world's biggest exporter in 2008.

Amidst all of this, the Beijing government has started taking steps to improve China's environmental impact. Massive clean-up efforts are underway in preparation for this year's Olympic games. Meanwhile, China was expected to invest over $10 billion in new renewable energy capacity in 2007, including wind turbines and production of solar photovoltaic cells.

But even with these and other steps in the right direction, China can't do it alone. "It has to be a collaborative effort," says Elizabeth C. Economy, the C.V. Starr Senior Fellow and Director for Asia Studies at the Council for Foreign Relations. "What we have to focus on is how we all can work together to solve this problem."

Part of the difficulty, says Economy, is that local officials tend to ignore the central government's environmental mandates, which lack enforcement on the local level, in favor of profits and economic growth.

"Chinese factories, institutions, the government...everyone needs to be on board," says Economy. "There has to be a local commitment. You can have a great effort from Beijing, but if you don't have the follow-through to the local level, it's essentially meaningless."

So, if a business wants to make sure that the Chinese goods it orders are being produced in an environmentally responsible way, what can it do? The first step, says Economy, is that "any company needs to know the factories from which it is sourcing. Some multinationals might not even know. It's difficult to know. Many Chinese manufacturers source their production to 10 different places."

After that, says Economy, businesses need to find out if the factories are, at the very least, adhering to Chinese environmental standards, and find ways to reward the factories that are doing a better job.

"Businesses can say, 'you're doing the right thing, Factory X, so you'll give us a greater portion of what you're selling, to the detriment of Factory Y, which isn't doing a good job.' You can reward factories which are going green, and punish those which aren't."

Some NGOs are involved in efforts to help businesses gather information on factories' environmental impact. The Natural Resources Defense Council, for example, has lent its support to the Greenwatch environmental ranking system in Jiangsu Province. The NRDC plans to work with multinational retailers and manufacturers to develop what they call "preferred supplier systems" for factories with strong environmental records.

"The solution isn't going to come from multinationals or foreign governments pouring money into China or placing new technology, which has happened over the last few decades," says Economy. "If you don't have a willing and capable Chinese partner, you're not going to get very far. China needs to develop the infrastructure to support a better path."

As part of this, Economy says that China needs to examine the way it prices its utilities. "China froze the prices of its natural resources. Water is priced well below market rate in China, and energy is too. Concerns for social unrest keep the price of water and energy low. But if you want to create an incentive to conserve, you have to be willing to pay a price."

Forcing Chinese factories to go green may have another price, forcing the cost of goods and services up, but it might be a price we need to pay. "Can China go green? Yes," says Economy. "Can the world be saved if China doesn't go green? No."

Bat Week, Lions helping Lions, Cancer and more

2011-11-07T09:00:00.001-05:00

Monday was Halloween, my favorite holiday, and I kept the spirit of the season going all week long by writing about bats over at Scientific American:

Could an Artificial Cave Help Protect Bats from Deadly Fungus?

England Tries Wire and Mesh ‘Bat Bridges’ to Save Endangered Species

(You can read all of my recent articles about bats here.)

My latest book review is up at Graphic Novel Reporter, an excellent graphic novel by a son about his father's cancer:

Seeds by Ross Mackintosh

Sadly, cancer also came up in one of this week's stories for Mother Nature Network:

'Survivor' winner and activist Ethan Zohn announces his cancer has returned

Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill loses 50 pounds with help from Twitter

Finally, my feature article on how Lions Club members helped to conserve critically endangered Asiatic (Gir) lions appears on page 40 of the November 2011 issue of Lion magazine, which you can flip through here.

I have several great stories already in the works for this week. Make sure to follow me on Twitter for links as they go live.

Your Halloween treat: nine new articles

2011-10-31T14:51:00.001-04:00

I'm late posting this week's list of articles because our unexpected and bizarre Halloween snowstorm has left us without power, heat or Internet. Luckily, hotel rooms provide all three!

This week's two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American couldn't be more different, but they are each vitally important in their own ways:

Poachers Drive Javan Rhino to Extinction in Vietnam

Please Don’t Feed the Endangered Eagles?

I'm back at Mother Nature Network after a couple of weeks (my editor took some time off). Here are my latest stories for them:

Prince Charles claims kinship to Vlad the Impaler, helps to save Transylvania's forests

Apple plans massive solar farm in North Carolina

College tailgate parties go green with the EPA's Game Day Challenge

GPS maker Garmin releases fitness app for iPhone and Android

Green Hands USA seems to have finished up its brief resurrection. Here are the final few posts for October:

Target Commits to Sustainable Seafood

Tips for a Eco-Friendly Halloween

Giving Jewelry? Go Green with Man-Made Diamonds

In other news, my first feature article for Lion magazine should be online tomorrow (it arrived in my mailbox Saturday) and lots more is in the works.

See you next week!

Captive Wildlife Laws, Shark Fin Alternatives, Preventing Pesticide Poisoning and a Poem

2011-10-24T09:43:00.003-04:00

This week's two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American were incredibly popular, in no small part because they touched upon some very important and timely topics:

Ohio Animals Tragedy Calls Attention to Loopholes in U.S. Captive Wildlife Laws

Could Farming Sustainable Tilapia Help Cut the Demand for Shark Fin Soup?

My "green living" blog posts for Green Hands USA were also more popular than usual, for which I am grateful:

An Organic Apple a Day Keeps the Pesticides at Bay

Protect Rivers and Lakes by Disposing of Drugs Properly

Rerun article: How Walkable Is Your Neighborhood?

Finally, these new book reviews for Graphic Novel Reporter also garnered lots of traffic. I'm glad, because they're both good books (although for totally different reasons):

Time Bomb

Teen Angels and New Mutants [This is my vote for best comics-related book of the year, BTW.]

On a completely different note, I received my contributors copies of Space and Time Magazine # 115, containing my poem "Necropsy." The issue should be available soon. Check it out!

I'm finishing up two new features this week (and starting a third) while also working on my next half-dozen Extinction Countdown columns, a corporate newsletter, and various other pieces. I'm also pitching some potential new publishers with some ideas I'm dying to write. Stay tuned for more!

Tigers, Halloween, Salaries and a Contest Win

2011-10-17T09:19:00.001-04:00

Monday means making links, with last week's articles and a few other tidbits.

This week's two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American not only covered important issues, they were also quite popular. The tiger article was the most popular in the last month, while the pheasant article was the only coverage of this species on this continent:

Mystery Tiger Deaths Solved: Canine Distemper Plagues Siberian Tigers

Surveys Find No Sign of Endangered Vietnamese Pheasant

My latest feature for Today's Engineer went up last week. This is a pretty useful service for engineers:

Is Your Salary Competitive? Find Out with the Latest IEEE-USA Salary Survey and Calculator

Green Hands USA continues to chug along. Here are two new blog posts, along with a rerun:

Kids, Roar for Big Cats this Halloween

Home Depot Recognized for Commitment to Saving Water

Rerun article: 7 Inexpensive Ways to Stay Warm This Autumn

Finally, this week, I won Eli Stein's Cartoon Caption Contest again! This is my fifth win, and while it's not the New Yorker caption contest, it will hold me over until I start posting my own cartoons online again in a few weeks.

More next Monday!

P.S. -- I'm taking on new writing clients to help pay for my poor pug's cancer treatments. If there's anything I can write for you, let me know!

Now live: The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

2011-10-11T11:46:00.004-04:00

For the past few months, I have been editing and rewriting the old comics-related entries for the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, which was last published in book form in 1991. The new edition went online yesterday and can now been seen in all of its glory here:

SFE: Science Fiction Encyclopedia

My next task for the SFE is to start writing new entries, again related to comics, which will encompass some of the best writers and artists in the field, as well as the 10 or so most essential SF-related graphic novels.

There's a TON of great information and fun reading in the SFE. If you enjoy science fiction books, movies, music, magazines or comics, check it out.

Hellbenders, innovators, a relaunch, and a graphic novel

2011-10-10T09:36:00.000-04:00

It's Columbus Day, but most of the freelancers I know work holidays, and I'm no exception. I'm working on a ton of new stuff this week, which you'll hear about on this blog next week. Until then, here are all of last week's new articles.

This week's two Extinction Countdown posts for Scientific American were quite popular, and I was quite happy to be able to write about one of my favorite species for the first time in four years:

Hellbender Salamander Gets Endangered Species Designation, but No Habitat Protection -- and That May Be a Good Thing [my 2007 article about the hellbender can be found here.]

Poachers Wiping Out Rare Monkey in Tanzania

I love writing for Mother Nature Network, especially when they let me cover technology news. Here are two cool new articles:

Manta ray inspires Princeton researcher to create 'magic carpet'

Popular Mechanics names James Cameron most innovative leader of 2011

After a brief hiatus, Green Hands USA returned last week, with one new article and one revision to an older piece:

Try Blackle, the Search Engine that Saves Energy

How to Choose Eco-Friendly Halloween Candy

And finally this week, here's a new book review for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Approximate Continuum Comics

Last week's planned launch of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction was delayed. We're expecting it this week. So look for a link next week. Or follow me on Twitter for links as they happen.

4 new articles: DMZ, rare tigers, weird fruits, and hair loss (plus a glimpse at the future)

2011-10-03T09:02:00.001-04:00

This week brought four new articles and laid the groundwork for many more.

First up, my usual two Extinction Countdown posts for Scientific American:

South China Tiger Conservation Program Mourns Big Cat Lost in Tragic Fight

South Korea Seeks to Protect Endangered Species in Demilitarized Zone [this got a huge boost thanks to a link from iO9.]

There was also a brief interview with me about Extinction Countdown, which you can read here.

I also wrote two new posts for Mother Nature Network, both of which were fun to research:

Pawpaw: Rare fruit inspires passion and taste buds

Alopecia: Study reveals divorce, smoking and drinking can cause baldness in women

This coming week will bring 1) more of the above, 2) the return of Green Hands USA, 3) the possible publication of any of several pending features, 4) the launch of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, where I'm the contributing editor covering comics, and 5) who knows!

Koalas, geniuses and monkey assassins

2011-09-26T09:30:00.000-04:00

What a delightfully odd mix of articles this week...

First up, my two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Tunnels and Bridges Could Help Save Koalas from Extinction

Natural Gas Company Fined $500,000 for Damaging Endangered Species Habitat

Next, two news items for Mother Nature Network (the second of which is a rework of an article from a few months ago now that the event it's talking about is "live"):

MacArthur Foundation honors 22 new 'geniuses'

The art of hand washing

(And as long as we're talking MacArthur geniuses, here is my interview with two of last year's honorees, from IEEE's The Institute.)

Finally, two new reviews for Graphic Novel Reporter: Hit Monkey and Photo Booth.

That's it for now! More soon!

This week's stories and the stories behind the stories

2011-09-19T10:12:00.001-04:00

What a great week. I wrote about some fantastic ideas, as well as a few scary news items, and found out about a cool reprint of one of my articles.

First up, this week's news items for Mother Nature Network:

New 'jelly' batteries could provide cheap, safe power for small electronics [This was the most popular story on the for days after CNN linked to it from their home page.]

Climate change researcher, biomimicry expert among annual Heinz Award winners

Studies: Lint from synthetic fibers is polluting the ocean and coastal beaches [Eek! Especially tough since we wear so much polar fleece up here in chilly Maine.]

Are your sheets preventing you from getting a good night's sleep? [As a sleep apnea sufferer, I'm always looking for ways to improve my slumber!]

Next up, my two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Return of the Toxic Avenger: Rhino Advocate Proposes Poisoning Horns to Protect Them from Poachers [This was a sequel to one of my all-time most popular Extinction posts, which can be found here.]

Texas Wildfires Devastate Last Habitat for Endangered Houston Toad [A scary, sad story, this was very tough to report on. The full effects of these terrible wildfires won't be known for months.]

Finally this week, an oldie but goodie: one of my articles is included in this new e-book, "The Best of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer: On Consulting – Volume 2." Read more about it here.

More next week!

Big week: Species debates, bare bums, book reviews and getting into management

2011-09-12T09:29:00.000-04:00

Monday brings my weekly round-up of the previous week's articles and publications, and this week there were a bunch of them.

First up, my usual two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Should Captive-Bred Chimpanzees Have Full Endangered Species Act Protection?

Last-of-Its-Kind Plant Could Get Federal Protection

Next, this week's news article for Mother Nature Network (which was a hoot and a half to write):

San Francisco considers protecting its benches from public nudity and bare bottoms

MNN also published my latest book review for them:

'Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind'

Speaking of book reviews, here are two new ones for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Astronaut Academy: Zero Gravity

Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet

And last but not least, my latest career focus feature for Today's Engineer. This was incredibly fun to pull together. I conducted about a dozen interviews with people around the country. The resulting article should be a crowd-pleaser:

Career Focus: Engineering Management

More next week!

From the Archives: Wes Craven's New Nightmare

2011-09-07T09:13:00.002-04:00

[Continuing my excavation of old articles and reviews written in the days before email. I think I drove a horse and buggy when I wrote this!]

WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE
A Novel by David Bergantino
Tor, Pb, $4.99
ISBN 0-812-55166-4

(Originally published in The New Jersey Graveline, December 1994)

Okay, first things first. Run out and go buy yourself a copy of this novel. I'll wait.

All right, now that you've fought off the holiday shopping crowds and made it back alive, let me tell you why you just bought this book. David Bergantino's adaptation of the movie "Wes Craven's New Nightmare" is done the way novelizations should be done. In fact, it goes even further than that, and manages to become something unique.

By now you are probably aware of the plot of the "New Nightmare" movie -- while preparing to film a new "Nightmare on Elm Street" movie, the cast and crew are stalked by a suddenly very real Freddy Krueger, who is intent on keeping his story and his character alive -- but knowing that won't quite prepare you for this novel.

Bergantino does much more than just adapt the movie - he adds to it. Scattered throughout his novelization of Wes Craven's script are excerpts from Bergantino's own journal, written over the course of the two months in which he wrote the novel. These journal entries depict Bergantino himself dealing with troubling dreams that echo the situations in the script he is adapting. Also included with the journal entries are newspaper clippings detailing events the occurred in the previous year -- real events that found their way into Craven's script -- as well as letters from someone trying to contact Bergantino regarding his book, and a "matter of life and death."

These extras are what make the book worth reading. As Bergantino's journal depicts his growing paranoia, and as the newspaper clippings show us that the deaths of several characters in the script actually happened in real life, the book takes on an almost surreal quality. It becomes harder and harder to distinguish the reality from the fiction, and the book becomes scarier and scarier as it progresses, because the reader just doesn't know what to believe!

Based on Bergantino's journal entries, WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE is his first book, and a really feel it could be a career maker. As a novelization of a (relatively) hot movie, the book will undoubtedly sell better than most first horror novels, and that should show publishers that his later books might sell.

On the other hand, this could be the work of an established novelist, written under a pen name, as many novelizations are, but I'd rather assume that it isn't.

Take a long look at this novel. Not only is it very good, it just might give you an idea of how to write a novelization someday yourself. After you do that, start getting your name out there. Let editors know that you are available and that you are cheap and fast, and someday it could be you writing that novelization. And maybe that will lead to something else for you, too...

[Whatever happened to David Bergantino? He wrote a few YA horror novels after this, then disappeared. Or at least his byline did. A shame.]

New articles: My favorite extinct species and the world's most reviled sports mascot

2011-09-06T09:08:00.014-04:00

Last week was a bit of a shortened work week as everyone (myself included) either spent their time recovering from Hurricane Irene or preparing for the long weekend. But the week still brought four new articles from me, including one about my favorite extinct animal of all time, the notorious Thylacine.

That article was one of this week's two pieces for Scientific American:

Newly Discovered Hawaiian Bird Could Already Be Extinct

Thylacine Hunted into Extinction for No Reason, Study Reveals

I also wrote two new articles for Mother Nature Network, the first of which is pretty scary, and the second of which is too damned funny:

Record droughts in Florida fuel spread of invasive plant Melaleuca

Meet EcoKat, the eco-enforcing Kansas State University mascot

This is already another short week, but as always, it will be full of new words and stuff. Have a good one, and stay tuned for the latest from my keyboard.

(Oh, and make sure to check this blog from time to time, as I'm starting to post some old articles that I have recovered from the Platt Archives.)

From the Archives: The Sister

2011-08-31T08:49:00.004-04:00

[JP note: I just uncovered a treasure trove: my old copies of The New Jersey Graveline, the newsletter of the Garden State Horror Writers. I wrote a few hundred articles for this newsletter over the years, and editing it helped fast-track me to the life of professional editing and writing. Scanning the old issues is a bear (the electronic files are long-since gone), but not impossible, so I'll be posting select articles and reviews from time to time. Here's the first.]

THE SISTER
by Elleston Trevor
Tor/Forge, HC, $20.95
ISBN 0-312-85555-9

Originally published in The New Jersey Graveline, April 1994

I wanted to like THE SISTER. Really, I did. Elleston Trevor has a gift for description that, at its best, could place him near the top of a very short list of talented suspense authors.

Unfortunately, the plot, setting and characters in THE SISTER are so bad that, ultimately, the book is almost unreadable.

THE SISTER concerns Debra and Madlen Felker, two sisters who flee uncaring parents and a dangerous school system and enter a convent, the Sisters of the Sacred Light. Once there, however, it becomes evident that Madlen, who professes to love her younger -- adopted -- sister, is actually trying to kill her.

Now, since Debra and Madlen are the central characters of THE SISTER, it is a tragedy that they are as poorly drawn as they are. Their personalities change chapter by chapter, their actions (especially Madlen's) are impossible to believe, and their dialogue is wooden and forced. In fact, when we are first introduced to the sisters at the beginning of the book, Trevor's use of the characters is so uneven, they seem to be anywhere from ten years old to eighteen, depending on what paragraph you are reading.

It is this earliest part of the book -- the first 50 pages -- that are the weakest in THE SISTER. Trevor's portrait of the Felker family is unbelievable, and the parents lack any sense of being fully-drawn characters. And when we see the high school the girls attend, it seems as if Trevor has not set foot in a high school, let alone talked to a teenager, in several decades. Since we are expected to believe that Debra and Madlen want to become nuns to escape from the violence in their school and the anger of their parents, Trevor's failure to make that world believable makes the sisters' actions forced and unreal.

The book doesn't stay this bad, though -- although throughout THE SISTER the book is flawed by serious logic problems and poor dialogue. At some points, Trevor's skill at description comes close to actually saving the book. Look at this paragraph, from the end of chapter 4, as Debra and Madlen leave the outside world and enter the convent:

"The only sound now was their footsteps, and Debra felt the urge to turn and run back into the warmth of the sunshine out there while she had the chance, but the great doors slammed shut suddenly, sending echoes thudding along the walls, and the bell in the tower Slopped ringing at last, and a deep silence fell."

That's great stuff, very evocative and moody. There's bits and pieces of that scattered throughout THE SISTER, and there is one great three-chapter section where Debra is trapped in the darkness of secret passageways underneath the convent, but it just isn't enough.

Unfortunately, the only way to recommend THE SISTER is as an example of a book that failed, but has a few moments of brilliance struggling to shine through.

3 new articles make an impact

2011-08-29T15:39:00.000-04:00

Only three new articles last week, but they made an impact.

First, my two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Ecuadorian Hydroelectric Plant Could Cause Extinction of Rare Plant [This is the only US coverage of this rather major event.]

Endangered Species Status Sought for 'Don't Tread on Me' Rattlesnakes [Mother Jones picked this up and ran with its more ludicrous political aspects.]

And, my latest for Mother Nature Network:

Could your shoes power your cellphone? [This was reprinted by Forbes, the Miami Herald, the Sacramento Bee and several other publishers.]

Autonomous Robotic Vehicle Earns Student IEEE Scholarship

2011-08-23T13:11:00.001-04:00

One more recent feature, for IEEE's The Institute, which should have been linked in last week's update, but the publisher's site was down for a few days, so here 'tis:

Autonomous Robotic Vehicle Earns Student IEEE Scholarship - The Institute

Chimpanzees, riding for trees, and Obama's bus

2011-08-22T10:26:00.004-04:00

Oh, how I wanted to make that headline all rhyme. Oh well...

Anyway, while I work on several new feature articles, regular article work continues.

First up, two new posts for my Extinction Countdown blog over at Scientific American:

Rediscoveries, Recovery and Other Good News for Endangered Species

Should Rwanda Relocate Humans to Make Room for Chimpanzees?

And next, two new articles for Mother Nature Network:

20th annual Tour des Trees to raise money for tree research and education

Obama's $1.1 million bus draws criticism

More next week!

Dugongs, Dr Pepper and Cyber Security

2011-08-15T09:24:00.001-04:00

A couple of long-gestating articles finally saw print this week! There's lots more in the hopper, and new articles always in the works, so the next few weeks should be equally interesting.

First up, my usual two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Dugong Deaths Way up Down Under

Baby Mountain Gorilla Rescued from Poachers

Next, a couple of articles for Mother Nature Network:

Dr Pepper feud brewing in Texas

Book review: 'The New Normal: An Agenda for Responsible Living'

Should Nik Wallenda be allowed to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope?

And finally, my latest career profile article for Today's Engineer:

Career Focus: Cyber Security — A Growing Threat, a Growing Career

Keep watch on my Twitter feed for the latest and greatest as they are published!

Three new articles

2011-08-08T11:25:00.000-04:00

A short list last week, but there's still a ton of new work pending publication. Stay tuned for those links. In the meantime, here are last week's three stories:

Can’t an Ugly, Slimy Bottom-Feeder Get Some Love?

DNA Test Proves Killed Cougar Migrated from South Dakota to Connecticut

Crop circles explained -- maybe

Extinctions, a tree crisis, and graphic novels

2011-08-01T09:26:00.000-04:00

This week brought three published environmental articles and two graphic novel reviews.

First up, my two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Kenyans Reportedly Chewing "Potency" Herb into Extinction

How Eating Frog Legs Is Causing Frog Extinctions

Only one article for Mother Nature Network this week, but it's an interesting one:

Atlanta's tree crisis: Heavy storms, drought and invasive species take their toll

And after taking some time off to move, I'm back at Graphic Novel Reporter. Here are two new book reviews for them:

Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators

Phoenix Without Ashes

I've been working on several new features, which should be popping up this week and next. I can't wait to see what gets published when!

Back to the keyboard...

New Links to Tech Articles

2011-07-29T09:36:00.000-04:00

One of the tech/engineering pubs I frequently write for, IEEE's The Institute, just got a major redesign/relaunch. You can find all of my articles for them here.

This week's article links

2011-07-25T09:00:00.000-04:00

What the? Only three articles published last week? Shocking! But I have so many in the hopper coming up over the next few weeks that you should have plenty of reading to do all through August.

So what were the three? Well, two were my usual Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Want to Conserve Bats? There's an App for That

Whitebark Pine Turned Down for Endangered Species List

The third was a news piece for Mother Nature Network:

Dangerous drug 'bath salts' still legal in many states

Stay tuned for lots, lots more!

Consulting, Carmageddon, Talking Canines and Countdowns

2011-07-18T12:19:00.001-04:00

I love my job. Where else could you write about Hitler and Justin Bieber in the same week?

Before we get to either of those people, here are my latest two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Good News for 2 Rare Leopard Species

Deadly Rabbit Disease May Have Doomed Iberian Lynx

This careers article for IEEE's The Institute has already proven quite popular. I had a lot of fun interviewing these folks:

Everything You Wanted to Know About Consulting but Were Afraid to Ask

Finally, this week's batch of (mostly weird but also inspiring) articles for Mother Nature Network:

Google's altruism after Japanese earthquake was boon to company

Hitler tried to teach dogs to speak German?

As Carmageddon approaches, Justin Bieber says don't text and drive

Solar Sister uses the power of the sun to empower women in the developing world

7-Eleven wants to give you a free Slurpee today [oops, you missed it.]

That's it for this past week. Lots more links in seven days!

Dangerous plants, rare camels, a new editorial gig and the grossest story I ever wrote

2011-07-11T09:18:00.001-04:00

Last week brought a bunch of new articles, an announcement or two, a contest win and other goodies.

First up, Scientific American launched their big new blog network, which Extinction Countdown will be a part of. Here are this week's two articles for them:

Enormous, Endangered, Epileptic Loggerhead Turtle Gets MRI Brain Scan [Definitely check out the video in this one. Very cool.]

Last Wild Camels in China Could be Saved with Embryonic Transfer Technique Perfected in U.A.E.

Next up, a new batch of articles for Mother Nature Network, where my editor recently joked that they should just go ahead and make their reporter for weird and odd stories. Hey, works for me.

Deadly Mexican drug cartels expanding into illegal logging

Hogweed: Blindness-causing plant spreading across New York

Mantria Corporation: The biggest green Ponzi scheme ever?

What's in your navel? Hundreds and hundreds of types of bacteria [I gotta tell you, I just about puked writing this story. Have fun reading it!]

This next bit isn't an article, but it's words, so it counts. Once again, I was the winner in cartoonist Eli Stein's cartoon caption contest. This was my fourth win, and possibly my favorite.

Finally this week, it was announced that I'll be a contributing editor, covering comics, to the new version of the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the first new volume of this massive tome in many years and the first to be done completely online. We launch next year. Should be fun.

Chimps, devils, duct tape and dirty beaches

2011-07-05T08:53:00.001-04:00

I'm getting back into the swing of things after last month's move. Here are my six most recent new articles:

First up, two new Extinction Countdown blogs for Scientific American:

Emergency Action Plan Aims to Help the World's Most Endangered Chimpanzee

Good News for Tasmanian Devils, Puerto Rican Parrots & Southern Right Whales

And then, four new articles for Mother Nature Network:

Another use for duct tape: Reduce hospital infections

America's dirtiest beaches revealed

Malaysia Airlines bans babies from first class

Air conditioning for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan costs $20.2 billion a year

That's it for this update. More to come!

4 new Extinction Countdown columns

2011-06-27T10:56:00.000-04:00

What have I been up to the last two weeks? Mostly it's been moving. Packing, driving back and forth, cleaning, waiting around for movers and other helpers, unpacking, etc. That didn't leave much time for writing.

But although I took these two weeks off from most of my freelance work (does this count as a vacation?), I did continue my Extinction Countdown column for Scientific American. Here are the four latest articles:

Farming Rats and Bees Could Solve Bushmeat Crisis in Africa, Experts Say

Arabian Oryx Makes History as First Species to Be Upgraded from "Extinct in the Wild" to "Vulnerable"

Platypus Threatened by Climate Change

Polly Wanna a Date? Rare Parrot Needs a Mate

There will be lots of new stuff this week. Make sure to follow me on Twitter for the links as they happen.

Shocking news about solar, a rhino eulogy, and a Roling Stone

2011-06-13T08:43:00.000-04:00

Another week has gone by, bringing with it a bounty of new articles. First up, my latest feature for Today's Engineer, which offers shocking perspective for those of us waiting for sustainable energy like solar and wind power:

Career Focus: Power Engineering

Next up, my two weekly Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American, including one of the most difficult pieces I have ever had to write:

China's Yangtze Finless Porpoise Faces 80 Percent Decrease in 30 Years

Rare Northern White Rhino Dies of Old Age—and Then There Were 7...

Finally, here are a few new articles for Mother Nature Network, including an interview with MNN co-founder and Rolling Stones keyboardist Chuck Leavell:

Book by farmer and rocker Chuck Leavell advocates smart, green growth

Visit the Tree That Owns Itself

Follow a truck full of pet food as it makes deliveries to animal shelters across the U.S.

There won't be as many articles this week or next as we pack up our house and move (to a much bigger house), but stay tuned, because there's plenty more in the hopper.

Two weeks of article links!

2011-06-06T08:55:00.000-04:00

Boy, holiday weekends complicate things! We take time off to relax and celebrate and the work week falls to pieces. (Actually, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing.)

But anyway, now that last week's post-Memorial Day four-day week is over, here are a bunch of links to my articles from the last 14 days:

First up, a batch of endangered species news for my Extinction Countdown column over at Scientific American:

Algal Neurotoxins Found in Endangered Hawaiian Monk Seals

Hundreds of Rare Saiga Antelopes Die in Kazakhstan (Again)

Citizen Scientists and Social Media Aim to Help Prevent Frog Extinctions

Rare All-White Kiwi Born in New Zealand Breeding Program

Next up, a variety of eco-flavored news for Mother Nature Network:

State legislatures cracking down on hookah smoking

Facebook challenge grant aims to donate 100 service dogs to vets with PTSD

Would you hunt wild boar with a handmade spear?

Next, my final (for now) batch of stories for Green Hands USA. They're restructuring. I expect to be creating new stories for them in a month or two:

5 Ways to Green Your Memorial Day

iPad App Teaches Kids to Save the Rainforest

Which American Cities Have the Cleanest Air?

Would You Pay Extra for a Stamp that Helps Endangered Species?

And last but not least, here's a graphic novel review for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Ivy by Sarah Oleksyk

Some new features will hit your screens this week. Stay tuned to my Twitter feed for the latest links.

Killer chimps, greener goods, cheaper gas and big art

2011-05-23T08:02:00.005-04:00

Are you ready for this week's article links?

First up, the latest two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Updates from the Brink: A Plan for Bats, Oil-Spill Penguins and Branson's Lemurs

Ugandan Chimpanzees May Be Hunting Red Colobus Monkeys into Extinction

Next, three new "green living" blogs for Green Hands USA:

California & New Jersey Are Tops in Solar

Are You Still Willing to Pay More for Greener Goods?

Got an Attic? Save on Cooling Costs with a Solar-Powered Attic Fan

Next up, two new pieces for Mother Nature Network...

Christo's big art vs. bighorn sheep

Swarms of parakeets invade London

... and a Yahoo! Green reprint of an earlier MNN story:

When's the best time to buy gas?

That's it for this week, but I've been working my fingers to the bone on several new features that will appear throughout June. Until then, see you next week!

Women in engineering, bear bile, and cute baby aardvarks

2011-05-16T08:52:00.000-04:00

Another week, another wide range of article topics!

There was only one Extinction Countdown article for Scientific American this week, because last week had three. But this one really got people talking:

Illegal Trade in Bear Bile Flourishes throughout Asia

Two new feature articles appeared over at Today's Engineer. These were great fun to research and pull together:

Stemming the Tide: New Study Examines Why Women Leave Engineering

Career Focus: Biomedical Engineering

I'm working on a few big pieces for Mother Nature Network. Here are two short ones that appeared last week:

Abandoned baby aardvark pulls through with zookeepers' help

Bone-grafting product Augment receives positive recommendation from FDA

And finally, here are this week's blog posts from Green Hands USA:

An Incandescent Bulb that Saves Energy?

5 Tips to Reduce Asthma

Seattle Named Most Walkable City

This week will bring a lot more new stuff, plus a rare in-person appearance for me as I sign my books and comics at the Maine Comics Arts Festival in Portland. I hope to see some of you there!

Wolves, Cicadas & Angry Birds

2011-05-09T08:36:00.000-04:00

I feel pretty lucky right now. All of last week's articles were extremely popular, and all were fun (or at least challenging) to write. You can't go wrong there.

This week had three Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American, instead of the usual two, but there was some breaking news (the wolf story) that needed covering:

Extinction Likely for World's Rarest Bear Subspecies

Wolves Lose Out to Politics, Removed from Endangered Species List

Possum-killing poison helps protect New Zealand parrot

Both of my stories for Mother Nature Network last week stayed on their top ten most-read list for several days:
The dog that helped take down Osama bin Laden

13-year cicadas wake up, prepare to swarm in Georgia and 11 other states

Green Hands USA has had to cut back a bit while they work on closing some necessary sponsorship deals, but if the readership counts on last week's blogs are any indication, that shouldn't be a problem for long:

6 Simple Ways to Green Your Dinner

Save Energy (and Money) this Summer with these Tips from the EPA

Angry Birds Game to Help Endangered Birds

Macy's: No More Unsustainable Hangers!

This week should bring a few new features, as well as more of the same. Stay tuned for more!

Audubon, Frogs, and stuff you missed

2011-05-02T09:50:00.000-04:00

Another fun week was topped off by appearing on TV several times on Saturday, not to promote my articles but the work of my local Lions Club. Those brief interviews don't appear to have been archived online, but all of my writing was, so here are this week's article links.

First up, my usual two endangered species columns for Scientific American:

Low genetic diversity, local resentment threaten great Indian bustard

Central American crocodile recovers and crawls off endangered species

Next, a fun piece for Mother Nature Network, based on the 226th birthday of naturalist John James Audubon (a day that also happened to have been my own birthday):

5 things you didn't know about John James Audubon

This week also saw the usual six "green tips" blogs for Green Hands USA. Some of these are for events that have already passed, but I tried to make them timeless:

It's Arbor Day: Let's Celebrate Trees [this was very popular]

Frogs Need Your Help Today [my third year in a row covering the annual Save the Frogs Day]

Kajeet: Go Green with Refurbished Phones

Blue Book Picks Greenest Cars of 2011

Which Supermarket Sells the Most Sustainable Seafood?

Five Things to do AFTER Earth Day

Finally, here's a bit of humor I did for my own blog. This got re-tweeted a number of times. I think you'll get a kick out of it:

10 new names for 'Global Warming'

Richard Branson, Earth Day, immortality and... green oil?

2011-04-25T10:10:00.002-04:00

Wow. For a week when I was so busy, how did I publish so few articles? "Only" nine new articles this week -- shocking!

Oh well, that just means you have a ton to look forward to in the coming weeks, because quite a few goodies are in progress.

But enough teasing about the future. Here are this week's links, starting with my two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Richard Branson wants to release endangered lemurs in the Caribbean

Deadly forest fire leads to resurrection of endangered tree

Next, an article for Mother Nature Network, updating a story I've been covering for the past six weeks:

Man connected to Auburn tree-poisoning case assaulted, goes on radio show

Now we come to the usual batch of blogs for Green Hands USA. Half of these are for events that are now past, but what the heck, read them anyway, you might learn something:

Which Oil Companies Are Greenest?

Newest HP Products Use 50% Less Energy

What Are You Doing for Earth Day This Year?

The Best Way to Cut BPA from Your Diet? Eat Fresh Foods

Have an Eco-Friendly Easter

41 Unusually Green Things to do for the 41st Earth Day

Finally, here's one from the archives (re-posted last week on this very blog), an essay for writers called Immortality Guaranteed.

Enjoy!

From the archives: Immortality Guaranteed

2011-04-22T12:53:00.001-04:00

(Here's an essay I wrote several years ago for a writers' newsletter or magazine. I'm sorry to say I lost track of exactly when and where it was originally published, but the advice it contains is still pretty solid, so here it goes, represented now for posterity.)

IMMORTALITY GUARANTEED

By John R. Platt

Once you hit adulthood, the powers that be start telling you that no matter how little you might own, it’s time to draw up at least a simple will. But for writers, artists and other copyright holders, a simple will just isn’t enough.

The copyrights on our works extend for 75 years after we die, but if we don’t take care of things properly, those copyrights could end up languishing in the hands of the state, or the state could end up deciding who our stories belong to after we die. I think that just about every author out there has some illusion of their works creating an immortality for them, and that won’t happen if you don’t plan ahead for the future distribution of your work.

First things first. Go see a lawyer. The following is not official legal advice, and you can’t do all of this on your own.

What you want to do is appoint a Literary Executor to handle your copyrighted properties in the case of your death. This could be a relative, a friend, an agent, or even a library or university (though they’ll mostly only want the works of “notable” authors, and they’ll want to control all future rights). This person or institution will then have both rights and responsibilities over your intellectual property. You can assign whatever rights you want, and also certain responsibilities. You can even assign multiple executors if you see the need.

Establishing an executor helps to answer several important questions regarding how your works are handled after you die. Do you want a specific relative to own your stories? Do your relatives even want control of your works? Do you want someone to work constantly to keep your works in print? To whom do you want royalties to go? If your executor becomes unable to handle their duties, do you have an alternate?

If you worry that you might approach a time when you would still be alive but unable to properly manage your copyrights, you can also set up a living trust, someone who has the right to take care of your properties until you die, at which time, an executor might take over.

These rights can not be assigned fully in a will, and really, should not be sprung upon the recipient when you die. Make arrangements before-hand if you can. If you want immortality, or at least a few years of being read after you die, you need someone who will look out for you as much when you are gone as when you did when you were alive.

Go do this while you are able. You can always change things every few years as your copyrights change and your associates and family change or die off. But once you die, it’s too late. You might want your stories to live forever, but sorry to say, you won’t.

Climate change, UFOs, the rare mountain bongo and...nannies

2011-04-18T11:31:00.001-04:00

This week brought a wild mix of articles, mostly about environmental topics, but a few touching on other oddities of life.

First, let's look at this week's three Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Wolves lose, tigers gain, penguins in peril and other updates from the brink

Australian mathematicians say some endangered species "not worth saving"

Mountain bongo faces extinction after more than a century of decline

Next, we have our usual big batch of posts for Green Hands USA:

Five Ways to Cut Your Junk Mail

How Walkable Is Your Neighborhood?

Which Airlines Fly the Greenest Skies?

Locavores: Find Free Fruit in Your Neighborhood

Fight Global Warming by Blocking Spam

How to Plan A Carbon-Neutral Wedding

Now, a mix of articles for Mother Nature Network:

Climate change arguments explained

FBI opens online vault, revealing UFO, Roswell files [Nearly a week later, this is still the most popular story on MNN.com]

10 things childcare providers won't tell you [This was actually a rewrite/expansion of another author's MNN article that was then published at Yahoo! Green]

Finally, on a different note, one of my MNN articles inspired artist Ian Bunn to create this: "Of everything that I do this most rewarding" -- Pretty cool.

This week's articles: career advice, a rescued turtle, green tips and a honey badger

2011-04-11T09:54:00.000-04:00

This week brought a bunch of tech features that I think came out really well.

First up, we have my profile of a groundbreaking engineer for IEEE's The Institute:

Lauren Christopher: Hall of Famer

Next, here's this month's article for Today's Engineer:

Career Focus: Is Now the Right Time for Engineers to Become Entrepreneurs?

And here's another one for The Institute, for IEEE members:

Overhaul of Consultants Database Could Boost Chances of Getting Hired

Now let's get to the usual eco-themed articles. There was only one Extinction Countdown column for Scientific American last week, but there should be three this week:

Dramatic rescue of a century-old turtle in Vietnam could help save species from extinction

My two articles for Mother Nature Network this week were extremely popular:

20,000 customers leave GoDaddy.com in response to CEO's elephant-shooting video

Crazy honey badger video goes viral

And last, but not least, we have my six weekly tips for Green Hands USA, some of which logged record traffic:

What's Your Water Footprint?

Is This the Year You Switch to An Electric Mower?

What's Your Paper Footprint?

5 Ways to Use Less Energy While Watching TV

Telecommuting Twice a Week is Like Getting a $3,400 Raise

Show Your Love: Don't Buy Dirty Gold

There's lots more coming up this week. But for now, enjoy reading this batch!

Saving the world, one article at a time

2011-04-04T11:41:00.001-04:00

This coming week will see a ton of new, cool articles (follow me on Twitter for links as each story goes live), but last week was pretty cool, too. Here's the run-down:

First, my usual two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Scientists advise politicians to keep politics out of endangered species decisions

Human virus linked to deaths of two endangered mountain gorillas

Green Hands USA keeps buzzing along. Here are this week's six "green tips" blogs:

Be Green: Eat a PB&J

Free iPhone App Helps You Avoid Pesticides

Protect Nature: Keep Your Cats Indoors

Can Fast Food be Green?

Sustainable Coffee is in Demand

Save Paper: Create A Document That Can't Be Printed

I have several articles for Mother Nature Network in the pipeline. Here's the one that appeared last week:

GoDaddy CEO criticized for killing an elephant

More soon!

Tragedies, good advice and events you missed

2011-03-28T15:09:00.000-04:00

This week's two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American were particularly disheartening:

Half of the world's rockhopper penguins threatened by oil spill

Compromise could take gray wolves off the endangered species list in two states

But at least I got to write about some good things going on for Green Hands USA:

Don't Forget Earth Hour This Weekend [oops - you missed it.]

Why Buy? It's Greener to Borrow

Living Near Public Transportation Cuts Energy Costs 39-50%

Stop the Yellow Pages from Coming to Your Door

What Are You Doing for World Water Day? [another event that has passed, but it was still cool.]

An Apple A Day Really May Keep the Doctor Away

I also wrote a few fun stories for Mother Nature Network:

Starbucks mobile payment app used by three million people in three months

Could medical marijuana get the Al Capone treatment?

The coming weeks will see several new features, as well as a veritable ton of book reviews. Plus the usual news articles and posts. Stay tuned! You wouldn't want to miss a thing.

Lucky 13

2011-03-21T08:51:00.000-04:00

I "only" published 13 articles last week, but one of them was about St. Patrick's Day, so bad numerological luck and the luck of the Irish helped balance things out.

Linkage:

Return of rare giraffes brings promise of peace among warring Kenyan peoples

Rare African kittens bred from frozen embryos

Save the Planet: Don't Buy Palm Oil

Seven Tips to Save Water During Fix a Leak Week

Brazilian Beef Packs Highest Carbon Footprint

Honda Civic GX Still the Greenest Car in America

Solar-Powered Trash Bins Help Towns Cut Their Garbage Costs

Who Makes the Greenest Cell Phones?

Pricey pooch: Red Tibetan mastiff puppy sells for $1.5 million

Biofuel from algae could compete with oil, according to report [This one got picked up by Forbes and several newspapers.]

7 tips for a great St. Patrick's Day

How to help pets in Japan

When's the best time to buy gas?

G-Week: Ghost Cats, Geniuses, Green Ideas, Gorillas and Graphic Novels

2011-03-14T09:00:00.007-04:00

Gosh-a-mighty, did this week see a lot of new articles, including several long-gestating features that finally saw print.

Let's start off with those, beginning with this feature for Today's Engineer:

Career Focus: Software Engineering

Next up we have my interviews with two MacArthur genius winners for IEEE's The Institute:

IEEE Members Earn "Genius" Awards

As usual, I wrote two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Giving up on the "ghost cat": Eastern cougar subspecies declared extinct

Rare Costa Rican birds captured, tagged for study for the first time

...and a bunch of "green tips" blogs for Green Hands USA:

How Green Is Your Paper?

GreenShipping Helps You Offset Mail's Carbon Emissions

The Greenest Way to Get an iPad: Buy Refurbished

Want to be Facebook Friends with a Gorilla?

Write a Poem or Draw a Picture to Help Save Frogs

Save Ink (and Money) with Ecofont

Of course, there were also a few new articles for Mother Nature Network, where I'll have several new features coming up in the next week or two:

Could taking this bucolic image land you in jail? [this headline works better if you can see the image.]

The art of hand washing

New iPad app tells the story behind National Geographic's greatest photos

And finally, here's a new book review for Graphic Novel Reporter.

Moon Lake

That's it for this week (as if you need more). Keep reading, and I'll keep writing!

From the archives - Reverse Innovation: Changing the Path of Global Development

2011-03-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

Where will the next big, innovative idea come from? What will it be? Will it be a cell phone with gadgets galore, made in Japan and priced high for early adopters? Or will it be a functional yet inexpensive netbook, designed and built in India for all of the world to use?

Read more in the May 2010 issue of Today's Engineer.

Renewable energy, extinctable lions, and recycled iPads

2011-03-07T09:30:00.001-05:00

Another good, busy week for article writing, with some turning out to be quite popular. Here's the weekly list.

We start, as we usually do, with my two weekly Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

African lion may be added to U.S. endangered species list to curb American trophy hunters

Australians team up to help rare marsupial after a cyclone devastates its habitat

Next up, the latest batch of blogs for Green Hands USA:

Intel is Still America's Biggest Buyer of Green Energy

Donate Your Old Computer Equipment to A Good Cause

Get Ready for Earth Hour on March 26

How to Recycle Those Old VHS Tapes

Recycle Your Bra for Women Who Can't Afford Them

Kids, Enter the Endangered Species Art Contest

And we round out the week with a whole bunch of news articles for Mother Nature Network, including a popular series about the upcoming iPad 2:

How to recycle your iPad 1 after you buy an iPad 2

Six green-minded iPad accessories

Five green apps for your iPad

575-pound Heart Attack Grill spokesman dies

Which are more important, billboards or trees?

Iran sees Zionist conspiracy in Olympic logo

High gas prices got you down? Let GasBuddy find the best prices

This coming week will see several new feature articles for tech publications, along with lots more like the above.

Thanks for reading!

From the archives: Woman Stops Cancer Treatments, Starts Giving Back

2011-03-04T15:50:00.002-05:00

Here's one of the most inspirational stories I ever had the chance to work on, about a woman who fought cancer for more than a decade, then decided to devote what was left of her energy to leaving a legacy.

Mrs. Beard passed away in June of 2010, about three months after I spoke with her. This story was originally published at Tonic.com.

Fifteen years. That’s how long 74-year-old Sonya Beard has been fighting oral cancer. But now, after multiple surgeries and treatments, she says she has had enough. While her doctors wanted her to start radiation therapy, Beard is instead enjoying the time she has left, and making a huge difference in her community. She has already donated hundreds of thousands of dollars from her life savings to several organizations near her Mount Vernon, Wash., home, and she’s not done yet.

GIVING BACK

A lifelong reader, Sonya's first donation was $500,000 to the Mount Vernon City Library. In an exclusive interview with Tonic.com, she says that reading made her "the cornerstone of what I am today. I wouldn't have been able to travel or do the things I have done without my love of books."

As a child, Beard and family would go to the library on Saturday to get their books for the week. "I got to the point where I was obnoxious with my mother about trying to get my nose out of a book." She has since instilled "a passion for books and reading" in her four grandchildren.

Beard couldn't attend the library meeting where her donation was announced, but she finally made it down there on Monday. "I went this afternoon and I'm just thrilled to death with what they're going to be able to do" with her donation, she says.

The library is planning a major expansion that might not have been possible without Beard's donation.

THINKING FORWARD

Beard has also donated $165,000 to Skagit Valley Hospital, also located in Mount Vernon, so they can purchase hyperbaric oxygen therapy equipment to help patients recover from surgeries like the ones Beard has endured. Until this, the closest hyperbaric equipment was in Seattle, more than 60 miles away.

"I found it necessary to undergo the treatment after one of my surgeries, but I was not able to travel," she says. "I had to rent an apartment down there for six weeks. It's a terrible handicap for a person to have to move themselves to another area. A lot of people in Mount Vernon don't have the means to relocate themselves down there. I knew we had patients that needed it here and they couldn't afford it."

Beard has been pushing the hospital to get the new equipment up and running quickly. "I was just down there to see the progress on the oxygen chamber. They're moving fast. They're remodeling the wound center now, and we're hoping for an opening in June."

MORE TO COME

Her surgeries also inspired her to create a foundation, which will be established at the University of Washington Medical Center, where she had her surgeries, after her death. "You may not know this," she says," but people with oral cancer are not reimbursed by insurance for dental prostheses. I set up in my will that they'll have a foundation that will be able to pay for people who need these prostheses."

Beard was able to purchase her own prosthesis, but it had to be removed just five months later when her doctors found more cancer. "I spent over $20,000 for a prosthesis I only had for five months. That was very discouraging to think that this might happen to someone else. It's not right to say that this is cosmetic when it's the only means you have for eating. There's way too many people walking around without teeth because they won't be able to pay for it."

A POSITIVE OUTLOOK

Despite her cancers, which also includes a battle with breast cancer eight years ago, Beard remains a positive person who enjoys her life. "It's become a way of life," she says of her cancer. "But really, other people have it worse. So we won't dwell on that," she laughs.

"I have been extremely fortunate with my life," she says. "I never thought I would be in a position to do something like this. I don't have the education, but somehow I did it."

But Beard did learn from the people she met in her life. Beard she learned how to invest when she worked as secretary for stockbrokers and bankers, a talent that has made these current donations possible.

In an interview with local KOMO News, Beard said, "I'm not a wealthy person, I'm not a famous person - but I feel like if I can stimulate one person to get the ball rolling then we can make a difference."

Beard's husband passed away 11 years ago, leaving her with three step-sons she considers "her wonderful boys." "They've given me four wonderful grandchildren," she says. "My life is complete with them."

Beard continues her charitable contributions. She just paid off the mortgage at Bethany Convent Church, her church of the last ten years, and she is considering additional donations in her area. "My way is to help as many as I possibly can," she says. "And if that helps future generations as well, that's even better."

Turtles, tuna, missing frogs, comic books, tree-killers & green tips - 16 new article links

2011-02-28T09:29:00.028-05:00

It was a busy week at the keyboard, so we have an astounding 16 articles here to inform and entertain you.

First up, we have three articles for Scientific American. There are normally two of these, but one got help up over the weekend, so this week you get three:

Turtles in trouble: New report identifies the 25 most endangered turtle species

Large ocean fish could be gone by 2050, study says [This was the most popular story on their site for a day or two]

Nationwide search leads to rediscovery of five frog species in India

Next up, a fun and inspiring feature for Tonic.com, my first for them in about two months.

Comic Strip Fans Team Up to Fight Parkinson's Disease

This brings us to several news stories for Mother Nature Network, half of which continue the story of the university tree murders from last week.

Take a cruise to the North Pacific garbage patch

Auburn tree-killing suspect living in car, bathing in creek

MillerCoors donates $80,000 to benefit local river organizations

Auburn University students rally, raise money for poisoned trees

Oh, and one of my previous stories for MNN was picked up The Miami Herald this week.

Green Hands USA keeps on chugging along. Here are six new / newly edited articles from this past week:

Earn Money by Recycling Your Empty Inkjet Cartridges

Five Energy Vampires in Your Home

Five Green Devices Every Home Should Have

Challenge Your Neighbors to an Energy Bill Reduction Contest

Travel Greener: Stay at an Energy Star Hotel

How Green Is Your Commute? Find Out Now

And finally this week, here's a new book review for Graphic Novel Reporter:

X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan, Vol. One: 1967–1969

An owl conundrum, saving water and... Kazakhstan?

2011-02-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

This week, I had opportunities to interview several really cool people for a few upcoming features. But I also worked on a bunch of shorter stories, too. That's one of the great things about freelancing: you're free to work on as many different topics at a time as you want.

Speaking of different topics, this week's articles are pretty broadly themed.

First up, we have my usual two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Should barred owls be shot to save endangered spotted owls?

Vulture restaurants are helping to save critically endangered birds of prey

Next, a wide variety of news items for Mother Nature Network:

Kazakhstan presidential candidate wants to legalize polygamy

Auburn University trees poisoned by angry Alabama football fan

3rd eye blind: NYU professor removes his back-of-the-head camera

From waste to fuel: Invention turns plastic bags back into oil

And finally, this week's big batch of articles for Green Hands USA. (Most of these are reruns or revisions of earlier articles from when the site was in quiet mode. Now that it's officially relaunched, they're being updated for new eyeballs.)

How to Recycle Your Old CDs and DVDs

The Top 10 Things to Ask When Buying 'Green' Electronics

Three Simple Ways to Save Water

15 Ways to Cut Your Energy Use

How Healthy Are the Nation's Birds? Help Find Out This Weekend

How to Choose Cleaning Products without Dangerous Fragrances

Lots more next week. Until then, have fun reading!

Gorillas, trees, bats, and more -- 15 new article links

2011-02-14T12:13:00.011-05:00

It was a productive week in the Platt office, with another new record of 15 published articles. There's something for everybody here, including Valentine's Day tips, iPhone apps, career advice and green news.

First up, this week's two pieces for my Extinction Countdown blog at Scientific American:

Deforestation may have killed off rare bat in Ireland

The Denver Zoo is helping to save Peru's critically endangered Lake Titicaca frog

Next up, this month's feature article for Today's Engineer:

Engineering for Reparability: Designing for the Greater Good?

We follow that up with six articles for Green Hands USA. (Some of these are new, some are edited reruns.)

Five Ideas for a Greener Valentine's Day

Love Sudoku? How About Trees?

Fly Greener with Carbon Credits

Arguing with a Global Warming Denier? There's An App for That

Build Your Own Solar-Powered Electric Vehicle!

iPhone App Helps Save Endangered Gorillas

And finally, a bevvy of fine news articles for Mother Nature Network:

Yahoo Livestand to bring the magazine rack to tablet computers

Georgia's forests are worth more than $37 billion annually, says study

Offshore wind power: Feds announce $50.5 million in funding for mid-Atlantic project

Confession app: Bless me, iPhone, for I have sinned...

Groupon to tweak Super Bowl ad about Tibet

Smithsonian open after fire scare

How many articles will we have for next week? I'm as excited to find out as you are!

Eleven new article links!

2011-02-07T12:01:00.001-05:00

Now this was an epic week! Eleven published articles in just five days. That might be a new record.

First up, my Extinction Countdown column at Scientific American. Just one article this week... but don't worry, I already have three in the works for next week.

Sea urchins bred to eat invasive seaweed in Hawaii

Next up, two features for IEEE, a large non-profit membership organization for engineers and scientists:

Local IEEE Sections Help Members With Job Fairs, Career Resources

Four New IEEE Fellows Are Helping to Heal the World

The newly relaunched Green Hands USA is starting to rock and roll. Readership is way up, and we're just getting started. Here are this week's articles:

Get Exercise, Save Gas by Riding an Electric Bicycle

Save Paper and Ink with Free GreenPrint Software

New Label to Identify Products Made with Wind Energy

What Should You Do With a Broken CFL?

Is Your Website Carbon-Neutral?

Watch Greener TV with the Roku Box

And last but not least this week, a few news articles for Mother Nature Network:

Could energy from a crematorium be used to heat a sports stadium?

Chicago blizzard rips roof off part of Wrigley Field

So there you go -- plenty of Platt reading to keep you entertained for a few hours. Stay tuned for next week's list, which should actually be longer than this one!

Rats, Cheetahs & Solar Shingles

2011-01-31T12:19:00.001-05:00

This was a news-oriented week, with two new articles for Scientific American and four for Mother Nature Network:

Rat eradication program begins in Galapagos Islands

Asian cheetahs racing toward extinction

Texting while walking: Should it be banned?

Obama pushes solar shingles in State of the Union address

Lawsuit: Taco Bell's 'beef' is false advertising

Cold fusion claims leave many doubtful

I have a ton of new articles and features pending, with some possibly coming as early as this week. Watch my Twitter feed for the latest links as they are published.

Tasmanian Devils, Superstorms, and the new Green Hands USA

2011-01-24T11:44:00.000-05:00

What a cool week. My story on Tasmanian devils (see below) got picked up everywhere, and for a while, the animals were the #9 search topic on Google. Meanwhile, I started writing a lot more for Mother Nature Network, Green Hands USA finally completed its relaunch, and I conducted several fantastic interviews for upcoming features.

So let's sum up the week that was with the latest batch of Platt article links:

First, the big Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Has an infectious cancer doomed Tasmanian devils to extinction?

70 percent of Turkey's birds are headed toward extinction

Next, we have a variety of great stories for Mother Nature Network:

Life at high altitudes linked to higher risk of suicide

Book review: "Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World"

Solar-powered roads could make snow disappear

'Superstorm' could strike California, scientists warn

Celiac disease: New saliva test could help diagnose children

And finally, the first story on the re-launched Green Hands USA. (The next couple of weeks will see a lot of repeat stories from GHU as they rebuild their audience, and a lot of my old stories for them might no longer appear at the links in my old entries. I'll probably archive some of the older ones on this blog eventually.)

Greenpeace: Asus Makes the Greenest Electronics

Okay, that's it for this week! I'm off to write more. See you again soon!

Gordon Ramsay + rhinos + innovation + Swamp Thing

2011-01-17T15:17:00.001-05:00

This week's Platt articles covered business, endangered species, wildlife crime, comics, and more!

First up, as is usually the case, my Extinction Countdown blogs for Scientific American:

Rhino poaching hit an all-time high in 2010

Shark-finning gangsters assault celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay

Next, we have my latest feature for Today's Engineer, a cool story about where innovation can be found in the United States economy:

First Study of Its Kind Examines Innovation by U.S. Businesses

From one kind of innovation to another, here's a new book review for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Saga of the Swamp Thing, Book Three

I write a few corporate or non-profit newsletters that I don't tend to link to here, but this article got pulled out for a client's blog and I like it:

The Ten Commandments of Effective Standards

No Green Hands USA links this week. The site is about to go through a major (and quite exciting) relaunch, and I'm not sure if the links will all change or stay the same. Hopefully we'll have some new green goodness for you to read next week.

Extinctions, dead bears, and heroic beasts

2011-01-10T11:19:00.001-05:00

A light week for new Platt publications, but you'll find some good links below.

First up, my weekly two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Six Australian birds declared extinct, although some could have been saved

Lack of food drives human-grizzly conflicts -- and human-grizzly fatalities

Next, a question many of us have been asking:

Are E-books Greener Than Paper Books?

And finally, two book reviews, one for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Beasts of Burden: Animal Rites

...and another for Mother Nature Network:

'Zapped: Why Your Cell Phone Shouldn't Be Your Alarm Clock'

Manatee, clouded leopards, and green new year's resolutions

2011-01-03T10:44:00.003-05:00

As we creep into 2011, it's time to catch up on all of my articles from the last few weeks of 2010.

The vast majority of these were Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Another record year for manatee deaths

As white-nose syndrome wipes out little brown bats, groups petition for emergency protection

Victory for sharks: U.S. bans shark finning

Poaching, habitat loss taking toll on Bornean clouded leopard

Wolverines denied endangered species protection as climate change shrinks their habitat

Mistletoe and other species face extinction as U.K. apple orchards disappear

Other than that, we have a few green tips blogs for Green Hands USA:

Reverb Bringing Green Music to Clear Blue Sea

Logitech Innovates with Solar-Powered Wireless Keyboard

6 Easy Resolutions for a Greener New Year

New LED Light Bulb from GE Lasts 22.8 Years

I have a veritable TON of new features and articles in the works. Some won't see print for a few months, but they'll be worth the wait!

NRDC's Inspiring Founder, Disappearing Polar Bears, Improving Engineering Education & More

2010-12-13T09:20:00.001-05:00

Last week brought the usual bounty of new Platt articles, including a few that have long been in the works.

First up, my interview with NRDC founder John H. Adams and his wife Patricia for Tonic.com:

NRDC Founder to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

This week's two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American were quite popular:

More polar bear news than you can shake a rapidly melting icicle at

Humans are more at risk from diseases as biodiversity disappears

Taking a break from the green side for a moment, here's my latest for Today's Engineer:

New Study Reveals Opportunities for Engineering Education

Finally, my two latest Green Tips blogs for Green Hands USA:

And the Most Efficient Appliance In Your Kitchen Is...

The Greenest Christmas Gift You Can Give Is One that Keeps Giving

More next week!

5 new eco-flavored articles

2010-12-06T14:49:00.000-05:00

Monday, Monday! That means it's time to recap you on last week's publications.

For a five day week, there were, amazingly, only five articles last week. I must be doing something wrong.

Anyway, there were the usual two Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Hawaii admits possible defeat to invasive species, researches "hybrid ecosystem" instead

Tracking a rare tortoise? There's an app for that

And two Green Tips blogs for Green Hands USA:

The Greenest Products Are The Ones You Don't Buy

Play a Game, Save a Cheetah

And finally, a new book review for Mother Nature Network:

"Whole Earth Discipline" by Stewart Brand

As I start out the week, I have already turned in three new articles and a new one that I turned in a few weeks ago has already been published. Remember to keep up with my Twitter feed for the daily linkage as new stories go live, or come back here next week for another weekly rundown!

Talking Tigers & Turkeys

2010-11-29T10:28:00.002-05:00

Last week was a short, holiday week, but that doesn't mean I didn't pack a HECK of a lot into it.

The big deal of the week came not on Black Friday, but on Monday, when my write-up of the recent tiger conservation conference was published at Scientific American...

Russia's tiger forum: Our last chance to save tigers from extinction?

This led to my being interviewed on NPR/WNYC on the Brian Lehrer show on Wednesday. You can find the archived discussion here. It was great fun and it helped to spread some important news and facts about tiger preservation.

Of course, what Thanksgiving week would be complete without two Thanksgiving-related articles? These are too late for you to enjoy pre-turkey, but maybe you can still read them over your leftovers:

10 Tips for a More Eco-Friendly Thanksgiving (Green Hands USA)

Six New Books Give Thanks for Lives Well Lived (Tonic.com)

That's it for this week. Time to write more!

OMG, hedgehogs and spoons

2010-11-22T14:40:00.002-05:00

This week brings you six new articles, all of which have an environmental theme. Go figure!

First up, as usual, we have my two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

SEGA & Sonic step in (briefly) to protect endangered hedgehogs

British crayfish now officially endangered, thanks to killer fungus

Next, I profile the young non-profit (in more ways than one), One More Generation, for Tonic:

OMG: Siblings Are Helping to Save Endangered Species

Then we have two Green Tips blogs for Green Hands USA:

4 Ways to Make Your Refrigerator More Efficient

10 Tips for Winterizing Your Pipes

And finally, my latest piece for Mother Nature Network:

Book review: 'The Disappearing Spoon'

Bootstrapping, parrot plague & taste aversion in wolves

2010-11-15T21:00:00.000-05:00

Last week was a good week for words from my keyboard. Check 'em out...

As usual, we start with my two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American...

Mystery virus threatens an already critically endangered Australian parrot species

Can endangered Mexican wolves be conditioned to dislike the taste of sheep?

From endangered species to new species, here's my latest for Mother Nature Network:

Self-cloning, all-female lizard species discovered in Vietnam

A brief Green Tips blog for Green Hands USA:

Levi's Announces New Eco-Friendly Jeans

A profile of two wonderful scientists for IEEE's member newspaper, The Institute:

Married Couple Named IEEE Fellows

And finally, for that same publication, a feature that will help any small business learn how to grow until they hit the billionaires' club:

Bootstrap Your Startup to Success-Without Venture Capital

Gollum, Comix and Sssssnakess - This week's articles

2010-11-08T13:58:00.002-05:00

Ah, Monday. Time to look back on the previous week and share with you the links to all of the fine Platt words that made their way into the universe.

There actually aren't that many of them this week, but that's okay, because I have approximately 27 articles in process right now, so there will be plenty more to share over the rest of this month.

First up, here are my latest two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Ssssuccessss: World's rarest snake is back from the brink

Precious: Gollum (the fish) risks extinction in New Zealand

Now, two "green tips" for Green Hands USA:

Breathe Less Pollution While Riding Your Bike

E-Waste Report Card: Does Your Gadget Maker Make the Grade?

And finally, a new book review for Graphic Novel Reporter:

Underground Classics: The Transformation of Comics into Comix

More next week!

Killer crocs & Sweet-hearted employers

2010-11-01T14:45:00.002-04:00

Presented for you now: last week's articles + this week's commentary:

First up, this week's Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Extinction crisis revealed: One fifth of the world's mammals, birds and amphibians are threatened

20 die in air disaster after smuggled crocodile escapes on a plane [this got over 30,000 views on StumbleUpon, plus a few thousand Facebook shares]

Now, a few inspiring stories for Tonic.com:

Sweet Relief: Bakery Puts Developmentally Disabled to Work

Wonder Woman Day Raises $40,000 for Victims of Domestic Violence

Now we have some "Green Tips" blogs for Green Hands USA:

7 Inexpensive Ways to Stay Warm This Autumn [man it's cold this week!]

Voting Guide: Does Your Candidate Believe in Clean Energy? [just in time for election day!]

Now, a new science story for Mother Nature Network:

Study proves dogs recognize owners' faces

And finally, from a few weeks ago (oops), a tech career feature for The Ladders:

Electrical Engineers Lured by Systems Engineer Careers (you need to create a Ladders account to read this)

This week's articles: Dying coral, Wonder Woman, and Halloween candy

2010-10-25T16:16:00.000-04:00

This week's articles cover a pretty wide range of topics. That's half the fun of being a freelancer -- you never know what cool stories are going to fall in your lap from week to week!

First off, as usual, here are this week's Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Rare New Zealand pigs to be killed for their semen

Asian coral die-off could be worst ever; Is climate change to blame? [Of course, this got plenty of comments from global warming deniers!)

Now a few fun, cause-related stories for Tonic.com:

Fifth Annual Wonder Woman Day to Help Victims of Domestic Violence [This raised a huge amount of money, I'm excited to say!]

Help Team Superman Raise $10K to Battle Brain Tumors

And finally, here are the latest Green Tips blogs from the pages of Green Hands USA:

Do You Work in a 'Sick Building'?

How to Choose Eco-Friendly Halloween Candy

So far this week I've written about wildlife smuggling, wireless communications, facial recognition, and sustainable business practices. Stay tuned next week for more links!

Frogs, water & vampire power

2010-10-18T11:20:00.001-04:00

This week's article links!

First up, my profile of last Friday's Blog Action Day for Tonic.com:

Speak Up for Safe Water on Blog Action Day

Next, two Green Tips blogs for GreenHandsUSA:

This $10 Device Can Protect You From Vampire Power

Build a Pond, Save a Frog (and maybe win a prize)

Finally, my latest two Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

From chytrid to ranavirus: Another disease is devastating frog populations

New record size for a genome goes to rare plant

Stay tuned for this week's articles, plus some more catching up from the archives!

Extinction, Using Social Media, Scary Books & More

2010-10-11T09:54:00.001-04:00

I told you that last week would be a good week for my articles. Heck, I had six published last Thursday alone. (I'm pretty sure that's a personal record.)

Anyway, here are the latest and greatest additions to the Platt Library. First up, two new Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Survival denied: Birds, fish, plant, pygmy rabbits lose out on endangered species protection

Population crash in Kenya: Rare bird gets much, much rarer--but why?

Next up, an article for The Institute that should be good for any consultant, freelancer or small business:

Using Social Media to Attract New Business

Now we get to some engineering-related articles...

The Price Is Right: Free Design Standard Expected to Be Adopted Speedily

IEEE-USA 2010 Salary Survey Reveals Positive Changes Along with Reductions and Gaps

...and then a few pieces for the readers among you, an overview of upcoming horror novels for this month and reviews of two excellent graphic novels:

Six Scream-Worthy Reads for October

Diario de Oaxaco: A Sketchbook Journal of Two Years in Mexico

Cats Are Weird and More Observations

Finally, here are my latest Green Tips blogs for GreenHandsUSA:

7 Things to do with Shredded Paper

7 Ways to Green Your Laundry

Enjoy!

This week's articles

2010-10-04T09:31:00.000-04:00

Five new article links for ya...

Only you can prevent firefly extinctions

Smelly kiwi needs deodorant to protect it from predators?

Should You Recycle That Plastic Bottle?

Pledge to Vote, Get Free Music

And an article on the Ig Nobel Awards.

By the way, there's a ton of new stuff pending publication, so next week's list and the week after that are going to be HUGE!

Frogs and yams in danger; Can't a gibbon get some love?

2010-09-28T09:46:00.003-04:00

Another batch of articles links for you, dear readers.

First up, this week's Extinction Countdown stories for Scientific American:

I yam what I yam--and what I yam is endangered and under-researched

Bad news for crested gibbons, the forgotten apes [I was disappointed this one didn't generate more readers and comments, but then again, the point of the story is that no one cares about gibbons, so I guess I wasn't surprised.]

Are Frogs Injurious Species?

Next, two Green Tips blogs from the virtual pages of Green Hands USA:

Eco-Aware Moms Pick Greenest Food Brands

New Book Smartens You Up About Solar Power

And finally, here's a long-delayed comic-book review written for Joe Bob Briggs:

Blood Orange #1

Bumblebees, eco-friendly fur, zombies and more

2010-09-21T13:51:00.000-04:00

I'm working on several new features at the moment, which I'll link to here as they appear. Meanwhile, here are last week's articles:

First up, as always, my Extinction Countdown columns for Scientific American:

Horn of rarity: Asia's 'unicorn' resurfaces after 10 years--then dies

Cost to save the world's tigers: $10,000 each per year (or just pennies a day!)

British bumblebees are inbreeding themselves into extinction

Next we've got a few fun pieces for Mother Nature Network:

Got brains? New college course digs deep into zombies

Can fur be eco-friendly?

Last but not least, here are my most recent items for Green Hands USA, including my first "green music" story:

New Book Smartens You Up About Solar Power

Reverb Seeks Volunteers for Campus Consciousness Tour

College Students: Win an iPad by Being Green

Enjoy!

Lots of new "green" articles

2010-09-13T12:13:00.004-04:00

It's been a busy few weeks at the Platt keyboard, all in the "green" arena.

First up, several new "Extinction Countdown" articles for Scientific American:

Reefs at risk: Roundup at the not-so-OK coral corral

Close call for endangered moapa dace as fire destroys only habitat

Dammed if they don't: Cost to protect endangered sturgeon in South Carolina could be $100 million, utility says

Toxic avenger: One man's desperate idea to save the rhinos--poison their horns (this was the most popular story on their site for four days running)

Report: 21 percent of Africa's freshwater species threatened with extinction

Deepwater doom: Extinction threat for world's smallest sea horse

Next up, my first article for Mother Nature Network:

Does this Gulf seafood smell good to you?

And, the first of many new Green Tips blogs for Green Hands USA, where I am now the site's Editorial Director:

Yes, Your Individual Actions Make a Difference

Finally, here's a non-green item, a long-delayed book review for the Joe Bob Briggs website (written around 2004, just posted now):

Showcase Presents: Jonah Hex Volume 1

Enjoy the reading!

From the archives: The Pick Up Artists

2010-09-02T15:41:00.001-04:00

This fun feature appeared at Tonic.com in July 2010:

Pick Up Artists: Driving Across America, Picking Up Garbage

They've picked up 37,000 pounds of garbage so far, and they're just getting started.

When most people see a fast-food bag fluttering on the corner of the highway, they probably shake their heads and keep on driving.

The Pick Up Artists aren't most people. These four young environmentalists are driving across America, conducting roadside cleanups and spreading the word about reducing waste.

Read the rest here.

How Do You Get Women to Stay in Engineering? Nerd Girls Has the Answer

2010-08-26T23:12:00.000-04:00

Catching up on articles that haven't been linked to on this blog, here's a fun feature from the July 2010 issue of Today's Engineer.

How Do You Get Women to Stay in Engineering? Nerd Girls Has the Answer

Bats, sea otters and climate change

2010-08-23T14:51:00.002-04:00

It's Monday, and that means it's time to look at last week's articles.

There weren't a huge amount this time around, as many articles are still working their way toward publication. But here's what we've got:

First off, three new Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Study: Climate change identified as extinction threat in nearly 60 percent of species recovery plans

California sea otter populations sink as research funding dries up

Fatal fungus could kill off U.S. Northeast's little brown bats in 20 years

And last, my latest for Tonic.com:

Sierra Club Names America's Greenest Universities

More soon!

Wombats, climate change, electric vehicles and Sudoku

2010-08-16T09:08:00.002-04:00

I'm back in the office after a rare two-week vacation. But that doesn't mean that a whole bunch of my articles weren't published in my absence.

First up, a couple of Extinction Countdown articles for Scientific American:

Road Killed: Australia's common wombat could soon be uncommon

Thaw Deal: Climate change could leave penguins in the dark

Next we have a couple of tech articles for engineering pubs:

Biometrics Systems eLearning Tutorials Now Available

IEEE Honors Ceremony Recognizes Innovators

Electric Vehicles on the Rise: What Does That Mean for the Engineering Community?

And finally, here's a new batch of Green Tech articles for Green Hands USA. Enjoy!

New Solar Surge Case Helps Keep Your iPhone Charged

Off-Grid Networking Connects People With Living Spaces

Love Sudoku? How About Trees?

Watch Greener TV with the Roku Box

It's Vacation Time! Want to Travel Green?

Keep Your Home Cool With A Green Roof!

Three Simple Ways to Save Water

New Sanyo Solar Cells Offer Greater Efficiency

Pandas, dingoes, BP and graphic novels

2010-07-28T10:17:00.003-04:00

Another week, another new batch of articles.

First up, my latest Extinction Countdown columns:

Can Australia save the dingo from extinction?

Imperiled giant pandas need replanted bamboo forests in order to reconnect

Island hoping: Japan breeding program aims to save rare albatross

Then there are the fun stories for Tonic.com:

Editorial Cartoonist Uses Actual BP Oil to Draw Cartoons About BP Oil Spill

Let 'Salt' Whet Your Appetite for These 10 Great Spy Movies

Five Graphic Novels Your Kids Will Enjoy (and So Will You)

And finally, GreenHandsUSA has overcome their website issues, so I'm starting up there again:

Artists: Enter the CoolClimate Art Contest

Wildlife trade, primates, border problems and Nicolas Cage

2010-07-21T09:55:00.003-04:00

My Green Tech column is on hold while they work out some website issues, but everything else is going strong.

First off, here are this week's Extinction Countdown columns:

Unfair trade: A week in the world of illegal wildlife trafficking

Slender hope: A tiny primate is rediscovered after 65 years

Endangered Sonoran pronghorn seen as hindering U.S. attempts to shore up its border

International collaboration is key to saving the Middle East's rarest bird

And here are two fun pieces for Tonic.com:

Five Ways to Help Your Favorite Bloggers

Five Weirdest Nicolas Cage Performances

Alfred Hitchcock, Harvey Pekar, Right Whales, Telecommuting and more

2010-07-14T10:54:00.002-04:00

Several great new articles for your reading pleasure:

Remembering Harvey Pekar: A Splendid American

Green Tech: Telecommuting Saves 17,000 Dollars Per Employee Per Year

Extinction Countdown: Polar Rare: The Arctic's apex predator could disappear from Hudson Bay in 10 years

Adopt a Hitchcock: Help Save the Director's Films from the Evils of Time

Extinction Countdown: Marmot meltdown averted: Vancouver Island species on the brink of extinction regaining social bonds

Smarter Fire Alarm Earns Teen IEEE Presidents' Scholarship

Dealing With Conflict at Work

Green Tech: Is Your Website Carbon-Neutral?

Green Tech: Samsung Launches Its Greenest Cellphone Yet

Extinction Countdown: Rights wronged: North Pacific right whale nearly extinct in Bering Sea

IBM Employees Reach Milestone: 10 Million Volunteer Hours in Five Years

Liks to my latest articles

2010-07-06T10:00:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a few weeks since I last updated this library blog. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot to read. I publish at least six articles a week, sometimes as many as 10, and you can find all of the latest links over on my Twitter feed:

John R Platt (johnrplatt) on Twitter

Thanks for reading!

Cartoonists Drawn to Vermont

2010-01-05T11:12:00.001-05:00

The economy of White River Junction, an aging railroad town in Vermont, has been revitalized by an unlikely source: cartoonists.

Read more at Tonic.com

'Ziggy' Artist Draws Fight Against Cancer

2009-12-10T09:11:00.001-05:00

"Ziggy" comic strip author Tom Wilson aims to raise $1 million for Livestrong through sales of his memoir and in honor of his late wife.

Read more at Tonic.com

Want to be an Innovator? New E-Book Series Tells You How

2009-12-08T10:59:00.001-05:00

The series, Doing Innovation: Creating Economic Value, offers advice on how to be an innovative thinker, how to inspire innovation within an organization, understanding the process of innovation, and more.

Read more, in the December 2009 issue of Today's Engineer.

Engineering — The Silent "E" in K-12 Education

2009-10-06T13:21:00.002-04:00

What is the future of precollege engineering education in the United States? What learning opportunities do engineering curricula provide to students? How can policy-makers bring meaningful changes to this country's educational programs? These are just a few of the questions addressed in the new NAE report, Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects.

Read more, in the October 2009 issue of Today's Engineer.

Keeping Down with the Jonses: Challenge Your Neighbors to an Energy-Bill Reduction Contest

2009-08-31T15:45:00.004-04:00

Here's a recent Green Tech column that got a lot of notice.

Looking for new ways to save energy around your house? Try talking to your neighbors...

Read the rest here.

Extinction Countdown @ Scientific American

2009-08-24T09:39:00.003-04:00

Continuing my big link catch-up...

One of the best places to find my environmental writing these days is at Scientific American, where I contribute around 3 "Extinction Countdown" articles a week to their "60-Second Science" blog. I cover endangered species all around the world, including quite a few that aren't getting any press anyplace else.

I'll link to some of my favorite recent articles soon, but meanwhile, here's my main page. Check it out!

60-Second Extinction Countdown @ Scientific American

E-Book Examines the Economic Value of Innovation

2009-08-18T12:30:00.001-04:00

Here's another recent article, "E-Book Examines the Economic Value of Innovation," from the August 2009 issue of The Institute.

There's lots more where that came from, so stay tuned for more updates!

What Will Plug-In Hybrids Mean for America?

2009-08-18T12:26:00.002-04:00

Whoops! I've been errant in updating this blog for -- double-whoops! -- about six months. I guess I've been too busy writing to post all of the links here!

Anyway, here's link # 1, "What Will Plug-In Hybrids Mean for America," an article for the July 2009 issue of Today's Engineer. Featuring interviews with several top technology minds, as well as Senators John Kerry and Lamar Alexander.

More links soon!

The Perils, Pitfalls and Pleasures of Blogging

2009-02-18T13:09:00.001-05:00

The Perils, Pitfalls and Pleasures of Blogging
Does blogging on your own time put you in any risk from your day job? Can it damage your career, or could it help? And if you decide to blog, what steps should you take to protect yourself?

From the February 2009 issue of Today's Engineer.