Back in 2002, when I was researching The Human Race, I dug deep into the world of the airline industry and found it to be in some degree of turmoil. Still recovering from the devastating aftermath of 9/11, the airline industry also had additional challenges to contend with. These included the SARS virus, the continued threat of terrorism, sky high oil prices, a nascent green movement and economy airlines undercutting the established carriers. There was also a strong perception amongst passengers that flying itself was awful. Continue Reading

I hadn’t heard of a “patent troll” until last week and in one sense I wish I still hadn’t.

For those who don’t know, a patent troll is described as “a pejorative term for a person or company that enforces its patents against one or more alleged infringers in a manner considered unduly aggressive or opportunistic, often with no intention to manufacture or market the patented invention.”

My research into the numerous different patent trolls swallowed up more than half a day of precious writing time as I looked into the various species and learnt about their habits.

I am now pleased to present some facts about what was, until recently, a relatively obscure and lesser spotted creature: Continue Reading

I wonder what Samuel Reynolds III, the villainous CEO of Reynolds Air in The Human Race, would have made of Virgin Galactic. This is Richard Branson’s current project, which plans to blast tourists into space as early as 2013. I suspect that he would have approved overall, especially of the price: $200,000 per ticket is not for the fainthearted. That said, the steep price tag does not seem to have put off 410 budding space explorers, who are now preparing to become Virgin Galactic astronauts.

If you’re feeling really finicky, the Virgin Galactic spacecraft will actually only venture to suborbital space. It will be carried up to 16 km by a carrier aircraft, at which point it will separate and continue to over 100 km and briefly cross the Kármán line, a common definition of where “space” begins. If you are picking those sorts of holes in the endeavour, however, you are missing the point. Continue Reading

Is the line between fact and fiction beginning to blur? According to a recent survey, nearly a third of people in the UK believe their lives could soon be made much easier thanks to the gift of time travel, and almost a quarter believe that teleportation is real.

The survey of 3,000 people, commissioned by Birmingham Science City to mark this year’s National Science and Engineering Week (11 – 20 March), has revealed that 30% of adults across the UK believe that time travel is possible. Continue Reading