Readers appreciate when the writer does the heavy lifting to explain the complex and figure out “what’s in it for me?” That’s a big part of what I do.
In 2016 and 2017, I had the honour of interviewing brainy researchers at Western University’s Faculty of Science. My assignment was to translate the science into writing that will help more casual readers understand the importance of the research and why they should care. Here’s what I wrote:
- Committed to memory: Smaller, lighter, cheaper
…about a new polymer material 10,000 times thinner than a human hair and its use for memory devices, as shown in the image above - Roll call for animals more accurate with statistics
…about the unique markings on whalesharks and the use of statistics to help effective conservation - Polymer’s ‘domino’ delivery shows potential for cancer treatment
…about a drug delivery system that more precisely targets cancer cells and selectively releases drugs to attack them - New research opens a window on eye health
…about early vision loss in mice that helps predict age-related diseases that typically appear much later in life - Tumour diagnosis without an invasive biopsy? Yes, please
…about molecular imaging that allows more accurate detection of tumours in the prostate - Word of mouth lets medieval chants travel through time
…about the remarkable spread of intricate memorized “plainsong” more than 1,000 years ago - Atoms in ancient minerals tell a smashing story
…about research that determines when meteorite collisions occurred, leading to understanding when early life forms appeared on planets.
The topics have all been fascinating and I hope that came through in the writing.
(Links updated Oct. 1, 2018)