Your science crush:AC/DC? No, just AC.

On October 13, 2015October 8, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Two months ago I asked question: what scientist real or fictional, would you like to date? The winner with almost 53% of votes was a scifi favorite, Tesla. But how many know why he’s so popular? Could it be because his rival, Edison, went to the dark side? Here’s a recap of my post published on the ScifiRomance Brigade blog. Give them a visit. It’s a fun site.

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Favorite Science Hook Up: Tesla and the AC/DC debate

Enigmatic, compulsive, afraid of germs and probably sex too, Tesla is an odd choice for a scientist hook-up, but that’s who won my “who would you date?” blog questionnaire. Tesla as many recall, was a pioneer of electricity, inventing the AC motor. Shy and detail oriented, he first worked for Thomas Edison and then for George Westinghouse, who sided with Tesla in the AC/DC debate.

Some fun facts about Tesla:

He perhaps never touched a woman but he was romantic. He loved the power and beauty of water, lightning, and rain. He moved to Colorado and treasured its lightning storms as he longed to harness electricity.
Yes, electricity was his first and only love, but some women did enter his life. Katherine Johnson, the wife of a friend, was his platonic lover. Pianist Marguerite Merington, Anne Morgan, a mysterious Anna and perhaps a few other women were associated with him. However, many say that he took a vow of celibacy in order to devote himself to his work. He was not a fan of woman’s rights. He thought that women were smarter then men and might take over the world and forget to be mothers. Do you really want a boyfriend like that?
He once was attracted to a man, Richmond Pearson Hobson, but being a good Victorian, quickly dismissed that notion and was Hobson’s best man instead.
The AC/DC battle was gruesome. Even Lord Kelvin (of absolute zero fame) didn’t support alternating current. Thomas Edison was so jangled by the idea of AC current that he collaborated with Harold Brown, employed by Edison to promote an electric pen/stenciling device, to rally public opinion against it. Under-educated Brown did all he could to scare people away from AC current, including electrocuting hapless dogs—44 in total—to demonstrate its dangers A circus elephant named Topsy who killed three handlers, was electrocuted with AC current and some cyanide carrots. Brown pushed AC current as a death penalty alternative to hanging. The first execution by electrocution was barbaric.
Tesla responded to the brutal animal torture (it took many trials to kill the animals and was extremely cruel) with public displays of high-frequency AC current passing over his skin, in what could be called the first bedazzling ever.
Niagara Falls was one of his first loves and greatest successes. Long taken with the force and beauty of the majestic waterfall, Tesla and Westinghouse harnessed it with generators that powered Buffalo, New York in 1895. Later, this power would build the city of Detroit.
Telsa received posthumous credit for inventing the radio.
If you get that date, don’t wear jewelry. He disliked jewelry not only on women but on himself. He never even wore a tiepin.
Tesla might not have been much fun on a date. He didn’t eat much and was obsessed with pigeons.

The bottom line: for a fun ride, a Tesla car would get you there faster than the man. If you want a handsome and quirky companion, Tesla is your guy. Eat before hand and don’t plan a second date.

Not futile

On October 10, 2015October 10, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

My latest short story, Grave to Cradle, is in an anthology published by Shade Mountain Press. “The thirty-six stories in this anthology, all by women authors, center around female characters who follow their own paths and tell the powers-that-be what they don’t want to hear, women who stand up for themselves, for each other, for their beliefs.” I love my category in the Table of Contents! My next novel springs from this story and shares similar themes. I hope to be able to introduce you to it soon.

Natural Attraction, Darwin, and Equality

On October 5, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Click here for a replay of my interview with The Book Nook for the Dayton NPR station. It’s made Dayton my second largest market, after Des Moines. It discusses many topics, including one of the underlying themes to Natural Attraction, that the theory of evolution upset the status quo by promoting equality. You may ask yourself why people of the past thought nothing of killing Native Americans and using slaves. The answer is more simple than you think: these were not regarded as true humans. People DID believe in evolution in those days but conveniently, in their theory the white ruling class was the most evolved. Women, people of color, poor people–they were all lower beings who had a lower place and it was regarded as against God’s will to move out of your place. Those above you had the God given right to use you however they wished. Darwin and his fan Clementine in Natural Attraction, were real threats to the status quo. Although not in the novel, Darwin, like my ancestors, was from a fiercely abolitionist family. My great, great grandfather was wounded in the Civil War and eventually died from his wounds. Ironically, Social Darwinism was nothing at all what Charles Darwin would have supported. He was the first to say that diversity is good for a species. And the idea that the “fittest” is the biggest and strongest was against his principles. The man saw earthworms as being “fittest.” You don’t have to know this to enjoy Natural Attraction but if you want to know more, give a listen.

Women in Science: a dozen tips for crafting an honest character

On October 2, 2015August 4, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Here’s a review of a previous post about a topic I’m passionate about.

As the number of female scientists increases, so does the likelihood that a work of fiction will include some. What should readers expect? How can an author build a realistic character?

I surveyed female scientists about their defining traits and two rose to the top: passion and curiosity. And the scientists had other suggestions. I’ve combined their responses into the following twelve tips to help authors create an authentic female scientist:

Passion runs more deeply than just for science. Because of the high correlation between a scientific personality and curiosity and openness, it’s unlikely for a scientist to be buttoned up and cautious when it comes to romance, no matter what the stereotypes might be. (Although she’ll be skeptical and won’t jeopardize her safety.)
She’s likely to be multidimensional. The scientist will most likely be passionate about life in general so give her a side interest. Many scientists like the arts, enjoy working with their hands, and find similarities between the lab and the studio. Others enjoy sports and fitness. She likes to defy expectations.
No mad scientists out to destroy the world, please. Scientists combine passion and compassion. They see science as being a not just fascinating but a benefit to society.
Balancing career and family is an important aspect of a female scientist’s life. Scientists would love to see more fictional characters who have kids.
Problem solving is essential to scientists, but keep in mind that a scientist today will be highly specialized. She won’t know everything. She’s more likely to work as part of a team, too. The idea of one lonely genius working in solitude is outdated. In fact, working alone in lab is a violation of lab safety rules.
She’s overcome a lot to get where she is. Prejudice, harassment, exclusion— these women are tenacious and they do overcome, often by cultivating a healthy sense of humor.
Yes, she was a good student. Intelligence is a common trait among scientists. But it takes more than smarts to be a scientist. She probably had something driving her–the need to please a parent, to prove herself, or to overcome poverty or prejudice. Like many high achievers, reaching a goal brings pleasure, so much so that she could let relationships fall into disrepair if not careful.
She might have her favorite jargon. Scientists have their words. It’s part of being in the club. But there’s an even better reason for science speak—it’s precise. Why say carbohydrate when you can say maltodextrin?
MacGyver anyone? Yes, it’s true. Scientists fix things with duct tape and paper clips or a twist of copper wire. Scientists don’t mind improvising. And they like their scientific equipment.
Power suit? It’s a lab coat. Studies have shown that those white coats make people perform better and make fewer errors.
Under scrutiny. Peer review means that her work is critiqued by other scientists—a humbling experience and one that will keep her honest.
More than anything else, your scientist will be curious about and find wonder in the natural world. Isaac Newton said that being a scientist is like picking up pebbles and shells on a beach beside the “vast ocean of truth”. Your scientist should be always questioning, always curious, with one foot in the future, her eyes on the stars or peeking through a microscope, and her passionate heart here on earth.

Velvet Beans

On October 2, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve got this and other images of velvet beans on my Pinterest site.

Black-tailed Prairie Dog and an excerpt

On September 28, 2015September 30, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

“After hundreds of miles through the spiky short-grass prairie—a dry and windblown Poaceae desert tunneled by black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus), big-eyed and breathlessly barking at the end of their mating season—the conductor and the whistle’s scream signaled my stop.

I’d taken the tonic each night. It had tasted of cherries and made my skin sensitive. My clothing touching me left a pleasant tickle that threatened to break into waves of some sort. My breasts were gone, but was it enough?”

In Natural Attraction, Clementine wants to be a naturalist. She travels out West to search for new plants and animals to study.

Prairie dogs are social animals and live in underground “townships.” They eat the same foods that cattle eat so farmers and ranchers consider them pests. Their population today is only 2% of that in Clementine’s day.

First Kiss

On September 25, 2015September 25, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve always enjoyed a good kiss. Kisses are a way of testing out the chemistry of a potential mate and basically keep us from hooking up with a close relative. The kiss just won’t be right. It’s best not to choose that mate when chemically altered, such as pregnant or on the pill. Arranged marriages probably don’t have the best outcomes. In Natural Attraction, I had a challenge with that first kiss. It had to seem to be between two men, but not be between two men. In Lily Graison’s blog, you can read all sorts of fictional first kisses, including that of Calvin and Wesley. The problem is, of course, that Calvin isn’t a man but a woman named Clementine chemically altered. What happens next? You’ll just have to read.

Romance and Science Fiction

On September 25, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

Thanks for the interview Scifi Romance Brigade.

Almost Jimsonweed

On September 21, 2015September 22, 2015 By Catherine HausteinIn plant molecules, plants and animalsLeave a comment

I was excited and a little scared when I found this plant on my walk through the neighborhood. It looked a lot like Jimsonweed (locoweed), a plant discussed in Natural Attraction. My mind was racing with the possibilities–a poisoner lived here! As many know, Jimsonweed can be a killer with ingestion being either recreational or accidental. Jimsonweed seeds contain the toxic tropane alkaloids atropine and scopolamine. These chemicals are similar to cocaine and can also be found in hedge bindweed. Jimsonweed poisoning symptoms are said to render the victim “blind as a bat, mad as a hatter, red as a beet, hot as a hare, dry as a bone, the bowel and bladder lose their tone, and the heart runs alone.” Users can have hallucinations and trouble urinating (along with extreme thirst). Many deaths come from mistakes in judgement, lack of coordination, and recklessness following ingestion. Kidney failure can occur. The toxins can be absorbed through the skin, but poisoning is more likely if they are ingested.The high is said to be not fun at all.

The plant in the photograph is not Jimsonweed. Upon closer inspection, it’s a relative known as Moonflower. Some gardeners are enthusiastic about this plant, but it’s poisonous too. Like Jimson weed, it’s a Datura. Since I already had an incident with a dog and a poisonous plant, I’ll walk on by when it comes to this Datura. That’s what the plant is saying by even making such a poison.