Gravity disappears again, and we rise up off the floor like spooks from a grave. It's like the Rapture in here every thirty seconds.

The simplest strategy for bouts of noxious flatus is to not care. Or perhaps to take advantage of a gastroenterologist I know: get a dog. (To blame.)

I very much was inspired by Bill Bryson. He does cover science, but more often, it's a mixture of science and travel, and whatever he happens to be writing about - Shakespeare, Australia, the United Kingdom, or when he covers science in 'A Short History Of Nearly Everything' - he has an incredible ability to be both entertaining and enlightening.

In 'Packing for Mars,' I tried to convey the importance of getting young people interested in science.

People are vomiting unrealistically in movies, and something must be done about it.

You are a person and then you cease to be a person, and a cadaver takes your place.

Instead, I quietly excused myself and went to the bar, to commune with spirits I know how to relate to.