Clayton goes to the Peak District

Hello readers! Last weekend was surprisingly sunny for September, and I made the most of this by taking a day out to the Peak District. I walked up to Kinder Scout, a moorland plateau housing the highest point in the national park. The journey begins I started my walk in Edale, a quiet little village … Continue reading Clayton goes to the Peak District →

Clayton Calculates: Ice Magic

Hello readers! Today we’re taking an analytical dive into the feasibility of ‘ice magic’, which I am defining as the ability to conjure solid ice out of thin air. This frosty power is found in traditional fantasy and in superhero genres, from Elsa in Frozen, to Todoroki in My Hero Academia, to Frozone in The … Continue reading Clayton Calculates: Ice Magic →

Free book weekend: 26th-28th August

Hello readers! This weekend, all my books will be FREE on Amazon (find them here). My first trilogy, The Starlit Ship, is a science fiction thriller that explores the environmental and political fallout after a giant ship arrives unexpectedly in the upper atmosphere. The first two books of my second series, Highmoor, will also be … Continue reading Free book weekend: 26th-28th August →

Film review: Annihilation

Hello readers! Last week I watched Annihilation (2018), a science fiction film that received widespread critical acclaim. As with my previous review of Arrival, I will respect the integrity of this film by splitting my review into two parts: the first will contain only minor spoilers, aimed towards people who haven’t seen the film but … Continue reading Film review: Annihilation →

Six-minute summary: Sophie Germain

Hello readers! Today we’re taking a look at the life of Sophie Germain, a French mathematician. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’d never heard of her, and by the end of this summary, I hope you’ll agree that this is a terrible shame. Childhood Sophie Germain was born in Paris in 1776, with the full … Continue reading Six-minute summary: Sophie Germain →

Film review: Arrival

Hello readers! This week, I rewatched Arrival (2016). Not quite sure what prompted me to do so: maybe it was the bizarre US Congress hearing, where ex-military personnel attested to seeing UFOs? Maybe it was the fact that Netflix has been pushing me to watch this film since I added it to my list a … Continue reading Film review: Arrival →

Clayton gets a pet rock

Hello readers! Last weekend I received the most astonishing gift: a huge lump of polished stone, perfectly cylindrical and shiny, with a conspicuous hole drilled into the top. This is a curling stone, used in the strange, slippery sport of curling – a sort of halfway house between ice hockey and pétanque. The history of … Continue reading Clayton gets a pet rock →

Six-minute summary: Tycho Brahe

Hello readers! It’s time for another six-minute summary. This week, we’re discussing Tycho Brahe, a 16th century Danish astronomer who revolutionised the collection of astronomical data. Wikipedia describes him as “the last major astronomer before the invention of the telescope” – and yet Brahe could have lived just long enough to see this paradigm shift … Continue reading Six-minute summary: Tycho Brahe →

Clayton Calculates: The Death Mountain lava lake

Hello readers! After the success of my lava calculations last month, I have been inspired to devote an entire blog post to pulling apart the physical inaccuracies of fantasy worlds. It turns out that the water hydrants in Tears of the Kingdom are the least of its lava-based problems (if you missed it, see: Is … Continue reading Clayton Calculates: The Death Mountain lava lake →

Artificial Aphantasia

Hello readers! This week I discovered the “Bing Image Creator” – an AI image generator which anyone can use for free (i.e., for the measly price of handing all your search data to Microsoft). I’m aware that you’ve probably heard enough about AI art by now, so I thought I’d try and approach this thorny … Continue reading Artificial Aphantasia →