Over the last year, I’ve been learning about the growing space sector in Scotland. I first heard about the UK’s ambitions to develop launch capability, and Scotland, in particular, appears to be leading that charge. Rocket launches are big, loud spectacles, and probably what will most grow the general public’s…

Okay so I actually navigated to Medium of my own accord this time. Progress. And here we are, facing another blank screen and blinking cursor. If writing is like exercising a muscle, I’ve gotten a bit flabby lately. But as winter arrives here in Scotland, staying inside and writing is…

You can thank another Medium automated email for this one. I felt really good about having just started, somewhat spontaneously — but more importantly, finishing — my first blog post in several years recently. Collecting thoughts, and asteroids | by Stuart Buchanan | Sep, 2023 | Medium But, uh oh…

Hello Medium Dot Com. It’s been a while. You know, this platform has diligently emailed me every week to let me know how many more views my various articles have received. So, it would be unfair to say that I’d forgotten about this place entirely. …

I did one of those life-altering things in 2017 and changed jobs, home, oh and hemisphere. Here at the one year mark of moving from Cape Town to Edinburgh, I’ve been reflecting on what I’ve learned in the process… 🤔 Conquering the capital Edinburgh was built on seven hills, and no matter which…

December 7, 2013 [This article demonstrates the kind of writing I was producing at Flow Communications for their client, South African Tourism. It reflects the kind of “rainbow nation” narrative that proved popular for their blog, as well as some of the SEO-driven principles towards keywords and linking.] Cape Town, South Africa’s ‘Mother City’, and the legacy of Nelson Mandela are inextricably linked. This is where he spent many years in prison, and where, upon his release, he also spent five years in Parliament, located in the city centre, as president of the country.

“I was taking a leak in the forest last night, and I swear, I saw a fairy! It was glowing in the dark!” [written 17 September 2014] — It only takes a few stories like this from the occasional visitor to Hogsback to keep the magic and mystery of this beautiful corner of the Eastern Cape alive. It’s hard not to get caught up in the fairy tale — this tiny town sits at the edge of an…

The Two Oceans Aquarium is one of the only facilities in the world that can and does regularly release sharks back into the wild. [written April 17, 2013] — It was an honour to be invited by the Two Oceans Aquarium to document the release of two ragged-tooth sharks back into the wild on 11 April 2013. The process started a few days earlier, when the Aquarium team had to move Kay, a 207kg female raggie, out of her…

South Africa’s Big Five are often seen as the main attraction when it comes to wildlife — but you’ll find plenty of smaller critters right here in the Mother City, too. [written February 24, 2015] —