Category Archives: Science & Media

A television programme about the second law of thermodynamics

Posted on October 20, 2012 by Stephen

CP Snow must be doing cartwheels in his grave. The BBC has made a beautiful, intelligent film about the second law of thermodynamics. You only have until Tuesday 30th Oct* to catch it on iPlayer and you should. Presented by … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Science, Science & Media, TV review | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

What is it like to be a Scientist?

Posted on September 19, 2012 by Stephen

It is a year to the day since the release of my film, “I’m a Scientist“, in which six different scientists talk openly about their lives in the laboratory and what makes them tick. The aim of the film is … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Media | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Here goes something: Occam’s Typewriter cornered

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Stephen

Well this is nice. Today Occam’s Typewriter opens a new cornershop, so to speak, at the Guardian. For me, this closes a social media circle that started over four years ago because I can trace my entry to the scientific … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Communication, Science & Media | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Rubicon

Posted on June 19, 2012 by Stephen

This is a big deal for me: my first ever article in New Scientist – a magazine that I read in the library in Ballymena as a teenager. Pardon me for preening a little. What’s it about? You guessed it: … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Open Access, Science & Media | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Hawking with Dinosaurs

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Stephen

Here is a ‘paper‘ that I think would not be accepted by PLoS ONE and yet it was the subject of a report on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning, arguably the nation’s premier morning news show. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Media | Tagged , , | 24 Comments

The road well trodden

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Stephen

Scientists should do this. Journalists should do that. And eventually we will live in a world where the media reporting of science achieves perfection. At least that is the hypothesis. The hypothesis was put to the test at the Royal … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Media | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

The past, The future and The Guardian

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Stephen

This week I got to visit a part of London that is for me a hallowed place – the offices of The Guardian newspaper. I was participating in a workshop for the people who had been short-listed for the Wellcome … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Science & Media | Tagged , , , | 31 Comments

I’m a Scientist – making the film

Posted on September 19, 2011 by Stephen

Today sees the release of my new film: I’m a Scientist. It’s about scientists. Please take a look either here, or on the web-site that I have created specially for it*. The film was a long time coming. I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Fun, Science, Science & Media, Scientific Life | Tagged , , | 45 Comments

Artful History

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Stephen

“There have been times in the history of man when the earth seems suddenly to have grown warmer… I don’t put that forward as a scientific proposition, but the fact remains that three or four times in history man has … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Media, TV review | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Writing Science

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Stephen

Writing about science. It’s important. And not just because you could win some dosh from the Wellcome Trust. I tried to explain why (and a little bit about how) in a guest post on Grrlscientist’s blog today.

Posted in Communication, Science, Science & Media | Tagged , | 5 Comments

The Perutz Effect

Posted on February 27, 2011 by Stephen

I have Jim Franks of Newton TV to thank for the opportunity to sit around a table with some of the current scientists at the world-famous MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology to talk about the legacy of its founder, Max … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Science, Protein Crystallography, Science, Science & Media | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Burying Pigs and Information

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Stephen

Ben Goldacre wrote a short blogpost today to bemoan the habit of many media outlets of not linking to the primary sources for their reports and headlines. He was referring to stories that have appeared today about Asian gangs abusing white … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science & Media, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 17 Comments