Daily Archives: 21 March 2011

Moon Boon

It cannot have escaped your attention this past weekend that the Earth was treated to a supermoon. The correct terminology for this felicitous event is a perigee syzygy, but the reasons for the interesting nomenclature need not detain us. The … Continue reading

Posted in Astronomy, Blogging, History of Science, Moon, Open Laboratory, science | Comments Off on Moon Boon

Crashing through the block

I’ve had a bad case of blogger’s block lately, brought on by a double whammy of: 1) the worst cold I’ve had in years (which is also my third cold in 2011, ugh), and 2) News Paralysis – the state … Continue reading

Posted in current affairs, Meta, personal, Politics, sport, videos, whining | Comments Off on Crashing through the block

Justice and spring birds

A few short weeks ago I posted a blog entitled “I’d rather be blasting homeopathy“, and provided two letters that I had written. One was addressed to my local Nebraska congressman, and asked that he be considerate of science and … Continue reading

Posted in budget, congressman, flicker, HELP-scientists-in-need!, mystery bird, ornithology, parking ticket, red nape, Research, science, supporting science, woodpecker | Comments Off on Justice and spring birds

Walter Morley Fletcher

The lecture hall in my Institute dates back to the 1930s. It has a simple design with excellent acoustics, typical of its era. It is called the Fletcher Memorial Hall, which begs the question – who he? Just outside the … Continue reading

Posted in History, Research Councils | Comments Off on Walter Morley Fletcher

Peer review inquiry – written evidence

I wrote a couple of months back about the background to the Science & Technology Select Committee’s inquiry into peer review. The Select Committee has published all the written evidence submitted to its inquiry. The publication of written evidence provides … Continue reading

Posted in Journal publishing, peer review | Comments Off on Peer review inquiry – written evidence