Monthly Archives: October 2012

In which we excavate the Tubes that Time Forgot

Posted on 31 October 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

I’ve written before about “the churn”, which is a term established scientists tend to use when they want to make short-term lab contracts sound like a good thing – instead of the relentless waste of talent and reagents and constant … Continue reading →

Posted in The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we excavate the Tubes that Time Forgot

Library Camp UK 2012

Posted on 29 October 2012 by Frank Norman

The creative energy unleashed by an unconference is a wonderful thing. I attended LibCamp2012 recently and was surprised that a disparate bunch of people can self-assemble such a varied and interesting programme, all in one day. I went to the … Continue reading →

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Risk, Education and Politicians

Posted on 28 October 2012 by Athene Donald

As usual I’m a trifle behindhand in my reading, so only now am I catching up with the Darwin Lectures  on Risk, a series of lectures given in 2010 and now available as a book or on your Kindle). This … Continue reading →

Posted in British Academy, Communicating Science, David Spiegelhalter, education, Mathematics, quantitative skills, risk, statistics | Comments Off on Risk, Education and Politicians

Vain in my veins

Posted on 25 October 2012 by Steve Caplan

As part of my exhaustive (exhausting?) all-encompassing marketing of my two novels, “Welcome Home, Sir” and “Matter Over Mind,” I have undertaken a campaign to get my novels purchased and on the shelves of public libraries. Indeed, this is a … Continue reading →

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Scritti

Posted on 24 October 2012 by Henry Gee

Occasionally I make the mistake of tuning in to the BBC, an organization for whom the lead news item will always be its own self-importance. Now then now then now then. There has been much brouhaha, for example, about the … Continue reading →

Posted in BBC, george entwhistle, graphology, jimmy savile, Pseudoscience, Silliness, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Scritti

Trees do the darndest things! (Part III)

Posted on 24 October 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

STREAKERRRRRR!!!! (sorry, everyone. Again).

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What You Don’t See at Conferences

Posted on 23 October 2012 by Athene Donald

Academics get to go to conferences in exotic places, there is no doubt about that. But that is not the same thing as getting to see the exotic places in which the conferences are held. In my experience, too often … Continue reading →

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The joys of a Wikipedia edit-a-thon

Posted on 23 October 2012 by Frank Norman

Last week the Royal Society held a Wikipedia edit-a-thon to try and help redress the gender imbalance in Wikipedia’s coverage of biographies of scientists. Twenty volunteers gathered in the library of the Royal Society for a few hours to learn … Continue reading →

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Crowdfunding research not yet a crowd pleaser

Posted on 21 October 2012 by Eva Amsen

Academic researchers are one of the few professionals who have to spend a large amount of time throughout their entire career begging for money just to keep their job. It’s hard to get grants. It’s a lot of work to … Continue reading →

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Whining and opining

Posted on 20 October 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

We (well, mostly Mr E Man) have spent the last couple of weeks booking flights and accommodation for a much-needed vacation in Puerto Rico. We’ve now got everything sorted except the car rental and the last night’s hotel and are … Continue reading →

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