Monthly Archives: January 2014

This week, in Frankfurt

This morning the latest blog post on the Grauniad’s science pages was the annual complaint about crap news stories about ‘Blue Monday’. I’ve no idea if these stories have reached Germany (and there doesn’t seem to be anything about it … Continue reading

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Unexpectedly transferable skills

The transferable skills developed over the course of a PhD have been a recurring theme on this blog. I have blogged both about being trained and, later, about training other students, in the skills that might be useful beyond the office, lab, … Continue reading

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Creation, by Adam Rutherford

There’s a story, probably apocryphal, of how Winston Churchill gave a speech to the Free French, ill-advisedly in the tongue of Molière and Balzac. Quand je regarde mon derrière, boomed Britain’s great wartime leader, Je vois qu’il est divisé en deux parts. None … Continue reading

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The Maison Des Girrafes Caption Competition #67

Here’s a snap I took this morning in the Vestibule des Girrafes, featuring Emma the until recently pissed-off Siamese Cat, and Heidi the Dog. Now, normally, I’d invite captions, and you may submit some if you wish. However, to make … Continue reading

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A Pensieve for your Thoughts

Last weekend my OT colleague Stephen Curry put up a thoughtful and thought-provoking post reflecting on the shortness of life, where his is going and other angst-inducing topics including obituaries, all provoked by the fact that he was approaching 50. … Continue reading

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Open Access and the self-forming journal hierarchy

I recently posted a piece on Occam’ Corner explaining why I think instituting radical changes in science publishing should not be a major focus of scientists at this juncture. As those who have read the post will realize, my point … Continue reading

Posted in editor, editorial board, journals, manuscript, Open Access, paper, priorities, Research, science, Science Funding, science journals, science publishing | Comments Off on Open Access and the self-forming journal hierarchy

Graphzilla

I looked at one of my progress tracking graphs for one of my projects right after telling my colleague that Mr E Man had worked on the new Godzilla movie, and what I saw can not be unseen.  

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Guns + ammunition

Just after I started shooting I was listening to a couple of the old(er) timers bitching about their recent poor performance. One of them blamed the ammunition they were using. The other pointed out that while shooters often blame the … Continue reading

Posted in .22, ammunition, Annie the .22 Long Rifle, Don't try this at home, experiments, guns, personal, pipettes, rifles, shooting, target | Comments Off on Guns + ammunition

Jumps Red Lights

The death a couple of days ago of the former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon raised memories of my one and only visit to Israel, and is associated with a particular piece of music. When I visited, in the summer … Continue reading

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No Comment

Dear Reader I am going to make a complaint. This is a complaint directed to many of you, but by no means all, so bear with me. I know I am not the only blog-writer who feels this way, so … Continue reading

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