Monthly Archives: April 2014

Losing my virginity and the Café Scientifique Reading List

Posted on 30 April 2014 by Stephen

Last night I lost my virginity. To be precise, I lost my Café Scientifique virginity because I gave a talk about science in a café in Portsmouth at the kind invitation of local organiser Maricar Jagger. It was a really … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Cafe Scientifique, communication, public engagements, science, science communication, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Losing my virginity and the Café Scientifique Reading List

The Night Circus

Posted on 29 April 2014 by Henry Gee

When Crox Minima (13) urged me to read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which happened to be a favourite book of one of her classmates, I assumed that it would be the kind of book one would associate with, … Continue reading →

Posted in beatrix potter, china mieville, erin morgenstern, fantasy, magic, neil gaiman, steampunk, The Night Circus, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on The Night Circus

Yom HaShoah – A Guest Post by Crox Minor

Posted on 28 April 2014 by Henry Gee

As today is Yom HaShoah, I would like to ask everyone to think for a moment about prejudice, from the genocides that are still going on to casual remarks about immigrants and ethnic and religious minorities made daily by the … Continue reading →

Posted in BNP, children of peace, crox minor, EDL, genocide, Holocaust, persecution, Politicrox, UKIP | Comments Off on Yom HaShoah – A Guest Post by Crox Minor

Spotting bad science – is it really so easy?

Posted on 27 April 2014 by Sylvia McLain

On the Interwebs – I have seen several links to this helpful PDF on How to spot bad science – a rough guide. Learning how to sniff out bad science – or really bad science reporting which is what this … Continue reading →

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An Iconoclastic and Flirtatious Master

Posted on 27 April 2014 by Athene Donald

I am currently reading Patricia Fara‘s recent book Science: A Four Thousand Year History which cuts an interesting swathe through different cultures, different individuals and different discoveries (sometimes even the same discovery in different places). It is not your average … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, China, Desmond Bernal, History of Science, Joseph Needham, Lu Gwei-Djen, Patricia Fara | Comments Off on An Iconoclastic and Flirtatious Master

Ectopic scribblings

Posted on 26 April 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It occurred to me this week that I’ve written various things in other venues that I’ve never linked to from this blog, and that it might be a good idea to compile some sort of list to try and mitigate … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, career, communication, personal, publishing, Writing | Comments Off on Ectopic scribblings

Jews On Bikes

Posted on 25 April 2014 by Henry Gee

Sometimes the most memorable televisual emissions come from random channel-surfing. So it was last night when Mrs Crox came across a documentary on Sky Atlantic called Jews On Bikes. This follows the fortunes of a group of British Jewish bikers … Continue reading →

Posted in antisemitism, easy rider, Holocaust, jewishness, Jews On Bikes, Judaism, Liberal Judaism, Writing & Reading, Zen Jewish Buddhism | Comments Off on Jews On Bikes

Cold Shot

Posted on 24 April 2014 by Henry Gee

Inspired in part by Steve’s recent post and prompted by a recent efflorescence of telephonic effluvia, I am moved to write about the increasing incidence of cold-callers who ring my home number (and my mobile number) offering various services, mainly … Continue reading →

Posted in cold calls, more silliness, Silliness, Technicrox, telemarketers | Comments Off on Cold Shot

The ease of publishing does not reflect the realities of science

Posted on 24 April 2014 by Steve Caplan

Almost every day I am besieged through email to either join editorial boards of new ‘up-and-coming’ journals or submit manuscripts to them. Neither is a trivial matter for me. A submitted manuscript often comes after several years of research by … Continue reading →

Posted in article, fly-by-night, humor, journals, online, Open Access, paper, Research, science, Submission, waste of time | Comments Off on The ease of publishing does not reflect the realities of science

Music Therapy

Posted on 24 April 2014 by Henry Gee

As you both know I have been followed around by the Black Dog for quite some time, and am currently on some fairly strong bongo juice as well as seeing an expanding retinue of brain-care specialists. Most nights I have … Continue reading →

Posted in depression, mental health, Music, musical appreciation | Comments Off on Music Therapy