Monthly Archives: April 2014

The Big Apple

Posted on 22 April 2014 by Henry Gee

I can’t believe that it’s less than a year since I first visited the old fire station in Norwich, then at the very start of its transformation into the science- and maths-centric Sir Isaac Newton Sixth Form College – so … Continue reading →

Posted in Domesticrox, education, inspiration trust, sir isaac newton sixth form | Comments Off on The Big Apple

Hacked Off

Posted on 22 April 2014 by Athene Donald

Can one ever escape the workaday grind, successfully avoid slipping over the edge to descend into the chaos I wrote about a little while ago or even manage merely to keep one’s cool despite provocation? There are so many things … Continue reading →

Posted in hacking, Science Culture, social media, twitter, vacation | Comments Off on Hacked Off

Open Access — yes you can

Posted on 20 April 2014 by Stephen

For researchers who have never dipped a toe into the debates on open access that surge across the blogosphere it is all too easy to imagine that they need not get involved. For sure, people are increasingly aware that a decision … Continue reading →

Posted in Copyright, elsevier, Open Access | Comments Off on Open Access — yes you can

In which the season turns

Posted on 18 April 2014 by Jennifer Rohn

London is in the throes of springtime, and everything is in bud. Last year this time, my belly was swelling ever bigger in pregnancy. Now, my son – nearing the seven month mark – grows so fast that he seems … Continue reading →

Posted in careers, Domestic bliss, staring into the abyss, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which the season turns

A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Prejudice Go Down

Posted on 17 April 2014 by Athene Donald

I wasn’t really paying attention to the radio. I was busy cooking, but it sounded to me as if the question Clive Anderson asked the film-maker Andrea Calderwood on Saturday’s episode of Loose Ends amounted to ‘how come a nice … Continue reading →

Posted in Equality, interviews, Jenny Saul, Unconscious bias, Women in science | Comments Off on A Spoonful of Sugar Helps the Prejudice Go Down

The Bearding

Posted on 16 April 2014 by Henry Gee

How is variation maintained in populations? This is a bit of a poser for evolutionary theory, especially in the realm of sexual selection. If males or females of a certain type always score highest in contests of mate choice, genes … Continue reading →

Posted in barnaby dixson, beards, biology letters, evolution, face fungus, facial hair, guppies, handlebars, illustrated london news, mate choice, mutton chops, negative frequency dependent selection, nigel barber, Research, sexual selection, whiskers | Comments Off on The Bearding

Why this night is no different than any other – vile anti-semitism persists

Posted on 15 April 2014 by Steve Caplan

Tonight, I know, is the first night of Pesach-Passover, the Jewish festive celebration of the historic/mythical tale of escape from slavery in Egypt. Being an atheist with a complete lack of interest in any religious or pseudo-religious customs, Passover has … Continue reading →

Posted in antisemitism, Jew, Jewish Community Center, Kansas City, murder, Nazi, Passover, Pesach, racist, treason, white supremacist | Comments Off on Why this night is no different than any other – vile anti-semitism persists

Mosaic is the New Savanna

Posted on 14 April 2014 by Henry Gee

Time was when the model of human evolution went something like this: our ancestors essentially evolved to climb and live in trees, but with the general drying and cooling of the Earth’s climate over the past few million years, the … Continue reading →

Posted in AAPA, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Amy L Rector, Calgary, Cromer, Cromer East Beach, habitat, habitat heterogeneity, human evolution, Kaye Reed, mosaic, patchiness, Research, savanna, Yohannes Haile-Selassie | Comments Off on Mosaic is the New Savanna

On the connection between (April) fools and trolls

Posted on 12 April 2014 by Steve Caplan

Trolls seldom have anything worthwhile to say. They twist, bully, rant and rave and insult, putting forth their worst drivel to provoke a response. All behind a cloak of anonymity. That is the nature of a troll; inevitably a loser … Continue reading →

Posted in April Fools, education, grant, humor, laboratory, proposal, Research, science, students, training, troll | Comments Off on On the connection between (April) fools and trolls

The Stuff of Brains

Posted on 12 April 2014 by Athene Donald

That migraine I was waiting for finally struck this week. Amazingly it didn’t throw my life into disarray, because it hit me during a week I was supposed to be having ‘off’. Consequently it only spoiled a day of relaxation, … Continue reading →

Posted in cognitive illusion, Daniel Kahneman, Matthew Lieberman, neuroscience, self-affirmation | Comments Off on The Stuff of Brains