Monthly Archives: July 2015

In which we make do: live from the cash-freeze lab

Posted on 31 July 2015 by Jennifer Rohn

The government loves to tell us scientists how good we are at doing ‘more with less’. Over at the Guardian, I’ve posted yesterday about how the UK’s core research budget is again under threat, with the possibility of up to … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Funding, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we make do: live from the cash-freeze lab

The Importance of Evidence, the Need for #Just1Action4WIS

Posted on 28 July 2015 by Athene Donald

I’m sorry, this is yet another piece of writing in the wake of the Tim Hunt debacle. I find I am still very angry. We are, I hope, reaching the end of the saga yet little in the way of … Continue reading →

Posted in Connie St Louis, evidence, louise mensch, Mary Collins, Science Culture, Tim Hunt, Women in science | Comments Off on The Importance of Evidence, the Need for #Just1Action4WIS

Right on: the only museum dedicated entirely to human rights

Posted on 28 July 2015 by Steve Caplan

Technology and hands-on exhibits make the Canadian Museum for Human Rights accessible for visitors of all ages When I last visited family in the city of Winnipeg, Canada, I had the opportunity to do a tour of the outside of … Continue reading →

Posted in Assiniboine River, Canada, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, education, Forks, Holocaust, Holodomor, human rights, Manitoba, Red River, Winnipeg, women's rights | Comments Off on Right on: the only museum dedicated entirely to human rights

Where are the Wild Places of our Souls?

Posted on 25 July 2015 by Athene Donald

I’m not sure if it’s unconsciously deliberate, but this year – as last – I took a fascinating book about our countryside to read during my week’s holiday away from Cambridge. This year I went to the south end of … Continue reading →

Posted in book review, George Monbiot, Lake District, natural history, rewilding, Robert MacFarlane | Comments Off on Where are the Wild Places of our Souls?

In which nature imitates science – number 327

Posted on 25 July 2015 by Jennifer Rohn

Sometimes when you look at something from a different angle, you see something you’d never otherwise have noticed. We’ve been trying to grow melons in the greenhouse, without much success: hundreds of female flowers have unfurled, but only a handful … Continue reading →

Posted in Domestic bliss, Gardening, Scientific thinking, Silliness | Comments Off on In which nature imitates science – number 327

Pre-prints: just do it?

Posted on 17 July 2015 by Stephen

There is momentum building behind the adoption of pre-print servers in the life sciences. Ron Vale, a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at UCSF and Lasker Award winner, has just added a further powerful impulse to this movement in … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, science, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Pre-prints: just do it?

Why Such Tepid Governmental Aspirations?

Posted on 16 July 2015 by Athene Donald

The Government talks about ‘naming and shaming’ to close the pay gender pay gap, aspiring to close it within a generation. It is perhaps worth remembering when the Equal Pay Act came into force – 1970! 35 years on and … Continue reading →

Posted in Athena Swan, culture change, Equality, gender pay gap, Women in science | Comments Off on Why Such Tepid Governmental Aspirations?

In which we recommend a classic lab lit novel in honor of the Pluto flyby

Posted on 14 July 2015 by Jennifer Rohn

The big day is finally arrived: in just a few hours, we are about to get our closest look yet at Pluto. Call it what you will – planet, dwarf planet, even the last word in that classic American solar … Continue reading →

Posted in Lablit, Writing | Comments Off on In which we recommend a classic lab lit novel in honor of the Pluto flyby

Busy, busy, busy – the Pan Am games are here!

Posted on 13 July 2015 by Richard Wintle

As of Friday, Toronto and places near it are officially in the throes of the 2015 Pan Am and Parapan Am Games. And I find myself with (a) a full media photographer’s credential, (b) access to every single competition venue, … Continue reading →

Posted in Hobbies, Pan Am games, Photography, Toronto | Comments Off on Busy, busy, busy – the Pan Am games are here!

Public Speaking Challenges

Posted on 12 July 2015 by Athene Donald

Technical glitches during talks are all too common, but never easy to cope with. Recently I had a simple talk to give, one which could safely be brought along on a memory stick to the event: I was giving a … Continue reading →

Posted in after-dinner, Communicating Science, disaster, iPad, pockets, Science Culture, speech | Comments Off on Public Speaking Challenges