Author Archives: Stephen

Bono a hypocrite? Good.

Posted on 2 July 2011 by Stephen

Last Friday night as I watched U2 play Glastonbury on TV, the stream of hatred on Twitter was relentless. A torrent of unforgettable ire. I’ve long known that Bono and his band excite very mixed reactions, but this seemed to … Continue reading →

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Numb or Numbered? Part 2.

Posted on 30 June 2011 by Stephen

Back in April — it seems so long ago now — I wrote about the problems created in university life science courses by the relatively low uptake of maths by the student intake. It provoked a very long and thoughtful … Continue reading →

Posted in Maths, science, Science & Politics | Comments Off on Numb or Numbered? Part 2.

Libel Reform – where are we?

Posted on 26 June 2011 by Stephen

Regular readers of this blog will be probably be aware of the ongoing campaign to reform the libel laws of England and Wales. These laws have pernicious effects in many aspects of public life — including science and medicine. They … Continue reading →

Posted in ben goldacre, Libel Reform, Parliament, science, Science & Politics, simon singh | Comments Off on Libel Reform – where are we?

Here comes Impact

Posted on 22 June 2011 by Stephen

In UK scientific circles and the wider realm of academia impact has been around for a while now. Grant forms incorporate large blank spaces in which applicants are required to outline their plans for ensuring that the work they hope … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, impact, science, Science & Politics, Science policy | Comments Off on Here comes Impact

Out of this World in the Library

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Stephen

Yesterday, in four brief photo-posts on my Posterous account I highlighted snapshots — literally — from the British Library’s current exhibition on science fiction. I’m more of a fan of the genre in movies than in books but I had … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Science-fiction | Comments Off on Out of this World in the Library

Transport of Delight

Posted on 12 June 2011 by Stephen

I spent most of last weekend and all of yesterday finalising a chapter I had been asked to contribute to an upcoming monograph on human serum albumin. Monograph is a fancy word for book in academia. And academia is a … Continue reading →

Posted in albumin, Protein Crystallography, science, science communication | Comments Off on Transport of Delight

Biochemical Futures

Posted on 2 June 2011 by Stephen

The fourth edition of Voet & Voet’s Biochemistry, which is currently the recommended undergraduate text on our degree program at Imperial College, weighs three thousand and thirty-nine point two four grams. It has one thousand four hundred and eighty-two pages … Continue reading →

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The Best Seminar?

Posted on 28 May 2011 by Stephen

What is the best seminar that you have ever attended? And what made it so good? I pondered this question after my name appeared on the list of speakers for our internal divisional seminar series this term. I thought that, … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, FMDV, Fun, presentation, Protein Crystallography, science | Comments Off on The Best Seminar?

The Speed of X-rays

Posted on 6 May 2011 by Stephen

I was back at the Diamond Light Source today — the synchrotron that we use to blast protein crystals with X-rays to figure out the structures of protein molecules. The beamlines at the synchrotron where we do our experiments have … Continue reading →

Posted in Diamond Light Source, Modern technology, Protein Crystallography, science | Comments Off on The Speed of X-rays

You should have seen the look on her face

Posted on 4 May 2011 by Stephen

The last king of England to lead an army on the battlefield was George II, at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria in 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession. The last President of the United States to serve … Continue reading →

Posted in Hilary Clinton, Obama, Osama bin Laden, Science & Politics, Tech, technology, video, war | Comments Off on You should have seen the look on her face