Author Archives: rpg

About rpg

Scientist, poet, gadfly

Tell Me Something I Don’t Know

Posted on August 27, 2010 by rpg

Nicking Chad’s idea, as it’s Friday, tell me (us?) something I (we?) don’t know.

Posted in Silliness | 8 Comments

Semiotics and Statistics

Posted on August 16, 2010 by rpg

Semiotics is the study of signs, probably most famous because Umberto Eco wrote a book based around it. One important distinction that semiotics makes is between the sign and the object, i.e. the thing the sign refers to. This distinction … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Blogging | 63 Comments

Comments On…

Posted on August 11, 2010 by rpg

There’s been rather a lot of meta-blogging recently, for a variety of reasons. So if you’ve had enough of that, here’s a blog you might like to read instead. The rest of you should be ready to be interactive, as … Continue reading →

Posted in Meta, Science Blogging | 23 Comments

The Next Great Adventure at This Scientific Life

Posted on August 2, 2010 by rpg

I’ve got a new blog! I sneaked in under their radar, and I’m now also blogging at the newest, shiniest (at least for this week) science blogging platform – Scientopia. I’ll be blogging along with my wife, GrrlScientist, on our … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Blogging | 5 Comments

What’s an ecological niche, mummy?

Posted on July 30, 2010 by rpg

I’m sat in a workshop about the ecological niche. One thing we’ve been discussing is what people understand the ecological niche to mean (don’t worry, we discussed more concrete things too). (source) So, here’s a question for you (particularly ecologists), … Continue reading →

Posted in Research Blogging | 26 Comments

Why can’t they do this at every conference?

Posted on July 28, 2010 by rpg

From, inevitably, the Improbable Research blog.

Posted in Silliness | 9 Comments

My Application to Join ScienceBlogs

Posted on July 20, 2010 by rpg

Scienceblogs seems to be creating space in their blogroll for new bloggers, so now seems a good time to apply to join the collective. Being bloggy and everything, it seems only right to send my application as a blog entry. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Blogging | 22 Comments

Scientific article download costs | Code for Life

Posted on July 18, 2010 by rpg

Just a quicky… Grant Jacobs has just done a quick survey of the amounts charge for downloads of scientific papers. The cheapest charge $7, and most were $20 or more, the most expensive being $50 – and some only gave … Continue reading →

Posted in Science Publishing | 16 Comments

The Power of Rhinoplasty

Posted on July 3, 2010 by rpg

Via the Improbable Research Blog (the essential resource for the sillier end of science), we learn of the latest advance in quackery quantum theory: the unhappening machine.

Posted in Silliness | 2 Comments

Journalists, you are fallible. Get off the pedestal and join the common herd

Posted on June 28, 2010 by rpg

Note: some of these words were originally written by Simon Jenkins. Some were not. Others are responsible for encouraging this. So journalists are human after all. They are no different from bankers, politicians, lawyers, estate agents and perhaps even scientists. … Continue reading →

Posted in Silliness | Tagged , | 3 Comments