Category Archives: Science Is Vital

Introducing Humungous Biosciences

Posted on 13 April 2025 by Henry Gee

There has been much fuss and flapdoodle about a company called Colossal Biosciences that aims to use the wonders of modern genetic technology to call extinct species back from the other side of the rainbow bridge. Their latest scheme has … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Cromer, Dreaming, Research, Science Is Vital, Science-fiction, Silliness | Leave a comment

The Origin and Extinction of Humanity FAQ

Posted on 15 February 2025 by Henry Gee

People often ask questions about the lifetime of our own species. Questions such as ‘how long have humans existed?’; ‘When will humans go extinct?’ and ‘Did humans ever nearly go extinct in the past?’ Another one is ‘how will humans … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, did humans nearly go extinct in the past?, evolution, extinction, future projections of human populations, Homo sapiens, how long have humans existed?, how will humans go extinct?, Politicrox, population growth, population trends, Research, Science Is Vital, space exploration, Technicrox, The Decline and Fall of the Human Empire, total fertility rate, when will humans go extinct?, why will the human population stop growing?, will humans colonise space?, will the human population ever stop growing?, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on The Origin and Extinction of Humanity FAQ

My Top Reads Of 2024

Posted on 27 December 2024 by Henry Gee

This year I read 64 books, the first time since records began (2014) that the number has exceeded my age in years (I am 62). The total might be inflated, though, as some of the books have been duologues or … Continue reading → Continue reading →

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Shortlisted

Posted on 27 September 2022 by Henry Gee

I am ecstatic to announce that my latest tome, A (Very) Short History of Life on Earth, has been shortlisted for the 2022 Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize. A popular-science equivalent of the Booker Prize, the Royal Society … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in age proof, anjana ahuja, Apparitions, different, frans de waal, hot air, Isaac Asimov, Jeremy farrar, nick davidson, Peter Stott, rose Anne Kenny, Royal Society, royal society insight investment science book prize, Science Is Vital, spike, the early Asimov, the greywacke, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Shortlisted

Van Extraordinaire

Posted on 1 August 2022 by Henry Gee

Here is my new toy. It is a Camper van. Specifically, it is a 1995 Japanese-import Mazda Bongo Friendee, bought from my friendly local motorhome and caravan dealer. It happened like this. Me and Mrs Gee were driving along in … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in covid, Domesticrox, glamping, Hay-on-Wye, How The Light Gets In, leraning curve, mazda bongo, meatspace, Science Is Vital, travel | Comments Off on Van Extraordinaire

Galaxies in a Grain of Sand

Posted on 13 July 2022 by Henry Gee

Take a grain of sand and hold it up at the sky at arm’s length. That grain of sand covers a patch of sky equivalent to that captured by the spectacular new image from the NASA James Webb Space Telescope … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Apparitions, Auguries of Innocence, Bill Nelson, Grain of Sand, gravitational lensing, James Webb Space Telescope, JWST, NASA, Science Is Vital, SMACS 0723, Volans, William Blake | Comments Off on Galaxies in a Grain of Sand

Don’t Try This At Home

Posted on 12 June 2022 by Henry Gee

As you’ll both be aware I am in the middle of changing from one Brain Care Medication to another. Last week I was just starting a week of zero venlafaxine (trades under Vensir, Vencarm, Venlalix, Voldemort, Vadermort, Vulcan Bomber — … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Adrien Brody, Asterix the Gaul, Brintellix, Dover Beach, Dreaming, Efexor, Effuxxxor of Luxor, GUILLERMO DEL TORO, Helena Bonham-Carter, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Owen Wilson, Popocatépetl, Science Is Vital, Silliness, Taika Waititi, Terry Gilliam, the Benzedrene Epoch, the Death Star, The Embalmer, The Hunt for the Wilder People, Tim Burton, Vadermort, Vencarm, Vengeance Weapon of DOOOOM, Venlablue, venlafaxine, Venlalix, Vensir, Voldemort, vortioxetine, Vulcan Bomber, Wave Upon Wave of Demented Avengers, Wes Anderson | Comments Off on Don’t Try This At Home

What I Read In April

Posted on 10 April 2022 by Henry Gee

Björn Natthiko Lindeblad: I May Be Wrong ‘Oh, your poor brain’, says Mrs Gee, when she sees the stack of things I really must read; the list of tasks I give myself. Then she passed me this book. Now, you’ll … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in a e moorat, abraham lincoln vampire hunter, amadeus, anthropocene, arkady renko, beowulf shaeffer, bipedalism, Björn Natthiko Lindeblad, c j cherryh, chernobyl, chris d thomas, conservation, dogs, dogs behaving very badly, dr who, franglais, golden age of SF, gorky park, graeme hall, hellburner, human evolution, immigration, jenna coleman, Jeremy DeSilva, jim Al Khalili, Johannes Krause, John W Campbell, larry niven, martin cruz smith, peter shaffer, puppeteers, Science Is Vital, star wars, The Life Scientific, the phantom menace, the tao of pooh, Thomas Trappe, whaqt christopher robin does in the mornings, White Rose, Winnie the Pooh, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on What I Read In April

Failure

Posted on 24 August 2021 by Henry Gee

I’ve seen a lot of eructations on social media lately consoling those who might not have achieved the grades they wanted in order to go to their preferred job or institute of higher learning. Therefore I thought I should contribute … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Posted in Career advice, failure, Leeds, Research, Science Is Vital, University of Cambridge | Comments Off on Failure

Pliny

Posted on 27 February 2021 by Henry Gee

Pliny the Elder, yes, that’s the one, the author of Natural History, which got a very poor review on Goodreads at the time, one reader castigating the author as ‘that voluminous, industrious, unphilosophical, gullible, unsystematic old gossip’, who nevertheless died … Continue reading →

Posted in A very short history of sex and chocolate, ambry, galen, hetaera, incunabulum, pliny, procolophonid, scansioripterygid, Science Is Vital, Writing & Reading, yi | Comments Off on Pliny