About Jenny
By day: cell biologist at UCL. By night: novelist, broadcaster, science writer, sci-lit-art pundit, blogger and Editor of LabLit.com. I blog about my life in science, not the facts and figures.
Category Archives: Scientific thinking
In which I invite them in
Although engaging with the public about science is famously not about – heaven forbid – ‘teaching’ it, the two endeavors do share some common strategies. I’ve been organizing and executing a lot of undergraduate educational sessions these past few terms, … Continue reading
Posted in Science talking, Scientific thinking, Silliness, Students, Teaching
14 Comments
In which my language becomes everyone’s – for a moment
Following on from my piece in the Guardian this week about the chickenpox vaccine, my friend Buffy clued me in to this clever little number in the Onion that had been published the day before. It’s too gloriously sunny and … Continue reading
Posted in LabLit, Scientific thinking, Silliness
4 Comments
In which satellite models trump circumspection: the case of MH370
The strange disappearance of Malaysian Airlines flight MH340 has captivated the world, myself included. In an era of instant information, it’s sobering that an entire Boeing 777 could just vanish. I am sure I am not the only one who … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific method, Scientific thinking
10 Comments
In which I admire their honesty
Kudos to Mateja Erdani Kreft of the University of Ljubljana and Horst Robenek from the University of Münster for telling it like it is: You don’t often see such candor in the methods section of your local journal article – … Continue reading
In which baking imitates science
It’s Friday, and Richard and I couldn’t help noticing that this croissant looked as if it were about to extravasate and transmigrate to the bottom of the oven, in search of…invading micro-organisms? Damaged tissue? Jam? We’ll never know, but check … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific thinking, Silliness
1 Comment
In which nature imitates science
On the walk from my house to Russia Dock Woodlands, you have to pass by a particular hedgerow. Like all good hedgerows, it’s thick and impenetrable and rustling with unseen bird life. And it produces lots of bright-red berries, which … Continue reading
Posted in Domestic bliss, Scientific thinking, Silliness
2 Comments
In which I narrowly avoid oblivion
Even at moments of the most extreme duress, it is difficult for me to stop thinking like a scientist. A few days after the birth of my son some twelve weeks ago, things were just starting to normalize for Richard … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific thinking, Staring into the abyss
20 Comments
In which I step out
Six weeks into the big experiment, and I’m surfacing for a brief update. There is nothing I can say about new motherhood that has not been rehashed a million times, so on the topic of sleepless nights, lunching frantically on … Continue reading
In which the data get an outing
For the past few weeks I’ve been traveling the globe at back-to-back conferences – hence the silence here. The conference universe has its own natural laws, and time flows differently as its strict routines overwrite all of your own normal … Continue reading
In which I am not a science cheerleader
There is something seductive about the scientific profession: it exerts a gravity so powerful that it can hoover all of the surrounding universe into its warped perspective. If you have your heart set on being a scientist, you set off … Continue reading
