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.
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- rpg on In which generative AI interferes with scientific training – potentially
- Henry Gee on In which human scientists are losing the battle
- Jennifer Rohn on In which human scientists are losing the battle
- Henry on In which human scientists are losing the battle
- rpg on In which human scientists are losing the battle
Archives
Categories
- Academia
- AI
- Art
- Careers
- Domestic bliss
- Epidemics
- Gardening
- Ham radio
- Health and safety gone mad
- Illness
- Joshua
- Kit
- LabLit
- Media
- Music
- Nostalgia
- Obituaries
- Policy
- Politics
- Recruitment
- Research
- Science fiction
- science funding
- Science is Vital
- Science journalism
- Science talking
- Scientific method
- Scientific papers
- Scientific thinking
- Silliness
- Staring into the abyss
- Stereotypes
- Students
- Teaching
- The ageing process
- The profession of science
- Uncategorized
- Women in science
- Work/life balance
- Writing
Meta
Category Archives: Scientific thinking
In which nature imitates science – number 327
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
In which you can take the girl out of the lab…
I suppose most scientists have the problem of taking their work home with them. And by this I don’t mean the stacks of papers you need to read, or the manuscript you’re writing, or the grant application you’re still cobbling … Continue reading
In which the forest emerges
The clocks have gone forward, the crocuses wither, the tulips unfurl. The students have dispersed for Easter, full of dread about the immunology exam that will pounce on their return. Budding life forms I put one grant application to bed … Continue reading
Posted in Careers, Gardening, Scientific thinking, Staring into the abyss, Students, Teaching, The profession of science
Comments Off on In which the forest emerges
In which life imitates science – number 264
A scientist is never off-duty, even in a fabulous Michelin-starred restaurant on Charlotte Street. I think pretty much anyone with a cell biology background would have seen what I saw in this rhubarb confection: But alas, my immediate dining companions … Continue reading
Posted in Scientific thinking, Silliness
4 Comments
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
