Latest posts

On Social Media

Posted on 17 October 2013 by rpg

We are social creatures. No doubt there are evolutionary reasons why this is so and why it persists, although I’m not qualified to do more than speculate. However, it seems self evident that there are advantages to acting as a group, from care and feeding of young all the way up to coping with environmental challenges and defending against pr Continue reading →

Posted in Ill-considered rants, internet, twitter | Comments Off on On Social Media

Teeth

Posted on 17 October 2013 by Henry Gee

When I was a child one of my favourite books was Busy, Busy World by the late Richard Scarry. Each double-page spread was a story set in a particular country, and the characters were all animals. The story I remember most was about a Dr Krunchew, a dentist from Russia, who was played by a bear. The story consisted of several panels whose captions w Continue reading →

Posted in conodonts, convergence, evolution, hard tissues, palaeontology, Research, vertebrates | Comments Off on Teeth

Impact factors are clouding our judgement

Posted on 17 October 2013 by Stephen

Nature has an interesting news feature this week on impact factors. Eugenie Samuel Reich’s article — part of a special supplement covering various aspects of the rather ill-defined notion of impact — explores whether publication in journals such as Nature or Science is a game-changer for scientific careers.

The widely-held assumption is that Continue reading →

Posted in impact factor, Open Access, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Impact factors are clouding our judgement

Search engines – out with the old, in with the new

Posted on 16 October 2013 by Frank Norman

Back in the summer Yahoo announced that it was to close the search engine AltaVista, and that duly happened in July. I suspect that most people’s reaction would be either “what on earth is Alta Vista?”  or “Blimey! Is that still going?”

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Posted in Searching | Comments Off on Search engines – out with the old, in with the new

Mass disgruntlement among scientists is growing

Posted on 15 October 2013 by Steve Caplan

This popped into my inbox today, and probably into those of every other American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology member. Life made easy–no need to blog my disgruntlement–it’s all been done for me (see standard letter below). But I have to admit, they did a good job…

Dr. Caplan,

Continue reading →
Posted in budget, NIH, Research, save science now!, science, sequester, US government | Comments Off on Mass disgruntlement among scientists is growing

Lovelace

Posted on 15 October 2013 by Henry Gee

I am reliably informed that today is Ada Lovelace Day, in which it behooves one to commemorate the contribution to science of female scientists. Like Christmas, this comes round every year, and, like Christmas, I struggle to find anything novel to do.

I’d rather not commit some po-faced hagiography of someone whose life didn’t intersect Continue reading →

Posted in aspergers, autism spectrum, gender imbalance, Jane Gray, Lovelace, meredith l patterson, Politicrox, Research, sexism, Women in science | Comments Off on Lovelace

Puerto Rico, my heart’s devotion

Posted on 15 October 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

While helping Mr E Man book the final leg of our upcoming vacation yesterday, I realised that it’s been almost a whole year since we went to Puerto Rico and I still haven’t blogged about it. BAD blogger!

We flew to San Juan via Toronto, just a couple of days before the airport closed for Hurricane Sandy. We weren’t at all sure tha Continue reading →

Posted in drunkenness, family, fun with language, personal, photos, travel | Comments Off on Puerto Rico, my heart’s devotion

On watching my country go crazy – and why science is important

Posted on 14 October 2013 by Sylvia McLain

Like much of the rest of America (and the world) I have been watching US shutdown theatre in horror. I posted a few years ago about how I didn’t think the Tea Party was the end of Democracy as we know it, boy was I wrong. Hopefully not totally wrong, the US (really) does have a way of righting itself after it drifts into crazy, in the end. Continue reading →

Posted in Science Funding, Science funding and the US shutdown, US shutdown | Comments Off on On watching my country go crazy – and why science is important

The UK and New Zealand: two very different approaches to the problems of “legal highs”.

Posted on 14 October 2013 by Philip Strange

In many people’s minds, the county of Devon is synonymous with cream teas, cider and summer holidays so it may come as a surprise to hear that Devon has its fair share of social problems. Over the past few months there has been a rash of incidents with so-called “legal highs”, drugs that mimic the effects of illegal substances but which are not the Continue reading →

Posted in cannabis, drug laws, Guest posts, head shops, legal highs, New Zealand, Psychoactive Substances Bill, synthetic cannabinoids, tetrahydrocannabinol | Comments Off on The UK and New Zealand: two very different approaches to the problems of “legal highs”.

FeedMyReads

Posted on 13 October 2013 by Henry Gee

Without quite knowing how, I have become embroiled in a very busy writerly collective with a social media presence as busy as an invasion of killer termites. It’s called FeedMyReads and it’s about to launch what looks like the most incredible online literary festival called FeedMyReads and Friends - you can sign up for the event on Face Continue reading →

Posted in Books, FeedMyReads, social media, The Accidental Species, Writing, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on FeedMyReads