Latest posts

Are scientists becoming an endangered species? The way we live–now

Posted on 30 March 2013 by Steve Caplan

What spurred me to put pen-to-paper, if that phrase has any remaining meaning, was reading about the recent proposals at the US National Institutes of Health to again revamp the grant review system. The previous revamp, just several years ago, changed the rules so that instead of 2 possible resubmissions of a given proposal, only the initial submis Continue reading →

Posted in endangered species, grant review, grants, peer review, Research, reviews, science, scientists, survival, the way we live now | Comments Off on Are scientists becoming an endangered species? The way we live–now

Very Quick Book Advert , Pass It On

Posted on 30 March 2013 by Henry Gee

Just a quick note from Eastercon, the British SF Con currently taking place in Bradford.

I’m doing a promotion of my SF trilogy THE SIGIL. you can download Book 1, SIEGE OF STARS for FREE this weekend only from Reanimus Press through this link. It’s 99c on Amazon for the same period. Continue reading →

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Parklife

Posted on 28 March 2013 by rpg

If you’ve ever seen my Flickr stream you might realize I’m quite fond of birds.

Sleepy tit

Even here in Zone 2 there are a lot of birds around—especially in our garden. Blue tits, great tits, long-tailed tits, robins, dunnocks, goldfinches, wrens, chaffinches, blackbirds, sparrows… Lots of birds. Continue reading →

Posted in birds, bloody pigeons, feeder, flying rats, hellraiser, it's a war zone, London, personal, pigeon, pigeon-proof, plague, sleepy tits, tits | Comments Off on Parklife

Plagues

Posted on 28 March 2013 by Henry Gee

Now, bear with me, I shan’t be long. You see, the mispoche are coming round later and I’ll have to get started slow-cooking a large leg of lamb for our seder. I’ll be leading it, which means that I’ll be doing my RSC (Reduced Seder Company) performance, whose aim is to follow the minimum critical path between service and foo Continue reading →

Posted in eldritch, Passover, Pesach, pharaoh, plagues, release of calcium from intracellular stores, rpg couldn't fight his way out of a wet paper bag, seven transmembrane helix G-protein coupled receptors, Silliness | Comments Off on Plagues

Trying to Get Away from It All

Posted on 28 March 2013 by Athene Donald

I’ve been away briefly this week, to an extremely cold and windy Suffolk coast.  Not the kind of break one comes back from tanned – other than with wind-burn – or with skiing fractures, but remembering there is a world beyond academia seems important to me, to help me put the world in a bit of perspective.  Nevertheless, it has to be sa Continue reading →

Posted in Charles Dickens, holidays, optimism, sand, Science Culture | Comments Off on Trying to Get Away from It All

Seems legit

Posted on 27 March 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

review article

Posted in publishing, science, screenshots, Silliness, technology | Comments Off on Seems legit

Posted without comment

Posted on 26 March 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Screen Shot 2013-03-26 at 8.24.08 AM

Posted in blog buddies, screenshots, Silliness, technology | Comments Off on Posted without comment

Boris

Posted on 26 March 2013 by Henry Gee

Both of you will know by now that in my humble opinion, posterity will view Boris Johnson, the current Mayor of London, as the greatest statesman of this or any other age.

Such reaffirmation comes in the wake of a documentary about him aired as a televisual emission on the BBC – I am sure you can find it on the iPlayer (for those of us in the Continue reading →

Posted in Boris Johnson, michael Cockerell, Politicrox | Comments Off on Boris

Let My People Go!

Posted on 26 March 2013 by Steve Caplan

This evening being Passover, and me being an admitted anti-socialite Israelite who eschews any connection with organized religion–I find it necessary to search for my own unique way to celebrate. This year, the onset of this holiday, the celebration of the escape of the Jews from slavery in Egypt (whether this actually happened historically i Continue reading →

Posted in epicurus, lab lit, Let My People Go, literary fiction, mystery, Passover, religion, Research, science | Comments Off on Let My People Go!

On the Evolution of Camouflage in Urban Environments

Posted on 25 March 2013 by Bob O'H

One of my offices is in the Geozentrum in the Goethe University here in Frankfurt. This morning this was on the side of the building:
Today's Mystery Bird
I only saw it because it was flapping about a bit in the wind. If you can’t ID it, then here’s a cropped photo:

Fuck me it's cold up here
It’s amazingly well camouflaged. I’m sure any poor squirrel that was wanderin Continue reading →

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