Latest posts

If you think you are sick of me now…

Posted on 24 February 2013 by Steve Caplan

I will write about topics that are dear to me, that  have meaning. I promise. But not until the following blog. For now, those of you who dare click to read-on, will have to endure tales of my most recent attempt to self-promote, the only option left to us poor authors who publish with small literary presses.

Continue reading →
Posted in audiobooks, Books, novels | Comments Off on If you think you are sick of me now…

Standard Model

Posted on 23 February 2013 by rpg

As Tyrant for Life one of my (self-appointed, obviously) responsibilities is to keep an eye on the goings-on over at our outpost in the Gamma Quadrant. So it was that on Thursday lunchtime that I was catching up on the comment thread of Stephen’s latest post. Something there caught my eye, and in five or ten minutes I’d used that inspir Continue reading →

Posted in boson, electron, Friday afternoon, Poem, proton, quark, standard model | Comments Off on Standard Model

Funding

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Henry Gee

News has reached mes oreilles of the Breakthrough Prizes in the Life Sciences, whose Foundation aims to honor five scientists annually to the tune of $3m each. This year, however, is an inaugural splurge, in which eleven laureates get to share the $33m payout.

Although the prizes are to be given annually “for accomplishments in life sciences Continue reading →

Posted in Breakthrough Prizes, Field Museum, Politicrox, Science Is Vital | Comments Off on Funding

Back in the day…..

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Sylvia McLain

The first questioned often asked in a PhD defense is ‘what was your favorite part of your PhD?’

My answer? Building an HF/F2 line. It took me almost a year to complete. Continue reading →

Posted in HF, Lab equipment, laboratory equipment | Comments Off on Back in the day…..

Country Life

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Henry Gee

It says something about the peace of a district when the biggest news around concerns the provenance of chickens on a roundabout.

IMG_6780
Some chickens, earlier today (not on a roundabout).

For decades beyond count, chickens pecked at the spot on the Norfolk-Suffolk border. Continue reading →

Posted in Apparitions, Blog Norfolk!, chickens ditchingham bungay roundabout, Domesticrox, Silliness | Comments Off on Country Life

Electronic evolution

Posted on 21 February 2013 by Steve Caplan

iPhone

iPhone

iPad

iPad

 

Continue reading →
Posted in humor, iSilliness, iWhatever | Comments Off on Electronic evolution

Time to Eradicate the Academic Jerk?

Posted on 20 February 2013 by Athene Donald

There have been several articles/blogposts recently pointing out that scientists are just like everyone else. For instance, they have emotions (see this Observer article from last week detailing the ups and downs of research life); and they get stressed, as fellow Occam’s Corner blogger Stephen Caplan pointed out, just like people in any other care Continue reading →

Posted in acadmia, good behaviour, leadership, Science Culture, Uta Frith | Comments Off on Time to Eradicate the Academic Jerk?

The Journal of Anthropomorphism

Posted on 20 February 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

While browsing journal TOCs in my RSS reader earlier today, I realised that I seem to have subconsciously assigned human personalities to some of the journals I read most frequently.

For example:

  • Current Biology is an extrovert who enthusiastically dives into any ongoing topic of conversation, and talks with their hands a lot. Fun at parties;
    • Continue reading →
Posted in freakishness, publishing, science, Silliness | Comments Off on The Journal of Anthropomorphism

The “bute” in horsemeat

Posted on 19 February 2013 by Philip Strange

The horsemeat scandal in Europe continues to surprise and shock.  Henry Gee has written about the controversy for this site and for Occam’s Corner but I wanted to comment on one of the safety issues.

It seems that a drug, colloquially known as “bute”, has entered the human food chain via some of the horsemeat produced in the UK.  This revelation pi Continue reading →

Posted in butazolidine, bute, bute in horsemeat, Guest posts, horsemeat, human consumption of horsemeat, phenylbutazone | Comments Off on The “bute” in horsemeat

On biological modelling

Posted on 17 February 2013 by rpg

Nuclear Pore
#2 The Nuclear Pore

Posted in bagel, brazil nut, Nonsense, nuclear pore, nuclear trafficking, Science-less Sunday | Comments Off on On biological modelling