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In which I get my mojo back

Posted on 1 January 2013 by Jennifer Rohn

So 2012 has drawn to a close, a new year is upon us and London’s seemingly endless broodiness gave way to brilliant sunshine today. Out in our local park this morning, strewn with spent fireworks and empty Champagne bottles, unusually large crowds of people roamed around, blinking in the unfamiliar sunshine after a late night of reveling. Up Continue reading →

Posted in Lablit, Nostalgia, Writing | Comments Off on In which I get my mojo back

Books I read in 2012 – an amateur’s review

Posted on 1 January 2013 by Sylvia McLain

US Congress has just kicked the fiscal can down the road. Global debt worries are abated. Well for now anyway.

Instead of obsessively reading reports from the USofA – or in reality in addition to reading reports from the USofA – I decided to make better use of my time and write a review of some of books I read this year. Continue reading →

Posted in book review, Book review 2012, fifty shade of grey, Game of Thrones, How to be a woman, Terrestrial Energy, The culture industry, The Night Circus, Thirteen Moons | Comments Off on Books I read in 2012 – an amateur’s review

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eight waxwings trilling ……

Posted on 1 January 2013 by Philip Strange

I’ve had bird books for many years: pocket-sized books with pictures and descriptions of the common British birds.   Not that I am a bird enthusiast.  I just want to be able to identify the birds around me.  If I am honest, though, I have always found the books slightly frustrating.  There seem to be so many small brown birds that I could not hope Continue reading →

Posted in birds, Bohemian Waxwing, Guest posts, Hobbies, waxwings | Comments Off on On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me, eight waxwings trilling ……

Classifying Group Leaders

Posted on 1 January 2013 by Athene Donald

It’s the season for lists: best photos of the year, best quotes, best-dressed (even worst-dressed) celebs, momentous moments – you name it, there’s probably a list for it somewhere on the web. Since I’ve just covered the other seasonal topic of New Year’s resolutions over at the Guardian’s  Occam’s Corner, I shall add my own list to the multi Continue reading →

Posted in academia, careers, HR, leadership, management, Research, Science Culture | Comments Off on Classifying Group Leaders

Accidental Error Effect

Posted on 31 December 2012 by Henry Gee

It’s been a funny ole year, 2012, during whose 365 days, or, as it may be, 366, I have spent much of the time acting as a test subject for psychoactive drugs.

The citalopram that had kept the demons away for years finally gave up the struggle in February. Mirtazapine was tried and failed with a bang; sertraline, more with a whimper, even when Continue reading →

Posted in Books, defiant the guinea pig, The Accidental Species, the beowulf effect, The Human Error, Writing, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Accidental Error Effect

A Christmas Fantasy

Posted on 30 December 2012 by rpg

You know that thing you do where you read something, and completely misread a single word, and then go back and it’s normal and how it was meant to be?

That happened to me a couple of days ago. I misread a single word on a postcard from a certain shop, and at the speed of thought an entire world of possibilities opened up to me, based on that Continue reading →

Posted in Christmas, Grammar, Orvis, Poem, Science-less Sunday, Silliness | Comments Off on A Christmas Fantasy

Legacy 2012

Posted on 30 December 2012 by Steve Caplan

Having just read poor Stephen’s “Year” I must admit that since Wed. I am not faring any better. My lymph nodes feel like coconuts, and my head feels as though someone keeps inflating balloons under my skin. I had hoped to use this respite–this quiet time between Christmas and the New Year–to catch up on writing papers, Continue reading →

Posted in cold, humor, legacy, more silliness, New Year, Silliness, virus | Comments Off on Legacy 2012

Year

Posted on 30 December 2012 by Stephen

The Christmas holiday has unmoored me. End of year exhaustion segued into a bout of ‘flu that knocked me onto my back, where I lay and ached, semi-detached by illness and medication as around me my family made preparations for a celebration that came and went. Even now, although I am recovering, a filmy phlegm clings to my throat, indifferent Continue reading →

Posted in CaSE, Libel Reform, Open Access, review, Review of 2012, Science & Politics, Science policy, Scientific Life | Comments Off on Year

More on creative self-promotion…

Posted on 29 December 2012 by Steve Caplan

Shameless. Simply shameless. But last chance for 2012….

Continue reading →
Posted in "Matter Over Mind", author, creative promotion, humor, lab lit, novels, self-promotion, Silliness, Welcome Home Sir | Comments Off on More on creative self-promotion…

Evidence-based policy is a good thing – but please proceed with caution.

Posted on 28 December 2012 by Sylvia McLain

Science is full of observable facts. Fact, when I drop a hammer off the top of the Shard, it’s going to fall to the ground. It doesn’t matter if I drop it or Brian Cox drops it (either Brian Cox) or Boris drops it, it’s going to fall. There is a scientific law written about this. The law of gravity, that was one of Newton̵ Continue reading →

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