Latest posts

In which we’re too close for comfort

Posted on 10 April 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

It was always going to be a difficult relationship.

We knew from the very start that they weren’t very well-suited. After all, they came from such different backgrounds. They were used to such radically different environments. Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific method, The profession of science | Comments Off on In which we’re too close for comfort

Gonna build a house

Posted on 10 April 2012 by rpg

Let’s pretend.

Say you came to me and said that your family wanted a new house. And that you were contracting me and my firm of experienced architects and house-builders to do the job.

Continue reading →
Posted in houses, War stories, work | Comments Off on Gonna build a house

Somewhere there’s a village…

Posted on 9 April 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Just in time for the playoffs, a song from CBC’s The Irrelevant Show for all the Canadian hockey fans out there – or indeed anyone whose team, in any sport, has lost any final game in any competition.

Awesome.

Continue reading →
Posted in Canada, Music, Silliness, sport, videos | Comments Off on Somewhere there’s a village…

A Secular Passover

Posted on 9 April 2012 by Steve Caplan

First, my best wishes to anyone celebrating Easter, Passover or any other holiday. As a representative of one who celebrates the latter, in my own secular way, I thought I’d post a few words about it. After all, my knowledge of Easter is quite limited, although I was happy to send Jenny her Paas Easter egg dyes a few weeks ago. I wonder if th Continue reading →

Posted in civil war, Jews of the south, Judah Benjamin, matzah, Passover, religious, secular, slavery | Comments Off on A Secular Passover

Final hockey pool results UPDATED WITH BRACKET INFO

Posted on 8 April 2012 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Well, last weekend, this photo somehow got posted on Twitter:

Picture 4

Were the 40% correct? Let’s see!

Continue reading →
Posted in hockey pool | Comments Off on Final hockey pool results UPDATED WITH BRACKET INFO

Mentors, Friends and Saying No

Posted on 8 April 2012 by Athene Donald

Who needs mentors? It is clear that when setting out on a career, having supportive mentors can be immensely helpful: people who you can turn to for advice when decision crunch-time comes, or who provide pointers about things you should be doing or looking into.  At early career stages mentors are quite clearly separate from your friends, who are t Continue reading →

Posted in advice, committee work, decision-making, Science Culture | Comments Off on Mentors, Friends and Saying No

The Man of Science and the Man of Letters

Posted on 5 April 2012 by Athene Donald

I have just spent a few days in Lichfield, which you might not think of as a key cultural centre, but it happens to be closely associated with two giants, in the form of Erasmus Darwin and Samuel Johnson, both doctors, though of very different kinds. Looking round the museums representing their respective houses – for Darwin, the one where he lived Continue reading →

Posted in Anna Seward, Erasmus Darwin, History of Science, Lichfield, Samuel Johnson | Comments Off on The Man of Science and the Man of Letters

Ph.D. Pranks and Comeuppance

Posted on 4 April 2012 by Steve Caplan

Seeing as April 1st has come and gone, I would like to dedicate this blog to one of my favorite Ph.D. pranks (I’ve reported on a few in this forum in the past)–AND to tell you about a little email note that I received a few days ago. Let’s start with the e-mail, and here it is, verbatim:

Dear Dr. Continue reading →

Posted in April Fools, humor, lab, pipette, postdoc, pranks, Research, science, Silliness, soundrel offspring | Comments Off on Ph.D. Pranks and Comeuppance

Hawking with Dinosaurs

Posted on 3 April 2012 by Stephen

Here is a ‘paper‘ that I think would not be accepted by PLoS ONE and yet it was the subject of a report on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 this morning, arguably the nation’s premier morning news show.

Please have a listen. It’s 3 minutes and 51 seconds long. And it’s unbelievable. Continue reading →

Posted in BBC Radio 4, Science & Media, Today Programme, Tom Feilden | Comments Off on Hawking with Dinosaurs

In which I object

Posted on 3 April 2012 by Jennifer Rohn

I’ve just written to my MP, Simon Hughes (Liberal Democrat, Bermondsey and Old Southwark), airing my feelings about the Government’s hasty and ill-advised bill to track email, web and Skype communications of any citizen without just cause. A copy of my letter is included below. If you live in the UK and have strong feelings too, you can Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off on In which I object