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Mary Somerville

Posted on 17 July 2011 by Athene Donald

Somerville College in Oxford is much better known than the woman it was named after, Mary Somerville, an eminent scientist who had died 7 years before the founding of the college in 1879. Mary Somerville (1780-1872) was a polymath, an intellectual at a time when women weren’t supposed to be anything of the kind. She seems to have been an intriguing Continue reading →

Posted in 19th century science, History of Science, science writing, William Whewell, Women in science | Comments Off on Mary Somerville

Where have all the good times gone?

Posted on 17 July 2011 by Steve Caplan

I recently spent a wonderful vacation in Washington, DC–replacing a planned driving trip to Mesa Verde in southwestern Colorado and some of the nearby parks in Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. All because of a pain in the neck, that I am again happy to report–is now gone. We’ll get there eventually.

I lived for 4+ years in the DC ar Continue reading →

Posted in American History, education, icons of truth, lab, pain in the neck, Research, science, scientist are great-pat on the back, Smithsonian museums, Washington DC | Comments Off on Where have all the good times gone?

What are you worried about?

Posted on 16 July 2011 by Erika Cule

If you are naturally someone who worries, then being a PhD student gives you plenty of opportunities to exercise your habit. You will have research-specific concerns about experiments working and deciding which approach to take. Inherent uncertainty comes with the submission of an abstract or paper, or presenting your work for scrutiny, when you ma Continue reading →

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When the NIH and UK Research Councils sneeze…

Posted on 14 July 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

…does the CIHR catch a cold?

From an email I received last week, titled “CIHR Funding News: Issue 104 – Results of the March 2011 Operating Grants Competition”:

Looking ahead, it seems clear that we will continue to be challenged by our own success in building a vibrant, creative and highly competitive health research commun Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, grant wrangling, UK | Comments Off on When the NIH and UK Research Councils sneeze…

Not much more than a decade until the bus pass*

Posted on 14 July 2011 by Austin

*assuming bus passes haven’t been abolished by then (see also a defence of bus passes here).

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In which, in a post-academic-year reverie, I decide not to look forward, and try some lo Continue reading →

Posted in chess, Family business, Nerdishness, Procrastination, The Life Scientific, Universities | Comments Off on Not much more than a decade until the bus pass*

One Of Our Sea Serpents Is Missing

Posted on 14 July 2011 by Henry Gee

I had a monster plesiosaur whale of a time last night chairing a meeting at the Zoological Society of London on cryptozoology, and thought I ought to scribble a few words about the proceedings before I am submerged by other duties.

The meeting asked the question – is cryptozoology a science or a pseudoscience? I suspect that most people would Continue reading →

Posted in Apparitions, Cadborosaurus, cryptozoology, naish, paxton, pinnipeds, Science Is Vital, sea serpents, woodley, zoology | Comments Off on One Of Our Sea Serpents Is Missing

Cost to benefit ratios

Posted on 13 July 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

From today’s RSS feeds:

1) Alilain WJ, Horn KP, Hu H, Dick TE, Silver J: “Functional regeneration of respiratory pathways after spinal cord injury“. Nature 2011: 475: 196-200

(This article also showed up in my BBC science feed, with the title “Spinal cord repair restores independent breathing“).

Continue reading →
Posted in current affairs, Medicine, original research, science, the media | Comments Off on Cost to benefit ratios

Echoes

Posted on 13 July 2011 by rpg

At the pub the other night, I was asking how a friend was doing. He was particularly busy, it appears, because he had to attend students’ exhibitions, located inexplicably at inconvenient and distant locations the length and breadth of town. Tiring work, crossing London in the slivers of time between overlapping appointments. At least, I opin Continue reading →

Posted in art, my seven year-old could do that, Photography, science | Comments Off on Echoes

Feelings

Posted on 13 July 2011 by Henry Gee

For those who have been sheltering in a bunker buried 37 miles beneath the Lunar regolith for the past week, you won’t have heard that the News of the World, a tabloid pwned owned by one Mr R. M. of Australia the U. S. and A. Continue reading →

Posted in justice, news of the screws, okapi, Politicrox, Science Is Vital | Comments Off on Feelings

Mr. President, can you save science, please?

Posted on 12 July 2011 by Steve Caplan

Scientists love to complain. That is not to say that they enjoy the situation that they are complaining about, but to me it seems as though in the US there is a level of fatalism that translates into inertia. And of course, being busy surviving has always been a valid excuse.

This weekend I decided to take another small step to do something for sci Continue reading →

Posted in Arthur Kornberg, basic research, education, help-I-need somebody, inertia, Mr. President, nobel prize winner, Research, science, will someone save science?, witchcraft | Comments Off on Mr. President, can you save science, please?