Latest posts

Here comes Impact

Posted on 22 June 2011 by Stephen

In UK scientific circles and the wider realm of academia impact has been around for a while now. Grant forms incorporate large blank spaces in which applicants are required to outline their plans for ensuring that the work they hope to do will have impact. In other words that it will make a difference, not just in economic terms (though that has of Continue reading →

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No con/census consensus

Posted on 21 June 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Dilemmas, dilemmas… life is full of them. However, there are two in particular that are causing me much internal debate at the moment:

The census

It’s census time in Canada!

Every household in the country is obliged to fill in a very basic short-form census, which we’ve already done online. Continue reading →

Posted in activism, bad people, Canada, current affairs, personal, Politics, rants | Comments Off on No con/census consensus

Yes, We Can Have Bananas! [19]

Posted on 20 June 2011 by KristiV

On the whole, I’m a fan of Barbara Kingsolver’s book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, in which she documents her family’s experiment with a year-long local, seasonal diet. However, I disagree with her about bananas, which she portrays as a Fruit with a Massive Carbon Footprint, never again to be purchased or consumed by anyone who tru Continue reading →

Posted in air travel, bananas, book reviews, carbon dioxide equivalents, carbon footprint, climate change, crocs | Comments Off on Yes, We Can Have Bananas! [19]

Scientific Breadth: The Good and the Bad

Posted on 20 June 2011 by Athene Donald

This week I am giving three different major talks; no, not just ‘different’, utterly and totally different. This is definitely a week of diversity in my powerpoint presentations, though none of them is actually about diversity. Linking in to a previous post about specialisation in nanoscience at different stages – undergraduate or postgraduate in t Continue reading →

Posted in career progression, interdisciplinarity, Interdisciplinary Science, promotion, Research, Science Culture | Comments Off on Scientific Breadth: The Good and the Bad

Pet-Peeve Vigilante

Posted on 19 June 2011 by Steve Caplan

I have a feeling that this blog may not be particularly popular with animal lovers, but I have a “pet-peeve”. Now I have nothing against pets–in fact I had a dog for 13 years who even traveled with me from Israel to the US and spent his last couple years here with me. Right now we have Vanilla the guinea pig–her partner Moch Continue reading →

Posted in 12 angry men, canine society, dog-bite, dog-food, dogged determination, dogs, flight-or-fight, loose cannons, one-less-researcher, pepper spray, pets, pit bulls, self-defense, victim, vigilante, weapons | Comments Off on Pet-Peeve Vigilante

Gratuitous talking dog video

Posted on 19 June 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Mr E Man showed me this last night and I laughed so hard I cried

 

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ASSET 2010 – A Metaphorical Call to Arms for HEI’s

Posted on 17 June 2011 by Athene Donald

There is a danger that the message that there is an uneven playing field for women in science (and indeed in many other fields) has been repeated so often that it is no longer heard. However, it is still true. Study after study has shown how women are, in ways that may be subtle or not so subtle, disadvantaged at every stage of their career trajec Continue reading →

Posted in appraisal, ASSET, Equality, promotion, Science Culture, success, Women in science | Comments Off on ASSET 2010 – A Metaphorical Call to Arms for HEI’s

Big angry macrophage

Posted on 17 June 2011 by rpg

Those of you who know anything about British popular culture will no doubt be familiar with Benny Hill. The Benny Hill Show was long-running and immensely popular—although it was often accused of being sexist, it was the men who were usually shown up to be idiots (admittedly in the presence of scantily clad females). Very intelligent and witty, the Continue reading →

Posted in Benny Hill, big angry macrophage, David Rogers, natural born killer cells, science, video | Comments Off on Big angry macrophage

What’s in a name?

Posted on 17 June 2011 by Steve Caplan

What a great way to begin a blog–scooped before I’ve even started!

I started with this great–and not so original idea, apparently–of having a little contest: everyone is invited to send in their all time favorite names of proteins.

In my own career, I once had the opportunity to name a protein. Continue reading →

Posted in cool, goofiness, homer simpson, humor, missed opportunity, Nonsense, protein names, ralph and earl in a big white buick on the way to europe, Research, rutabaga, science, Silliness | Comments Off on What’s in a name?

Others

Posted on 16 June 2011 by Henry Gee

Prompted by Dr S. C. of this parish I hied third to the Science Fiction Exhibition at the British Library (on until 25 September, admission free). I would have hied forth, but I pleaded the ‘eadaches, though as the Long Ago In A Galaxy Far Away Editor of Your Favourite Weekly Professional Science Magazine Beginning With N, responsible for pal Continue reading →

Posted in knickers to the literati, Science-fiction, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Others