Latest posts

Music News

Posted on 26 February 2011 by Henry Gee

I’ve just posted some music news on my occasional music blog, here – for those interested. It’s a bit steamy.

Posted in Apparitions, groupies, Hammond organ, Music, nice cup of tea | Comments Off on Music News

Prize Your Imagination

Posted on 25 February 2011 by Stephen

On Wednesday last I was fortunate to find myself an outlier among the great and the good at the Wellcome Trust Image Awards for 2011, where hefty glass slabs were being handed out by Adam Rutherford as prizes to imaginative individuals who had conjured a captivating image from their scientific work. The picture below of a blood clot forming underne Continue reading →

Posted in albumin, moleclues, Protein Crystallography, science | Comments Off on Prize Your Imagination

Soylent’s is Golden

Posted on 25 February 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Like many of my friends, I’ve recently become a big fan of Groupon and all the other group buying sites. See a deal -> press a button on my phone -> take the phone to a restaurant -> half-price dinner -> yay!

I’ve signed up to several sites, and the alerts all seem to hit my inbox at around the same time each day. This morni Continue reading →

Posted in English language, food glorious food, shopping, Silliness | Comments Off on Soylent’s is Golden

I’d rather be blasting homeopathy…

Posted on 24 February 2011 by Steve Caplan

Although Austin has been doing such a great job in this area, and Cath’s defrocking of “horror-scopes” made a nice contribution, I would like to get my own claws on this matter. But alas, sadly, I have my own agenda that needs attention first. One day, perhaps, I will have the time to touch on homeopathy. And chess. And also challenge those who thi Continue reading →

Posted in arts, dance, frustration, parking ticket, Research, science | Comments Off on I’d rather be blasting homeopathy…

Somedays my brain just don’t work

Posted on 24 February 2011 by Sylvia McLain

My amusing friends might say “most days” or “did it ever”

Sometimes its easy to forget that thinking is actually hard work, thinking is hard, hard thinking is hard and it can be exhausting. As scientists, we are ideally trained in critical thinking, in tearing apart our own ideas and then trying to reconstruct them and put Continue reading →

Posted in critical thinking, thinking | Comments Off on Somedays my brain just don’t work

Update

Posted on 23 February 2011 by rpg

WordPress updated to 3.1 today.

This resulted in some down-time for the front page of the network, although all the individual blogs seemed unaffected. The front page, and the main wp-admin pages, were blank.

I’ve found the offending plug-in that caused this, and will try to trouble-shoot the files therein individually. Fortunately it’s not terribly important.

There may also be some other weirdness around—please let me know if anything seems odd or out of place (this doesn’t include complaining about the slightly rearranged interface. That’s just tough).

Posted in Meta | Tagged , , | 16 Comments

Remembering the Women

Posted on 23 February 2011 by Athene Donald

This week Yasmin Alibahi-Brown wrote a piece in the Independent entitled ‘This is still a man’s world’

She said

At every level, still, even in the West, women are invisible, neglected, kept down, slighted, patronised, objectified, denied and demeaned in everyday life……we women can devalue ourselves and our sisters, often gamely Continue reading →

Posted in committee membership, Communicating Science, Equality, gender equality, media training, Start the Week, Women in science | Comments Off on Remembering the Women

Fountainous Fables

Posted on 23 February 2011 by Henry Gee

My vitals fair explode with pleasure at being able to announce the Second Coming this forthcoming SF anthology:
TheFountainfinalartFRONTF comp
Fables from the Fountain, edited by by SF author, superfan and publishing supremo Ian Whates, is an hommage to Arthur C. Clarke’s Tales from the White Hart, featuring original stories from many of today’s top SF and fantasy w Continue reading →

Posted in chthonic, eldritch, erumpent, hieronymous bosch, lobsterpots, release of calcium from intracellular stores, Science-fiction, seven samurai, Writing & Reading | Comments Off on Fountainous Fables

I fought the law

Posted on 23 February 2011 by rpg

Here’s number three in the penguin series. When a rival company’s toy wanders into Penguin territory, things don’t turn out so well.

I fought the law

Posted in firing squad, Penguins | Comments Off on I fought the law

Normal service will be resumed in March

Posted on 23 February 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

CIHR grant deadline time is such fun! Especially when half the PIs on the two grants you’re working on are out of the country, in timezones that severely hamper communication, and half of the rest are freaking out because their email server has been down for over 24 hours! The internal signature deadlines add even more fun to the proceedings! Continue reading →

Posted in 2010 Olympics, career, drunkenness, idiocy, personal, photos, rants, Silliness, snow, Vancouver, whining | Comments Off on Normal service will be resumed in March