Author Archives: rpg

Thanks to everyone who donated to Movember. I am now clean-shaven, smooth as a lounge lizard and looking about 18 again. Have a wonderful time in London, wish you were here.

It’s no secret that I’m no fan of P Z Myers. In fact, I think he’s a bit of a drongo (as the shackle-draggers might have it). So it’s a bit of a shock to find myself agreeing with him. … Continue reading →

Why did you become a scientist? This weekend my sister–I could, with justification, say my ‘kid’ sister–retires from the Royal Air Force. She has served in the Falklands and nearly been blown up in Iraq. Her husband has served in … Continue reading →

Trolling over to my good friend Jonathan Sanderson’s website last week (disclaimer: I’ve never actually met the chap in real life), I read about something called Why is Science Important?. That looks interesting, I thought, what’s going on? I was … Continue reading →

Ooh, a little birthday surprise. Well done Erica.

I wanted to write, tonight, about many and varied things, but circumstances (and Ms Knut) got the better of me. So rather than let you talk amongst yourselves (because I’ve seen your conversation, and believe me it isn’t pretty), riddle … Continue reading →

So. Those of us who have been paying attention have realized that certain corners of Nature Network have been getting very excited about something called a ‘”meme”:http://network.nature.com/tags/martinmeme’. This is not, as I first thought, a small but significant rodent indigenous … Continue reading →

Last week’s lyric was from ‘Whole lotta love’, by the Mighty Zep. That particular Plantism is ad-libbed, it sounds like, on the BBC Sessions tapes: recorded in 1971 for the immortal John Peel ‘s In concert show. The winner is … Continue reading →

Sir Has anyone else noticed the uncanny resemblance between Richard P. Grant: scientist, poet, gadfly and all-round loon; and Chuck Norris: martial artist, action star, hero and defender of the American Way? Kick-ass Nature blogger Chuck Norris Is this some … Continue reading →

As time is running out (isn’t it always?), and rather than contribute to yet another bloody meme, I should remind all you bright young things to persuade the great and the good to start blogging. The ‘Grand Challenge’ laid down … Continue reading →