Author Archives: rpg

They do things differently here. Jacaranda trees synchronize their blossoming, then unrobe in a snow storm of purple, a fanfare for the newly born spring-coloured leaves. Eucalyptus don’t shed their leaves in autumn, but they do slough off their bark. … Continue reading →

To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never before been called ‘cool’. Lots of other things, yes: ‘mad’, ‘arrogant’, ‘crazy but in a nice sort of way’, ‘illegally sexy’, ‘public nuisance’ and ‘dangerous air cargo’ among other things; but not … Continue reading →

I know it’s not Friday, but this is too good to pass up. I’ve listened to this track dozens of times, but only today while waiting for my DNA complexes to assemble did I actually hear this lyric: I think … Continue reading →

After figuring out the answer to my own question I took home a small amount of the appropriate chemicals and mixed them together in front of the Pawns. They were disappointed, when I called them round, that the answer to … Continue reading →

Everybody’s at it. Everybody seems to want to sex up the appeal of their career, to attract BYTs to come and do what they’re doing, even if it might be counter-productive. Scientists are as guilty as anyone else (and I … Continue reading →

In celebration of Friday, I’d like to draw your attention to this rather marvellous corner of the internet: and in particular the Venn diagrams. It should appeal to all you geeks out there, especially Bob. And it’s time to remind … Continue reading →

There was an interesting question posed on the Sceptical Chymist last week: is the cyclization reaction that makes the chromophore of green fluorescent protein a rare event or a common one; and how do we find out? In return for … Continue reading →

Congratulations to the new president of the United States!

I was doing a little noodling around last night (research for my own novel. Jenny and Henry don’t have a duopoly on this business, you know) and came across this rather bittersweet image: And then this morning I read a … Continue reading →

On the afternoon of the first Tuesday in November, something bizarre happens in Australia—more bizarre than usual. Instead of skiving off and having a beer, Australians dress up, skive off and have a beer (or wine or champagne or non-alcoholic … Continue reading →