Author Archives: Stephen

The Speed of X-rays

Posted on May 6, 2011 by Stephen

I was back at the Diamond Light Source today — the synchrotron that we use to blast protein crystals with X-rays to figure out the structures of protein molecules. The beamlines at the synchrotron where we do our experiments have … Continue reading →

Posted in Protein Crystallography, Science | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Speed of X-rays

You should have seen the look on her face

Posted on May 4, 2011 by Stephen

The last king of England to lead an army on the battlefield was George II, at the Battle of Dettingen in Bavaria in 1743 during the War of the Austrian Succession. The last President of the United States to serve … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Politics, Technology | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

Artful History

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Stephen

“There have been times in the history of man when the earth seems suddenly to have grown warmer… I don’t put that forward as a scientific proposition, but the fact remains that three or four times in history man has … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Media, TV review | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

Rings of Saturn

Posted on April 22, 2011 by Stephen

It has been a beautifully clear and sunny day – perfect weather for a barbecue. We dined and chatted with our guests as the afternoon turned to dusk and then the stars began to wink in the night sky. After … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Science | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Writing Science

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Stephen

Writing about science. It’s important. And not just because you could win some dosh from the Wellcome Trust. I tried to explain why (and a little bit about how) in a guest post on Grrlscientist’s blog today.

Posted in Communication, Science, Science & Media | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Sun Spot

Posted on April 17, 2011 by Stephen

I have been working my way around the solar system with my telescope. The moon was easy to spot. And Jupiter and Saturn were not so very difficult to find, though they proved to be beyond my photographic capabilities. Over the … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Science | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

Numb or Numbered?

Posted on April 14, 2011 by Stephen

It just doesn’t add up: why do so many people, including scientists, get stuck on the maths problem? The subject is on my mind because it was raised at a departmental meeting last week where I tried to argue that … Continue reading →

Posted in Maths, Science | Tagged , , , | 137 Comments

Movement and Music

Posted on April 9, 2011 by Stephen

What the hell is Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey about? I’m sure I don’t know. I’m really, really sure I don’t know. At least, I think I am. I’ve seen the film three times now, and I’ve read Arthur … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Music | Tagged | 26 Comments

Winging It

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Stephen

A short film about flying. And about the wing on the plane that I was in. Yes – the wing. I flew this morning and enjoyed a little bit of engineering magic.    

Posted in Fun, Technology | Tagged , , , , | 19 Comments

Moon Boon

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Stephen

It cannot have escaped your attention this past weekend that the Earth was treated to a supermoon. The correct terminology for this felicitous event is a perigee syzygy, but the reasons for the interesting nomenclature need not detain us. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Astronomy, Blogging, History of Science, Science | Tagged , | 15 Comments

Don’t submit. Submit.

Posted on March 18, 2011 by Stephen

We came. We chanted. We lobbied. We petitioned. And in the end, thanks to the Science is Vital Campaign and the persuasive efforts of CaSE and the learned societies and captains of high-tech industry, the UK science budget was protected … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

You may not be interested in this but this is interested in you

Posted on March 11, 2011 by Stephen

I was banging on last week about how scientists should use words rather than guns during public engagement. Words are safer — and often more effective. But they are not completely safe. In fact, they can sometimes be rather dangerous, … Continue reading →

Posted in Science & Politics | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments