Author Archives: Stephen

The shove that dare not speak its name

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Stephen

The following is a commentary that has been published today (in a slightly edited form) in Chemistry and Industry. Only the excellent need apply. Such is the message on research funding from nobelist Sir Paul Nurse, incoming president of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , , , | 42 Comments

The Importance of Being Confident

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Stephen

The government is worried about the economy and rightly so. It’s in a bit of a state. When Value Added Tax was raised by 2.5% to 20% at the turn of the year, there were nervous glances to see what … Continue reading →

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

Burying Pigs and Information

Posted on January 9, 2011 by Stephen

Ben Goldacre wrote a short blogpost today to bemoan the habit of many media outlets of not linking to the primary sources for their reports and headlines. He was referring to stories that have appeared today about Asian gangs abusing white … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science & Media, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Padding times three

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Stephen

Henry started it by banging on about his iPad. Somehow the subject of blogging came up and I mentioned the BlogPress app, so here I am testing it out. I used it once on MT4 but this is my first … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Fun, Protein Crystallography | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Joule’s Jewel

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Stephen

For the longest time I thought he was French. It’s the name — Joule; it sounds French and in my physics class at school no-one thought to explain otherwise. In fact, Joule was not even introduced as a name — … Continue reading →

Posted in History of Science, Science | Tagged , , | 17 Comments

Snapshots of 2010

Posted on December 31, 2010 by Stephen

I wasn’t going to do a review of the year’s blogposts but, on the off-chance that the recent move to the shiny new site at Occam’s Typewriter has attracted some new readers, I thought I would provide a brief guide … Continue reading →

Posted in AltMed, Astronomy, Blogging, History of Science, Libel Reform, Protein Crystallography, Science, Science & Politics, TV review | 5 Comments

Festive Tech

Posted on December 24, 2010 by Stephen

It’s Christmas Eve and the Curry household is getting ready for the big day. All the shopping is done and work has been put aside for a couple of days. Now I can turn my mind to the serious business … Continue reading →

Posted in Technology | 10 Comments

Sixes and Sevens

Posted on December 19, 2010 by Stephen

It’s all been rather unsettling but I guess that’s life these days. Moving the blog to its new home was a bit more fraught than I had been anticipating. Though I can piece together a rationale for Nature Network’s rather … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 25 Comments

Arsenic up for Review

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Stephen

This amused me. It might amuse you too. The other night Ed Yong asked on Twitter if anyone could remember mention in a recent blogpost of the fact that salts of arsenic often contain phosphate. I’m guessing he was preparing … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Science | Tagged , , | 29 Comments

Moving On

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Stephen

Hi All – this is just a short placeholder post for anyone who may have wanted to leave a comment about my farewell post at Nature Network, which is now up. I’m afraid I am unable to respond to comments … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging | 8 Comments

Moving On (NN)

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Stephen

The time has come to say goodbye to Nature Network. I am moving Reciprocal Space to at new site at Occam’s Typewriter, which launches today. In part, to be perfectly honest, the move is motivated by the frustration accumulated in … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging | Comments Off on Moving On (NN)

Time Travel

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Stephen

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Dublin Airport,” says the pilot. “Please remember to turn your watches back thirty years.” So goes the time-worn joke but last weekend that’s more or less exactly what I did. I flew to Dublin to … Continue reading →

Posted in Music | 11 Comments