Author Archives: Stephen

Freedom of Error

Posted on June 12, 2009 by Stephen

I have been struggling recently to find ways to rehash my post on scientific authority without causing NPG any further distress. This evening, on the train journey home, I think I finally found a way because I read one of … Continue reading →

Posted in AltMed, Libel Reform | 24 Comments

Keep the Libel Laws out of Science

Posted on June 4, 2009 by Stephen

Simon Singh is a brave man. He has announced that he is going to apply to appeal in his case with the British Chiropractic Association. He writes about the background to the case here. Simultaneously, Sense About Science is launching … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 14 Comments

I don’t know what to say

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Stephen

My most recent post, “Respect my Authority!”, which was an attempt to explore the origin of scientific authority, has been removed by Nature Network because their legal advice deemed it to contain some dubious assertions. The matter was handled with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 104 Comments

In my opinion the British Chiropractic Association is being unscientific

Posted on May 19, 2009 by Stephen

I have just come home from a gathering of Skeptics in the Pub in the Penderels Oak in Holborn and I am excited and dismayed. Simon Singh – bloodied but unbowed This was a special meeting to discuss developments in … Continue reading →

Posted in AltMed, Libel Reform | 46 Comments

Oddly Connect

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Stephen

The germ of this post started with a remark by Kristi, who was struck on a recent visit to the UK by the number of people reading on public transport. I was reading a piece from this week’s Nature as … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, History of Science, Science & Media, Uncategorized | 27 Comments

Desirous of structures?

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Stephen

There was a very nice piece in yesterday’s Nature by Ananyo Bhattacharya (a former PhD student of mine who now works for the journal). Ananyo discusses the current structural ‘wish list’ with some of the world’s most ambitious protein crystallographers. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Nod to the pod squad

Posted on May 2, 2009 by Stephen

When I was a little boy I remember that my mother would sometimes extract a dull metal implement from the dark recess of a rarely used cupboard and clamp it to the kitchen table. Turning the handle she would feed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 16 Comments

I’m reviewing the situation

Posted on April 24, 2009 by Stephen

I should have done this a long time ago but I was too proud. I think I need to review. In 2002 Dan Carter published a paper in BBRC describing the crystal structure of the protein, human serum albumin, complexed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 30 Comments

A faking disgrace?

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Stephen

Today I finally made it to the Darwin Big Idea Exhibition at the Natural History Museum in London. I had been concerned that our almost legendary lack of familial organization was going to prevent us from seeing it (Matt caught … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 42 Comments

Hellboy oh boy!

Posted on April 9, 2009 by Stephen

As a crystallographer from County Antrim in Northern Ireland, it should come as no surprise that I am much taken by the Giants’ Causeway, an impressive basalt rock formation on the north coast that boasts some of the largest crystals … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Lucky Stan

Posted on April 3, 2009 by Stephen

Attending the spring meeting of the Society for General Microbiology in sunny Harrogate earlier this week I had the chance to hear Stanley Prusiner deliver the SGM Prize Lecture on “Prion biology and diseases”. Not bad as talks go, though … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Eye-opening access

Posted on March 27, 2009 by Stephen

If this paper is the future of open access publishing, then we are in for an interesting ride. And it’s a journey that will reveal a great deal more about the process of science than most outsiders will have seen … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Uncategorized | 17 Comments