Category Archives: Science

Is Massively Collaborative Scientific Publishing Possible?

Posted on September 7, 2011 by Stephen

The job of a newspaper columnist is to agitate and George Monbiot did exactly that last week with a furious rant in The Guardian about academic publishers. It may have been an odd choice for most of his readers but … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , | 113 Comments

Numb or Numbered? Part 2.

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Stephen

Back in April — it seems so long ago now — I wrote about the problems created in university life science courses by the relatively low uptake of maths by the student intake. It provoked a very long and thoughtful … Continue reading →

Posted in Maths, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Libel Reform – where are we?

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Stephen

Regular readers of this blog will be probably be aware of the ongoing campaign to reform the libel laws of England and Wales. These laws have pernicious effects in many aspects of public life — including science and medicine. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Libel Reform, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Here comes Impact

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Stephen

In UK scientific circles and the wider realm of academia impact has been around for a while now. Grant forms incorporate large blank spaces in which applicants are required to outline their plans for ensuring that the work they hope … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Transport of Delight

Posted on June 12, 2011 by Stephen

I spent most of last weekend and all of yesterday finalising a chapter I had been asked to contribute to an upcoming monograph on human serum albumin. Monograph is a fancy word for book in academia. And academia is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Protein Crystallography, Science | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Transport of Delight

Biochemical Futures

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Stephen

The fourth edition of Voet & Voet’s Biochemistry, which is currently the recommended undergraduate text on our degree program at Imperial College, weighs three thousand and thirty-nine point two four grams. It has one thousand four hundred and eighty-two pages … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

The Best Seminar?

Posted on May 28, 2011 by Stephen

What is the best seminar that you have ever attended? And what made it so good? I pondered this question after my name appeared on the list of speakers for our internal divisional seminar series this term. I thought that, … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Fun, Science | Tagged , , , | 27 Comments

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

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