Category Archives: Science

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

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

The Crowded Cell

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Stephen

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe,” the dying replicant Roy says of his off-world experiences in one of the final scenes of BladeRunner. As a structural biologist I often feel I could say the same thing, all the more … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 9 Comments

Attention: remarkable

Posted on July 26, 2010 by Stephen

I came across this today and found it quite remarkable. I’m not going to say anything more right now but, if you have a minute, test yourself with this short video. No questions just yet – just take a look. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | 28 Comments

Nerds and Words (about science)

Posted on July 6, 2010 by Stephen

Nerds Many of you will already have seen this because I have been promoting it shamelessly on twitter. But this is the video of the talk I mentioned in a post back in March that my daughter Eleanor gave on … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Science | 30 Comments

Something for the weekend

Posted on June 5, 2010 by Stephen

Wunderkind of audiovisual media that I am, I confess to being rather late in getting around to this one. Even I hesitated at the narcissistic self-absorption of it. But as a blogger, I must learn to overcome such hesitations. Here, … Continue reading →

Posted in Communication, Science | 11 Comments

Judgement Days

Posted on May 16, 2010 by Stephen

When I die and am laid in my grave and my soul ascends to the Pearly Gates and the Supreme Being peers at me over half-moon glasses and declares, “Well Stephen, it’s Judgement Day”, I will look him in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Scientific Life | 36 Comments

Ego Tripping At The Gates Of Hell

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Stephen

On Friday evening the structural biologists of Imperial College and the friends of the structural biologists of Imperial College gathered together for a screening of the film, Naturally Obsessed. Filmed over three years, this hour-long documentary tracks the lives of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cinema, Protein Crystallography, Science, Scientific Life | 10 Comments

Music in a nutshell

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Stephen

I once read in a physics textbook that if an atom were to be magnified to the size of London’s Wembley Stadium, the nucleus at the centre would be about as big as a hazelnut. Well screw that, because I … Continue reading →

Posted in Music, Science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 39 Comments

The battle for my eternal soul

Posted on October 30, 2008 by Stephen

Let’s face it: scientists aren’t in it for the money (except perhaps those with a more entrepreneurial bent). More often we are preening our egos and chasing a kind of immortality—the chance to create a legacy that will outlive us. … Continue reading →

Posted in Protein Crystallography, Science | 12 Comments