Monthly Archives: November 2010

Big news, US protects its own self interests and is often a bit nasty about it

AND? I, like billions of other people, spent a large portion of yesterday evening trawling through some of the wikileaked US diplomatic cables. I found myself somewhat, well disappointed. Is that it? The secure yet unsecured diplomatic network the US … Continue reading

Posted in Cablegate, politics, US government, Wikileaks | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Brief thoughts about academic honesty

Always tell the truth – they tell you when you are a kid – I think I quickly learned that ALWAYS telling the truth is not always the best idea – lies of omission (especially to my mother) save a … Continue reading

Posted in Academic dishonesty, science ethics | Tagged , | 2 Comments

The dangers of unconscious bias

Its around us everywhere, unconscious bias, in the media, in the government infrastructure, in academia. I have read several articles lately about bias and inequalities in academic science – such as a blog post “What women think” by Athene Donald … Continue reading

Posted in rational thinking, science ethics | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

It’s not about you, its about the data!

Or why I think the passive voice is actually GOOD for science There are advocates of ‘plain language for scientists’ for example Harvard Health blogs who suggest Med journals should write more like Micheal Crichton and Evidence Soup who wants … Continue reading

Posted in plain English, science communication | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

US politics are not UK politics, don’t believe the hype!

and please PLEASE stop worrying about the stupid Tea Party. I have spoken to several folks in the UK about the US election results. Varying between fear and bewilderment, its a general perception that US voters are crazy and that, … Continue reading

Posted in politics, US government, US mid-term elections 2010 | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments