Author Archives: Sylvia McLain

About Sylvia McLain

Girl, Interrupting aka Dr. Sylvia McLain used to be an academic, but now is trying to figure out what's next. She is also a proto-science writer, armchair philosopher, amateur plumber and wanna-be film-critic. You can follow her on Twitter @DrSylviaMcLain and Instagram @sylviaellenmclain

On becoming (naturalised, half) British

Posted on February 13, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

I am undertaking ‘a journey to citizenship’ and happily (thankfully) I just passed the test and can apply for citizenship soon. Fortunately I can be a US/UK citizen; the UK isn’t particularly concerned with dual citizenships and the US wants … Continue reading →

Posted in America | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Peer review – a bad example

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

Cameron Neylon has published one of 2 posts defending his opinion of peer-review – standing by the quote ‘it makes more sense in fact to publish everything and filter after the fact’ though he admits this is somewhat of an … Continue reading →

Posted in Peer review | Tagged | 11 Comments

Peer review here we go again

Posted on January 22, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

Once again the peer-review vs. science online debate appears! In an article by Peer review: Trial by Twitter – Apoorva Mandavilli talks about a lot of things but it mentions that science is getting ‘torn apart’ in the online media… … Continue reading →

Posted in Peer review, Trial by Twitter | Tagged , , | 18 Comments

Gun Laws and banker’s bonuses

Posted on January 12, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

Two issues which have dominated this week’s news; both are damn near impossible to legislate, no matter what the public desire. First the guns: In case for some amazing reason you missed it – Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford has been … Continue reading →

Posted in bankers bonuses, gun control | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Science Funding cuts are political not a reflection of elitist science

Posted on January 3, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

In the US and the UK governments are making or threatening science education and funding cuts, is that partly the fault of scientists being ‘elitist’ ? Today is the first day of the new Republican Majority Congress in the US … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, science communication, UK Science policy, US government | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

On humanism and Christmas

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Sylvia McLain

Humanism – What is humanism ? Go to the British Humanist Association website and have a read, there are some nice things in there. I have listed some of the definitions of Humanism from their website: * Humanism is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Atheism, humanism, religion | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

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

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Sylvia McLain

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

Posted on November 26, 2010 by Sylvia McLain

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

Posted on November 16, 2010 by Sylvia McLain

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!

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Sylvia McLain

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