Category Archives: Uncategorized

On ‘lower impact’ publishing – it’s better than you might think.

Posted on March 17, 2018 by Sylvia McLain

Over the course of the last two or so years, I have had a number of personal issues to deal with. Family illnesses, the sudden death of my older brother and some other things (I will spare you the gory … Continue reading →

Posted in Impact Factor, scientific publishing, Uncategorized | 22 Comments

You only got it ’cause you’re a girl

Posted on August 30, 2017 by Sylvia McLain

This week there was a fabulous article, by Alison Coil, on the bias against women in the sciences and why men don’t believe it exists. For ‘men’ you could just as well read ‘the establishment’ because we know not all … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Goodbye David – my brother and childhood hero

Posted on September 11, 2016 by Sylvia McLain

My older brother, David McLain, died suddenly of a heart attack on August 18, 2016. He was only 51 years old and none of us saw this coming. He was a force of nature, my big brother, I already miss … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

That dumb flag – It’s time to let it go

Posted on June 21, 2015 by Sylvia McLain

I miss my home town. I miss the sound of cicadids on a summer evening. I miss the construction of a fine, Southern sentence. I miss running around in bare feet. I miss catching fireflies and putting them in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Confederacy, Racism, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Good bye my old friend

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Sylvia McLain

I met Rick Bigbee, like many people met Rick Bigbee, in Long Creek, South Carolina. He was the head guide for Wildwater, Ltd on the Chattooga River, I was a new guide, intimidated and more than a tiny bit scared. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Evidence-based policy? – A Week in Westminster

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Sylvia McLain

Evidence-based policy, this phrase gets bandied about so often, but it is not always clear how it is meant to be applied. Notwithstanding the desire to have scientific evidence inform things that are actually scientifically based, such as better practices … Continue reading →

Posted in evidence based, politics, Uncategorized | Tagged | 4 Comments

Bad review, good review, peer review, Parliamentary review

Posted on October 5, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

Are neutrinos faster than light? This is a big question at the moment since they have been ‘observed to be’ by a group of researchers recently. I myself am sceptical, Jon Butterworth wrote an excellent blogpost about this which points … Continue reading →

Posted in fast neutrinos, Peer review, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

On human kindness, sickness and the NHS

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Sylvia McLain

It’s easy to feel cynical about the world, especially at the moment; but this week I am amazed at the acts of human kindness in this world. One of my in-laws suffered a stroke or rather a sub-arachnoidal hemorrhage late … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Monkeys can’t take their booze

Posted on June 3, 2010 by Sylvia McLain

and neither can adolescents… IT WILL ROT YOUR BRAIN New Scientist reports in an article Binge Drinking Rots Teenage Brains that if you binge drink as a teen, your stem cells are going to die and you will have lasting … Continue reading →

Posted in drugs, random, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments