One of the many uses of my inbox is for me to email to myself things to blog, share, write about and read. Of course, this means I have a great many unacted-upon notes in my inbox, but c’est la vie*. However, my eyes lit upon this interactive exploration of time (emailed to myself a […]
Technology
The danger of science denial
This, ladies and gentlemen. THIS. Journalist Michael Specter gives an impassioned TED Talk on the danger of science denial. A brilliant talk, and something to be shared as widely as possible. _Especially_ with the anti-science people you know! Vaccine-autism claims, “Frankenfood” bans, the herbal cure craze: All point to the public’s growing fear (and, often, […]
Best cover ever - Space Oddity from the ISS
Legend-of-a-human-being* Commander Chris Hadfield, who (in my view) has been responsible for some of the coolest, most inspiring science communication ever**, has just won everything. Ever. As his goodbye to his time aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Chris recorded a lovely, very heartfelt cover version (with music video) of David Bowie’s classic 1969 ‘Space […]
On the subject of patents
Something encouraging actually happened today in politics for a change. Commerce Minister Craig Foss, who gets the ‘aimee whitcroft award for most awesome aptronym of the day’, has been listening to NZ’s IT sector on its huge resistance to software being patentable here. And in the wake of that announcement, I figured I’d share a […]
Who are we without the internet?
‘I’m Paul Miller and I just spent a year without the internet. Can you tell?’ Paul Miller - tech writer for The Verge, amongst other things - has just completed a full year ‘without the internet’. On April 30th 2012, at a minute before midnight, he unplugged his ethernet, wi-fi and stopped using his smartphone […]
A boy and his atom feature in world’s smallest movie
And now for something a little different! IBM, who make Very Clever Machines, have just released “A Boy and His Atom”, the world’s smallest movie. How small? Well, atomic scale. IBM using a tunneling electron microscope (which won IBM a Nobel Prize in 1986) to push carbon atoms around in 242 frames and tell the […]
Citizen science class: Using the “bigfoot genome” for 21st century biology
Those of you who read this blog regularly (or not) will likely have picked up that I have something of a passion for things involving citizen science and education-type stuff. So, with that in mind, I present to you ‘science: cryptogenomics - using the “bigfoot genome” for 21st century biology‘. The class is being run […]
Why aren’t more Kiwis involved in the International Space Apps Challenge?
This post is a clarion call, if you will. If you are involved, go out and rope in everyone you know. If you aren’t, read on… On April 20-21 of this year, people all over the world will be taking part in a truly awesome hackfest - the International Space Apps Challenge. It describes itself […]
What’s it like to be a solid rocket booster?
A question, no doubt, which has kept many of awake over those long, long nights. And now, we have people to the rescue! From the upcoming Special Edition Ascent: Commemorating Space Shuttle DVD/BluRay by NASA/Glenn a movie from the point of view of the Solid Rocket Booster with sound mixing and enhancement done by the […]
Journals and personalities
Today, one of my favourite science (t)witterers, @enniscath, posed an intriguing question: Is it normal to assign personalities to scientific journals? e.g. Curr Biol is an enthusiastic extrovert; Nucl Acid Res is dull but worthy — Cath Ennis (@enniscath) February 19, 2013 I think it’s a marvellous idea :) I instantly proposed a thought… @enniscath […]