Speaking to Huw James
This is part of a series of interviews with science communicators about science communication…
Huw James tours secondary schools doing interactive science shows that might be described as “Progressive House or Nu-Disco”…
Talking to Julie Gould he reveals how and why he got into science communication, tips for others wanting to get into the field plus an insight into his upcoming project.
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From ‘Taking Science to the People’, Feb 4, 2013
Let Me Handle That, I’m A Professional: A Case for Letting Science Writers Tell of Scientists’ Discoveries
Is it the science communicators who should be reaching out to scientists and offering to put their work into the public sphere?
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From ‘Inspiring Science’, Feb 5, 20137,000 Years of Cheese!
“In a paper published in Nature last month, a team of scientists from the UK, US and Poland used evidence from pottery remains to show that this venerable art stretches back at least 7,000 years…”
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From ‘Trenches of Discovery’, Feb 4, 2013
The “ISW Mystery” Deepens Considerably
An update on the “ISW mystery” (the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect), “he very short summary” of which, “is that things are starting to get more than a little bit exciting.”
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From ‘Life, The Universe and Everything Scientific’, Feb 6, 2013
Cancer Cells on the Move, Pt.II
“Understanding why and how cancer cells metastasize can be approached from several angles…and just as important as determining the ‘how’ is figuring out the ‘why’. If less than 1% of cancer cells have the ability to metastasize, what makes these cells so different from their peers?…”
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From ‘Taking Science to the People, Feb 6, 2013Myth: Week 2 Bacteria Focus Organism: Azospirillum Brasilense
“It was thought for a long time that [Azospirillum brasilense] provided the plants it colonizes with a usable form of nitrogen since A. brasilense is able to fix nitrogen (turn nitrogen gas found in the atmosphere into useful ammonium). However, A. brasilenseis greedy and has two ways to uptake ammonium into the cell if it happens to leak out somehow. So how is A. brasilense beneficial to a plant?…”
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From ‘Trenches of Discovery’, Feb 5, 2013
The “ISW Mystery” Deepens Considerably, pt. II
Part II of the “ISW mystery” (the integrated Sachs-Wolfe effect), “the very short summary” of which, “is that things are starting to get more than a little bit exciting.”
Read the full article —>
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From ‘Green Tea and Velociraptors’, Feb 5, 2013
Explosive Antics in the Field
by Sara Mynott
“Colima, Mexico. The goal: unearthing the secrets of Vulcán de Fuego or the ‘Volcano of Fire’.”
“A day in the life of a Volcanologist”: Sara explains the importance of constantly monitoring an active volcano.
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From ‘The Molecular Circus’, Feb 6, 2013
Kitchen Science: The Molecular Magic of Custard
“Custard is a really cool demonstration of how chemical reactions can change the properties of a mixture, in this case from a thin runny liquid to a deliciously viscous custard, and sometimes even further onwards to a solid.
So how DOES custard thicken?…”
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From ‘Speaking of Science’, Feb 7, 2013Speaking to…Alexandra (Sasha) Feachem
This is part of a series of interviews with science communicators about science communication…
Producer of BBC Radio 4′s “The Infinite Monkey Cage”, Alexandra Feachem, explains the ‘how, what, when, where and why’ of her career in science communication.
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From ‘British Science Association’, Feb 7, 2013A Future in Textiles
Adam Mansell, who will be judging at the National Science + Engineering Competition finals, to award the UKFT Textile Edge Prize, shares his thoughts on the textiles industry.
“Textiles: A dead industry right? T-shirts from a supermarket, jackets from the internet. Where’s the science in that? Where’s the career in that?”
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From ‘The Molecular Circus’, Feb 8, 2013
The Friday Question: Why Does Shampoo Make My Eyes Sting?
“I was in the shower the other day, and I got shampoo in my eye. It. Was. Agonising. Painful to the point where, once I had finished stumbling blindly about my shower room, splashing water in the general direction of my face and yelping, I wondered why it hurts QUITE so much. What is it about shampoo and your eyes, that means they can’t get along and play nicely, like shampoo does with my skin and hair and all the rest of me?…”
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From ‘Inspiring Science’, Feb 8, 2013
These feet were made for walking
“While popular imagination may be fascinated by when our ancestors first began to walk upright, scientific debate has focused on whether these early humans were still skilled climbers. A group of researchers in New Hampshire addressed the issue in a paper recently published in PNAS, gleaning new data from modern humans who climb regularly…”
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From ‘Taking Science to the People’, Feb 8, 2013
Micro! Polo! Discovering the beneficial bacteria needed to clean our messes
“Bacteria do not have taste buds or eyes. However, they have very fine-tuned senses that relay information about the status inside as well as in their environment…Whether it is hydrocarbons like petroleum or groundwater contaminated with dry cleaning chemicals, bacteria have evolved pathways to utilize these compounds.”
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From ‘Green Tea and Velociraptors’, Feb 9, 2013
For the spottend spiny lobster, size does matter
By Sara Mynott
“In a great many species, females exhibit preferences for larger males – including that world-dominating species Homo sapiens (though a recent PLoS ONE study reveals the effect is only modest in actual couples)…”
An examination of “the size preferences of the spotted spiny lobster” when choosing a mate…
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