Monthly Archives: November 2008

Alom Shaha: I am not a scientific jingoist, honest

Some thoughts from me, inspired / provoked by the responses so far: Science doesn’t answer all the big questions - but it’s probably our best shot at finding out about our origins and whether we’re alone in the universe. Science... Read More »

Andy Miah: a window to the future of humanity

Andy Miah is Reader in New Media & Bioethics, University of the West of Scotland, and holds Fellowships at FACT, the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology and the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies. He is Editor of Human... Read More »

Ray Mathias: setting us free

Ray Mathias worked in plant biotechnology research for 15 years, before moving into science communication and education. He now spends his time helping scientists and engineers make their subjects accessible and engaging for non-specialists. Science is a powerful expression of... Read More »

Mark Miodownik: Science is your mum

Dr Mark Miodownik is Head of the Materials Research Group in the Engineering Division of King’s College London. In this film, he explains why science is like your mum…... Read More »

Thank You

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed so far and to everyone who is reading. Now go tell your mum about it - there’ll be a special post just for her on Monday.... Read More »

Science Made Fun podcast

Science Made Fun is an organisation that uses podcasts, videos and interactive features to get kids excited about science. The presenters are all passionate about their subjects and have just one main objective: to make science fun! Here are their... Read More »

Jennifer Rohn: severe skepticism, as natural as breathing

Jennifer Rohn is a cell biologist and the founder and editor of LabLit.com, an online magazine devoted to scientist culture and its portrayal in fiction. Her first novel, Experimental Heart, has just been published. Unbeknownst to me, when I was... Read More »

Coming Soon...

Adam Hart-Davis, Philip Ball, Armand Leroi and the new Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Prof. Marcus du Sautoy, are just some of the people whose contributions to this project will appear here soon. There’ll also be a... Read More »

Francisco Diego and his Space Rock

Dr Francisco Diego is a Senior Research Fellow at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London and a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. He holds a Science in Society fellowship from the Science and Technology Facilities Council... Read More »

David Hone: the unexpected applications of palaeontology

Dr David Hone is a vertebrate palaeontologist working in Beijing on dinosaur behaviour. He also runs several websites devoted to science education. Palaeontology can be an underappreciated science, but aside from general interest in extinct life (hey, dinosaurs are cool)... Read More »

Adrian Gaylard: Deep Personal Feelings

Adrian Gaylard has a degree in Physics with maths, and works in automotive aerodynamics for a leading UK manufacturer. He has a career interest in computational fluid dynamics, and is both a chartered Physicist and Chartered Engineer. I have very... Read More »

Paul Crowther

Paul Crowther is Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sheffield. He is author of over 90 astrophysics journal papers and current chair of UK time allocation committee for ground-based Gemini telescopes. Science can be great fun, as can be... Read More »

John Womersley

John Womersley is the Director of Science Programmes in the Science and Technology Facilities Council. He is responsible for the UK’s research in particle physics, astronomy, and space science, and for developing the science and technology strategy for the research... Read More »

Alom Shaha: my first video post

I’ve started filming bits and pieces for the film this week and have got two great interviews with Adam Hart-Davis and Sue Blackmore in the can. Below is a video which Luke, Savo and I shot yesterday afternoon - we... Read More »

Ronan McDonald: Science is My Toolkit

Ronan McDonald is an engineer at heart, business developer at work, pilot at play and a teacher of science. Science gives me my toolkit. I want to make things work. I need to know about the properties of materials, the... Read More »

Rosie Coates and the Amazing Technicolour Test tube

Rosie Coates is a PhD student in the department of Chemistry at University College London. She is also one of the department’s Science and Engineering Ambassadors... Read More »

Susan Blackmore: Truth is better than illusion

Dr Susan Blackmore is a freelance writer, lecturer and broadcaster, and a Visiting Lecturer at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Truth is better than illusion, and science has found ways to find out how the universe works,... Read More »

Coming Soon...

Adam Hart-Davis, Dr Susan Blackmore, Philip Ball, Dr Armand Leroi and the new Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, Prof. Marcus du Sautoy, are just some of the people whose contributions to this project will appear here soon.... Read More »

Rhian Salmon

Rhian Salmon has a PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry, has extensive field experience in Antarctica, and currently works as Education and Outreach Coordinator for the International Polar Year 2007-8 I work in climate science, earth science, global science, big picture and... Read More »

Andrea Sella

Dr Andrea Sella is an inorganic chemist at University College London and an EPSRC Senior Media Fellow. He explains how understanding the spinning of eggs can improve our lives.... Read More »

Simon Singh: to answer the deepest questions about the nature of the universe

Science writer and broadcaster Simon Singh has this to say: I have been asked this question several times over the last few weeks, or more specifically I have been asked why is the LHC important? For me, the LHC represents... Read More »

Laura Grant

Science communicator Laura Grant, in our first video submission:... Read More »

David Perks

David Perks is Head of Physics at Graveney School in London. He is a passionate defender of academic science education, co-founder of the Physics Factory and author of “What is science education for?” Science is for the young people I... Read More »

Adam Rutherford

Dr. Adam Rutherford, science writer and broadcaster who works at the journal Nature, writes: It helps me to think of why science is important by identifying two common errors that people, scientists and non-scientists alike, make when thinking about science.... Read More »

Tara Shears

Dr. Tara Shears, particle physicist, writes: I think it was Robert Wilson who, when asked what value particle physics research was to defending the United States, said “None, except to make it worth defending”. That statement encapsulates why, to me... Read More »

Jim Al-Khalili

Jim Al-Khalili, theoretical physicist, author, and broadcaster, writes: In 2009 we celebrate fifty years since C.P. Snow’s famous Cambridge lecture on the Two Cultures. He was referring in 1959 to the rift and irreconcilable differences, as he saw them, between... Read More »