Media Whore
sciencepunk | September 14, 2010In September Wired UK published my feature on the health risks of nanotechnology. The article is now online.
Nanotechnology's commercial growth has been accompanied by fears that it could damage human health and the environment. This in turn is stoking pressure on government and regulators to limit -- even ban -- a technology whose promise includes cleaner fuels, improved water filtration, better medicines, faster electronics and healthier foods.
sciencepunk | August 2, 2010Tonight I'll be appearing at Westminster Skeptics in the Pub to present my talk: A Critique of Skepticism, which will discuss the ways that skeptics approach to communication is limiting our reach and excluding certain groups from the wider community.
WHERE?
The Monk Exchange
Strutton Ground
London
SW1H 0HW
WHEN?
Doors 7pm, everything kicks off at 7:30.
Hope to see you there, if not you can probably follow on Twitter.
sciencepunk | June 7, 2010Last week I joined Brendon Connelly and Colin Murphy of the Pulse Project Podcast to discuss some of the week's science stories and chat about zombies, blogging and the origins of SciencePunk. Among the highlights are the sheer PR audacity of teaching an dolphin to communicate using an iPad and a guy who takes x-ray images of big things and alters them to fit the way we think the world should look in the x-ray spectrum. Safe to say it's an aural geekout!
You can follow the Pulse Project on Twitter and join them on Facebook. The organisation aims to "reflect and inform debates amongst…
sciencepunk | September 1, 2009Music-science crossover special! The lovely people at Jemsite, a repository for all your Ibanez JEM guitar and related musical needs, have been featuring a run of science bloggers on their blog.
Since clearly music is the only thing that comes close to the awesomeness of science, I was more than happy to take part!
Do you think music can help teach science or help students learn science?Without a doubt. I've already been lucky enough to hear fantastic lectures on the neurology of music from scientists such as Giana Cassidy and Jessica Grahn. Music is a phenomenally integral part our…
sciencepunk | August 10, 2009I've been so busy lately that I forgot to highlight the Guardian Science Podcast of the Secret Garden party - hear guerilla scientist Zoe Cormier, physicist Jon Butterworth, and a variety of festival goers aged 7 - 27 talk about the importance of science communication and the joy of fusing science lectures with music festivals.
Also in this podcast - Cary Fowler from the Global Crop Diversity Trust discusses conserving the biodiversity of agricultural crops at the Arctic Svalbard Seed Vault, and news about plans for high-speed rail in the UK, the carbon footprint of babies, what triggers…
sciencepunk | July 27, 2009
My coverage of the awesome Science Tent at the Secret Garden Party is now up at Guardian Science Blog. Pictures of the science debauchery to follow:
I'm standing in a field in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. All about are the typical trappings of a music festival. The bright morning sun is glinting off discarded canisters of nitrous oxide, testament to the strict search policy in place at the gates. Revellers lie asleep where they fell, skin reddening, and sullen queues of hungover men and women snake from the standpipes and toilet blocks.This is the Secret Garden Party, one of Britain's new…
sciencepunk | July 16, 2009
The Guardian Science Blog has published my article on the rather excellent Guerilla Science organisation. I discovered them last year when they invited me to talk at the Secret Garden Party. I'm happy to say I'll be returning this year, and I implore you all to get involved in this kind of thing (if only for the free entry to festivals):
Of the thousands heading to Suffolk this weekend for the Latitude Festival, most will be looking forward to a few days of music, camping and socially acceptable breakfast drinking. One thing they're probably not expecting is a lecture on astrophysics. But…
sciencepunk | July 16, 2009
Tomorrow I'll be taking part in a debate about the place of alternative medicine in the NHS on BBC Radio Oxford. If you're in the area you can tune in on 95.2 FM, otherwise listen live via the BBC website. It's part of a phone-in show, so I expect a lot of calls from the "it works for me" brigade, but you can have your two cents by calling 08459 311111.