For Dr David “don’t call me a lecturer” Jesson, who describes himself as a ‘breaker of things’, creating a truly sustainable material is the ultimate goal. In a feature I wrote for this week’s Surrey Advertiser (published on Friday March 18), Dr Jesson chatted to…
Are humans still evolving, or are we already the finished product, was the topic of this week’s Horizon – and feeling the back of my mouth where my absent wisdom teeth would normally go, I wondered whether these, and other body parts, are testament to…
The Keystone Pub in Guildford was already heaving with people by the time I arrived for Professor David Nutt’s talk at Cafe Scientifique last Monday. Getting there 15 minutes early clearly wasn’t enough time to guarantee a seat to listen to the controversial scientist, who…
Whenever someone flicks through a newspaper, notices a headline along the theme of “Scientists now say X or Y is safe”, and exclaims, “Looks like the scientists have done another U-turn again”, it’s a bang-head-against-wall moment right there: another one’s fallen into that blackhole of…
As the Rosetta comet-chaser swung by Earth one last time yesterday morning before heading out for its date with the comet, scientists are hoping the mission will help unravel the mysteries of how the solar system evolved. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) mission controllers confirmed…
How should journalists deal with libel law? “Change the laws”, was the resounding answer from most of the panellists at last night’s Science Fact: Science Journalism and Libel Law public debate hosted by City University. The debate, held to celebrate the launch of the university’s…
As science journalists become fewer and further between, it’s only inevitable, it seems, that PR steps into the breach. Futurity is the latest venture to fill the gaping void formerly populated by reporters, comprising of press releases straight from the research centres themselves. The site…
Planning a scientific expedition, identifying a mystery species and watching spiders getting it on were among the many interactive experiences on offer at the Natural History Museum’s new Darwin Centre, which opened to the public today. The new £78 million centre is home to the…
What is the future of peer review, and should it detect fraud and misconduct were just a few of the questions tackled at a talk at the British Science Festival on Tuesday. At the session Science Fact or Science Fiction: Should Peer Review Stop Plagiarism,…
Two rival models of how life on Earth continues to exist thrashed it out on Saturday at Royal Holloway University as part of the British Science Festival. In the red corner was Dr David Wilkinson of John Moores University with the Gaia concept, the theory…
Why do journalists love stupid equations? That’s the question popular science writer Simon Singh posed on Sunday to a packed lecture theatre at the British Science Festival. The author of the best-selling maths novel Fermat’s Last Theorem discussed the tenuously contrived equations dreamt up by…
Surrey’s skies were a source of fascination yesterday night, as astronomers of all skill levels gathered at the University of Surrey’s Varsity Centre in Guildford for The Great Look Up. The event, organised by the university itself together with the Guildford Astronomical Society to commemorate…