(Everything is funnier when you reference the Ultimate Showdown) The Guardian technology blog links to EB’s response to the claims by that journal that EB was no more accurate than Wikipedia. The 20-page EB response is an exercise in the most miffed sort of quibbling, especially the appendix where they address the reviewers point by … Read more
Courtesy of Sheyne Tuffery, whose art I’ve recently discovered (and love), heads-up that the University of Cambridge Museum of Anthropology & Archaeology is holding an exhibition called Pasifika Styles from May, with artists, craftspeople, performing artists, and displays of the Museums collections. I may have to revise my assertion that Oceanic cultural events are few … Read more
The UPenn Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology has a set of online exhibitions at World Cultures: Ancient and Modern. The celebrities choosing a favourite artifact was a bit gimmicky, but I really enjoyed: Sailing the ocean without map or compass: Traditional navigation in the western Pacific. Navigation training and technique in the Caroline Islands. I’d … Read more
At the risk of being domestic, the recipe for Paraoa.
The Beeb continues to report on the condition of the six young men who participated in a drug trial and are in intensive care. There’s an accompanying article interviewing a bloke who was due to take part, where he speaks about the motivations and incentives that are behind why men take part in these trials. … Read more
Garr Reynolds, at Presentation Zen (a moment for fangirling, please), has a post linking to resources for scientific presentations. Often presentation advice is geared towards commercial or creative models, and while it’s helpful to extract what works/what sucks from those sorts of domains, a Zen-approach to scientific/academic presentation couldn’t come soon enough. From the editorial … Read more
Grrlscientist links to Yellow Ibis, which have the coolest science t-shirts. The Darwin phylogeny sketch ones are my favourite, but I’m also fond of “this is what a scientist looks like”. Inside HigherEd offer columns and articles, including Academic AWOL by Mary McKinney, which I found to be a good kick-in-the-pants about Just Getting On … Read more
The Cuming Museum in Southwark is holding an exhibition entitled Mana: Ornament and Adornment From the Pacific. Polynesian decorative arts like tattooing and jewellery, which is like the confluence of all the things I love. Today is Commonwealth Day, and I’m off to Westminster Abbey to partake of the observance in the presence of Chuck … Read more
(I’m sure there’s a pun in there) Didn’t get a ticket to the Dawkins event next week at LSE (The Selfish Gene: Thirty Years On) as it appears all of London was keen to go also. There’s a video hook-up, so I’ll queue for that if it doesn’t look too arduous. Melvin Bragg (who’s chairing … Read more
That the brain grows new cells, how it does it, and in what circumstances–that’s the topic of this piece at Seed Magazine, surveying the work of a number of neuroscientists. I found it really positive to read something so utterly focussed on the science, yet engaging and enthusiastic. I really loathe the mainstream journalistic need … Read more