Organised links
I have been emailing myself links from Twitter that I want to remember or read later, and have amassed quite a few over the last month or so, so I thought I'd organise them somewhere I can check back and look at them. They are a bit random but still interesting. If you want to know more about any of the articles, let me know in comments and I'll look into it (I'm supposed to anyway, but extra motivation never hurt anyone!)
Museum games: the kids are all right
Children won't just play anything, finds Ben Templeton, whose Science Museum exhibit is all the better for input from students
Short piece from the Guardian on exhibit design, showing young people are more self aware than we often give them credit for, and that asking someone is still the best way to find out what they're thinking.
The defamation bill is now in thrall to a politically motivated Leveson clause
It's been a marathon getting this vital libel reform bill through the Lords. Let's not shackle it to a contentious press regulation plan.
Bookmarked to read from the Guardian. Relevent to silencing of scientists in genuine critical inquiry via libel threats.
5 Ways to Make Progress in Evolutionary Psychology: Smash, Not Match Stereotypes
Bookmarked to read from Scientific American blogs. I see a lot of bad evo. psy. justifying horrible misathropic views. It would be nice to see something with actual evidence.
Lake-drilling team discovers life under the ice
Host of microbes found in lake deep under Antarctica's ice sheet.
Bookmarked to read from Nature. Just thought it sounded interesting!
Prof. Jim Al-Khalili's website
Bookmarked this to look at the interviews with Prof. Brian Cox and Dara O Briain, but at some point will hopefully get around to looking at ALL the lectures, podcasts etc. The Life Scientific is an awesome podcast interviewing a whole range of different scientists, which I am actually up to date with.
The Monster in the Lift
Bookmarked to read from Imperial College, and also to check out the links within. An interesting panel on science communication to look into.
The false and tedious 'defective brain' meme
Bookmarked to read from Yale. More science communication, replete with links to investigate.
On Subjectivity: Wild Swans, EscherGirls and Mansplaining
Gender politics on BBC Radio 4. Also a reminder to find a copy of Wild Swans and re-read it. I read my Mum's copy may years ago when I was still a child and found it hard to get through and very moving. I suspect that won't have changed very much in the intervening years. Also I lost many hours of an afternoon to the EscherGirls tumblr
Polishing Rabbits an Passing Off Squirrels - Andrew Zolli on Jonah Lehrer
On storytelling in the media, some points to consider.
The trouble with 'science'
Why the words 'science' and 'scientist' can set alarm bells ringing: often misused or too general to be helpful
From the Guardian. Seeing the words 'scientists say' in an article often makes me groan and want to bash my head on the table as I know the following story will often be inaccurate, misunderstood or sensationalised out of all proportion. Which scientists? Who are they? I do appreciate, however, that it's a hard world that science journalists live in with the demands made by editors and news bosses to get content out. 'Science' covers such a huge range of topics, it's a nonsense to talk about it as if it were one big homogenous mass (I do admit I'm as guilty of this as anyone). It's something that needs thinking about, certainly.
Scientists sceptical about device that 'remotely detects hepatitis C'
Developers say C-Fast - developed from bomb detection technology - will revolutionise diagnosis of other diseases
(Guardian again) Argh! See links under headline:
Scientists are not divided over device
'Hepatitis C detector' sells hope and nothing more
Symposium on 'Credibility across cultures: expertise, uncertainty and the global politics of scientific advice'
Bookmarked to watch. Symposium on 'Credibility across cultures: expertise, uncertainty and the global politics of scientific advice' at Sussex University