• Thirteen things about doing a science PhD...

    ...that I wish I could tell my younger self: 1. It’s not going to be easy or, at least, it won’t feel easy. At some point, you’re probably going to start doubting everything about yourself, from your ability to generate high-quality data to whether that old lady on the bus moved seats because...
  • [Insert witty breast-related pun here]

    Kate Middleton’s boobs are everywhere, both in the flesh and spirit. That sounds like the plot of a horror film in itself (“Nooooo, we’re surrounded, I’m suffocating!”). But what I really want to bring to your attention is how boobs are somehow capable of turning normal, rational people into...
  • Refocusing the Microscope

    I grew up staring out at the stars through my parents’ antique telescopes; marvelling at the tiny pinpricks of twinkling light and how, on a clear night, the Milky Way streaked across the sky. There are more than 100 billion stars in our galaxy, and more than 1,000 billion galaxies in the...
  • Hitting an Invisible Target in TB Vaccine Design

    I have a troubled relationship with Twitter. It’s an unredeemable hate sort of thing. I’m generally an inane mix of angry opinion and low self-esteem so, in theory, we’re perfect for each other. I just don’t feel it, though. I had a quick look for online videos in the same vein of the YouTube...
  • Murder Your Darlings

    It makes me laugh when I hear people say that they don’t like fantasy or science fiction novels because ‘it’s not real’. All fiction, by definition, is made up. Yet, when it comes to imaginary monsters or aliens or magicians with pointy hats and white beards, many people don’t want to read...
  • Scientists find the gene for…

      Steve Jones begun his talk at the Henley Literature Festival by breaking the news that he was not the same Steve Jones who played guitar in the Sex Pistols. I was personally quite glad about this because it would have made writing this article on genetics somewhat difficult. The Welsh...

Sunday, 27 May 2012

It makes me laugh when I hear people say that they don’t like fantasy or science fiction novels because ‘it’s not real’. All fiction, by definition, is made up. Yet, when it comes to imaginary monsters or aliens or magicians with pointy hats and white beards, many people don’t want to read something so removed from reality....