Of Schemes and Memes Blog

Best of Nature Network, NPG staff blogs and Scitable: 9 – 15 April

SciBarCamp!!

This week saw the arrival of the geek fest, “unconference” SciBarCamp. Several of our bloggers have been revelling in its success, summarising the jam-packed sciency event. Eva Amsen’s post, SciBarCamb with a bunch of boffins, is littered with entertaining pictures of the event and David De Roure’s post, Balloon DNA attends SciBarCamb, discusses some of the interesting sessions that were on offer. Scitable blog ConferenceCast, have also provided a synopsis:

SciBarCamb was well received by all and is a brilliant demonstration that all you really need to get interesting dialogue going is a group of people and somewhere for them to talk. Unconferences are a fantastic way to get to know all sorts of different people and are a great way of sharing thoughts on important issues in an interdisciplinary manner, which can give rise to all kinds of new research ideas and opportunities.

Education, education, education….

This month we have been running a mini-series on science education. Last week we compiled a storify of ScienceQuestion time and this week we have been talking to Emily Gater a primary school teacher, exploring the way she engages children in science:

As a teacher, how do you use technology to teach science?

Today it is only natural that technology is used in many ways within the classroom. Almost every classroom has an interactive whiteboard and most schools have well-equipped computer suites or a fleet of laptops. However, teachers can utilise ICT (Information and Communications Technology) in many creative ways to enrich science lessons.

In a similar vein, Eric-Wubbo Lameijer has been looking at ways in which modern media offer the potential for faster learning, but also revealing the bad news. He highlights how our educational arsenal has extended far beyond traditional textbooks and teachers, drawing attention to the new possibilities for speeding up learning.

Live Q & A

Continuing our education theme, this week Nature is holding a live Q & A which will be tackling problems associated with the science PhD, asking questions such as, “Does it need reinvention?” If you wish to join in the discussion, make sure you mark your calendar with Thursday, 21 April at 4pm London time. Enter your e-mail address here to sign up for a reminder, and feel free to post your questions in advance in the comment section.

Hub News

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San Francisco blogger, Shannon Weiman’s latest post is encouraging those in the area to go to Body Worlds Vital, a Human Plastination display. She reveals that the display offers a rare glimpse into the beauty beneath your skin. Her comment thread has also sparked a controversial debate, “Would you donate your body to plastination?”

At the other side of the Atlantic, London blogger Matt Brown has been summarising the best, geek-chic science events in town. He suggests taking a stroll to an event at the ZSL zoo and going to a lunchtime lecture at the Royal Society. Keep an eye on his future posts for up and coming sciency events.

Boston blogger Tinker Ready has been suggesting that those in the region go to The science of pints, politics and poverty show at the HSPH. Details can be found on the Boston Hub calendar, which is regularly updated with local events.

Science in the UK

This week’s guest blogger is Diana Garnham, the chief executive of the Science Council. Her post, working collectively to advance UK science and innovation, highlights the important role the Science Council Plays, and how it aims to support and grow the scientific workforce in the UK:

The Science Council is leading work to increase the take up of science and maths post 16 in order to meet these skills demands. We have much deepened understanding of the many different roles that those with science backgrounds undertake in the economy and the mix of skills and competencies that employers will need, as well as seeking to understand transferability and generic knowledge and skills.

Meanwhile, Brian Derby, who is a great example of a working scientist battling for grant money, has been revealing his Grant Success, despite the bleak financial worries for science. He explains the importance of his work and its application in society:

This grant success builds on our earlier research, in particular two proof of principle studies funded by EPSRC and BBSRC and a larger grant to develop acoustic microscopy funded by the Wellcome Trust, so thanks are due to all who have funded the work.

Untimely Endings

Blogger Tine Janssens, in her post, Suicide: the numbers, uncovers the shocking suicide statistics in the Netherlands. Her post considers how to tackle suicide and to treat it as any other type of illness:

But when it comes to suicide, society answers with hushed silence and averted looks. Suicide is a major public health problem, though a silent one… Ignorance is bliss, right?

Onto another sombre post, NPG’s The Great Beyond Blog has sadly reported the death of a Yale Student. In their report, they reveal that Michele Dufault, an astronomy and physics student, was killed when her hair was pulled into a lathe in one of their machine shops, a place where students are able to build their own scientific equipment. Dufault was reportedly working late on her senior project, but it was not clear whether she was there alone or who called in the emergency services. You can read a full summary of this tragic incident in the post.

Working hard

Linda Lin has been away working hard on her thesis, but has kindly taken a break to impart some of her interesting reading material. In her post, miRNA Elevation, she explains to us the science (or art) of elevating miRNA levels by 100×. Her comment thread also provides links to similar types of research:

If you fuse any plant gene to a cauliflower mosaic virus promoter (called a 35S promoter), its mRNA transcript levels are vastly increased in all tissues. Moreover, it forces expression of a gene in tissues where it might not be naturally expressed. You never know what you might find. (i.e. bush plant, formerly seen as un-shrub like arabidopsis)

Like Linda, blogger Tom Webb has also been working hard and in his latest post has been discussing the times when it gets too much, resulting in Thinker’s Block. In his post he reveals how he deals with this problem:

I can’t remember where I picked up the dripping tap analogy, but the idea when feeling flooded is to imagine this flood emanating from a vast array of dripping taps, each one representing something that you should be doing. And then you simply walk methodically through this landscape, concentrating on a tap at a time, turning each off in turn. You won’t stem the tide, of course, but you may keep your head above water.

Science communication

For all those budding science communicators, student Pream Neote has been updating us on her master’s course. Her post, Pream, highlights her favourite aspects of the course, the hurdles she has faced, as well as her plans for the future. She provides a thoughtful insight into the life of a science communications student.

To get a taste of the kind of work science communication students carry out, why not check out this spoof video made by Imperial’s science communication master students. In this following skit of The Social Network, students from Imperial College London’s Scientific Communication program retell the story of how PubMed began. You can read more on The Spoonful of Medicine Blog:

Save Our Science

It has recently been announced that the Australian Government is planning to cut $400 million over the next three years to the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Australian blogger Muka, discusses the impact these types of cuts will have on the scientific community and how he was planning to attend the Rally for Research campaign which took place this week.

In line with this, Scitable blogger, Khalil A. Cassimally, summarises the rally for us in his post, Melbourne Says No to Medical Research Funding Cuts.

Banners were everywhere, raised high up by outstretched arms, or rulers, meter rules, or pipettes. Yes, scientists are an innovative bunch. “Medical research keeps my blood pumping”; “SOS: Save Our Science”; “Cut the nonsense, not the funding!”; or “Gillard [the Australian prime minister], we’ll cure your dementia (no seriously… we will)!” were flung around.

It’s competition time!

GrrlScientist has been suggesting that those science writers who Dare to Dream should make their dreams into reality by entering the Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize competition. She explains that the Wellcome Trust has joined forces with The Guardian and The Observer to hold a science writing competition open to the public. Sadly, the competition is only open to those in the UK, but GrrlScientist in her latest post, In Your Own Write: The ten rules for excellent writing provides some excellent tips for all science writers. If you wish to find out more information and how you can enter this competition, read her posts.

Sciencey Fun

For some light hearted sciency fun mixed with a dash of creativity, why not check out Eva’s latest post, Scientific and artistic glassblowing. She links to a video showing Etsy artist Kiva Ford, a glassblower making chemistry labware. The five-minute video touches on both science and art.

Finally, to end the week Viktor Poor warns, Beware of the wild Drosophilas! They look angry!

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