The Science of TV
I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, on a heavy diet of carefully crafted and thoughtfully produced educational tv programmes that even Lord Reith would've been proud of; from The Ascent of Man through to...
View ArticleWhat will we be eating in Birmingham in 2050?
West Midlands scientists are bending their minds around perhaps the biggest challenge facing humanity ever. How the heck are we going to feed ourselves in 2050? With 9 billion on the planet depleting...
View ArticleThe Psychology of . . . Mega-Queue
I'm always on the lookout for a new behavioural phenomenon. You know, the sort of curious human behaviour that is almost universal in frequency so that everyone can relate to it, and is yet so simple...
View ArticleUnderstanding a Child's Brain
It has been a strange week here at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum. Without necessarily planning it this way, I seem to have spent a significant amount of time working with neuroscientists and...
View ArticleRio+20: "The end of the future"
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, warned at the beginning of this week's Earth Summit in Rio, "if we really do not take firm actions [on climate change], we may be heading towards the end - the...
View ArticleWhy am I doing everything?
The internet is wonderful - I can use it to find out how to mend my tumble drier, choose between different cameras and buy one, look at where to go on holiday and, keeping an eye on the changing...
View ArticleFusion reactors - Birmingham Cafe Scientifique
Fusion Reactors are about 40 years away! When I first heard this, I thought it was a reasonable and uncharacteristically honest estimate of the time it will take to develop an as yet untested...
View ArticleLet them eat cake
The Olympic torch relay continues, and I can't help but be impressed by the moving stories, personal triumphs and tragedies that have been highlighted as it moves over the country. It's clearly given a...
View ArticleWorking at Home during the Olympics and Paralympics: Tens of thousands of...
The tabloids have been quick to label as "skivers" those ten thousand civil servants who have been given permission to work from home when suitable over the Olympic and Paralympic games. Can our...
View ArticleThe end of social media?
Facebook was offered to investors at $38/share - and at the time, I commented that I'd love to be able to short the stock. It's now at about $21, so I'd have made a killing. Mind you, I'd have made a...
View ArticleTechnology and cool
Nokia released their latest Lumina smartphone to the most desultory of audience applause - but is it good or bad? Actually, I'm not going to discuss that - it has it's good points, in terms of wireless...
View ArticleWhen is an epidemic not an epidemic?
More developments from the battlefront on the war with stress. Unfortunately, it looks like "stress" is winning the PR war... Stressful jobs that involve a lack of control and decision-making from the...
View ArticleOpt in or opt out - how to meet the needs for organ transplants
Organ donation is always an interesting discussion because it is one of those things that most people, if you were to ask them, do not seem to have an issue with and are generally very supportive of in...
View ArticleGenetics: Brave New World or just another hospital specialty?
When I was a research biochemist, I used to enjoy the occasions when I would meet someone new, perhaps in the pub, and they would ask me what I do for a living. Upon hearing the word 'biochemist', you...
View ArticlePredictions for 2013
Whilst it's slightly early for the prediction season, I thought I'd put forward a few possibilities, based on some digital crystal gazing, some wistful looking off into space, a finger in the air and...
View ArticleThe Science of TV
I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s, on a heavy diet of carefully crafted and thoughtfully produced educational tv programmes that even Lord Reith would've been proud of; from The Ascent of Man through to...
View ArticleWhat will we be eating in Birmingham in 2050?
West Midlands scientists are bending their minds around perhaps the biggest challenge facing humanity ever. How the heck are we going to feed ourselves in 2050? With 9 billion on the planet depleting...
View ArticleThe Psychology of . . . Mega-Queue
I'm always on the lookout for a new behavioural phenomenon. You know, the sort of curious human behaviour that is almost universal in frequency so that everyone can relate to it, and is yet so simple...
View ArticleUnderstanding a Child's Brain
It has been a strange week here at Thinktank Birmingham Science Museum. Without necessarily planning it this way, I seem to have spent a significant amount of time working with neuroscientists and...
View ArticleRio+20: "The end of the future"
The UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, warned at the beginning of this week's Earth Summit in Rio, "if we really do not take firm actions [on climate change], we may be heading towards the end - the...
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