Where have I been?

Sorry for the recent lack of posts, I’m working on another project and just don’t have the time right now to post regularly!

I’ve got some ideas fermenting away, and will be back on 10minus9 sometime in the new year, hopefully!

15 minutes of fame…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here, but I’ve been nudged out of my negligence by this piece on the Guardian science blog (thanks to Jon for sending me the link!), refering to my previous articles here and in the Guardian on the Future Jobs report comissioned by the Science: So What? campaign.

I’ll get back to regular blogging very soon!

Mystic energies, holograms and more unicorns: Part 1 (or why you shouldn’t blog when hungry)

Not so long ago, I blogged about Powerbalance bracelets- incorporating holograms treated with special frequencies to improve peoples’ energy flow, balance, athletic performance, and all-round well-being. I took a fairly scathing view, since to most scientists it’s clearly nonsense salad served with a garnish of pseudo-scientific parsley.

Parsley is not actual food, but it makes it look like you’ve made an effort. Actually it sits alongside celery in terms of gastronomic value. It’s not obvious to a lot of people that the salad isn’t a proper meal, and that we really need is some proper scientific meat.

Like veal calves, researchers have suffered in the darkness for the delicious benefit of the greater body of scientific knowledge. But for someone raised on a diet of leaves and twigs, the suffering has been in vain.

What the hell am I talking about? Ah yes… powerbalance…

Why I’m not spoofing Jenks, part 2

In a radio interview last year, prime minister to be David Cameron made an on-air “gaffe” when asked about whether he was on Twitter. He said,

The trouble with twitter, the instantness of it is, is, I think that too many twits might make a twat

Of course the apologies followed, with the wafer-thin excuse that he didn’t know what the word “twat” actually meant. I guess an Etonian education isn’t what I think it is. Anyway, in case anyone has been living in a cave called denial for the last few weeks, DC went on to become prime minister.

Why I’m not spoofing Jenks

In a way, I’m a fan of Simon Jenkins’ work- it always provides easy blog fodder whenever he ventures into science commentary. His latest piece on the BBC’s Reith lectures painted a patently ludicrous comparison with a Soviet Academy, while the safety fears over flying through the Icelandic ash cloud were reminiscent of a McCarthyism of fear. Thoroughly daft exaggeration in my humble opinion, and worthy of a little satire.

The physicist Jon Butterworth is clearly of the same opinion, and posted a spoof Simon Jenkins piece on his Life and Physics blog, which then inspired Jennifer Rohn to declare Monday “Spoof Jenkins Day”- which quickly spread around the sciencey areas of the twitter-sphere. There is a summary of the resulting posts on Jennifer Rohn’s blog.

I know it’s intended as fun, but it just doesn’t feel right. One spoof post, if done well, is fine, but I firmly believe in attacking the ideas, rather than the people behind them. This post on the In the Dark blog is just unpleasant.

Satire takes skill and subtlety. This mass effort, though producing some gems, smacks too much of personal vendetta to my taste. Sorry folks.

Enough of these mindless attacks on scientists’ integrity

This post was written for the LayScience website
___________

We are all different, as scientists and as people, with individual aims, beliefs and motivations. Some do their best to communicate what they do and why they do it, and some people respond with curiosity and interest. Just see, for example, the excellent periodic table of videos and sixty symbols websites from my alma mater, The University of Nottingham.

Yet despìte these efforts, some will do their best to engender an atmosphere of fear and mistrust. I have just read Simon Jenkins´assesment in the Guardian CIF of Astronomer Royal, Martin Rees’, Reith lectures for the BBC.

Before looking at the finer points of the argument, it’s worth looking at Jenkins’ style in this and other articles. Invariably, he will use a comparison with an oppressive regime (in this case the lectures themselves are reminiscent of a “soviet academy”, while comparing Rees to a religious leader above question or criticism, going on to set up science as a whole in the same light). In his articles on the Icelandic ash cloud, he used ludicrous comparisons

Latest Lay Science Post: Science vs Religion, To be Settled by Golden Goal

I’ve wandered blindly into the science vs religion minefield… read my post on the Lay Science site here!

Watch this video!

Find the time to watch this video. I mentioned a talk from a couple of years ago by the same speaker in a recent post, and this follow up is equally superb. Enjoy.

Power Bollocks: holograms, unicorns, and Shaquille O’Neal’s magic underpants

This week I was alerted to Power Balance. Basically, bracelets and pendants with holograms in them. From the website’s “how it works” section;

“Most everything has a frequency inherent to it.  Some frequencies react positively with your body and others negatively. When the hologram comes in contact with your body’s energy field, it allows your body to interact with the natural, beneficial frequency stored within the hologram. This results in improved energy flow throughout your body.”

The official website is vague on details as to how it is supposed to work.

“The Mylar material at the core of Power Balance has been treated with energy waves at specific frequencies.  The resulting Mylar is believed to resonate and work with your body’s natural energy flow to help enable you to perform at the best of your ability.”

Energy waves at specific frequencies basically means they either shone some light on it or played it some sound. This is a slightly higher technology version of a homepath shaking water to help it remember. It’s still just a hologram, just a very expensive one.

Daily Mail Fear Bingo!

I’ve just invented a new game: see details on the Lay Scientist website!