From Science Blogs:
A new study published in Personal Relationships examines the way in which perceptions of physical attractiveness are influenced by personality. The study finds that individuals – both men and women – who exhibit positive traits, such as honesty and helpfulness, are perceived as better looking. Those who exhibit negative traits, such as unfairness […]

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This week, when the BBC was reporting on the disappearance of Steve Fossett, the adventurer, they reported that his family had gone to court in the US to “have him declared legally dead”.
Now, the BBC are usually the most fastidious of organisations when it comes to use of the English language, nonetheless, I stared at […]

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Somebody is going to have a happy Christmas.
From RTÉ today:
An investigation has been launched following the theft of 450 kegs from the Guinness Brewery on Victoria Quay in Dublin.
180 kegs of Guinness, 180 kegs of Budweiser and 90 kegs of Carlsberg were taken in the robbery.
A man driving a truck drove into the brewery yard […]

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This is an interesting question and one for which there is no hard answer.
Scientists do about four different things (leaving out teaching).
They publish scientific papers, they train PhD students, they patent inventions and they raise funding for research.
Depending on how you view scientists, you might place a different weight on each of these pursuits.
Taking the […]

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Honestly, this website has me fascinated. It’s ffffound.com.
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Here are my rants of today for people that need to do some joined-up thinking.
People crying over the driving test waiting times being so long and then failing three times, thereby making the queue longer.
People crying out for jail sentences for the paparazzi on the day Diana died and then buying The Sun newspaper the […]

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Four things have happened or are happening this week in my scientific life.
The Science Foundation Ireland Science Summit is on at City West Hotel and I have been at that, listening to the great and the good of Irish science talking about what they do.
The same Science Foundation Ireland turned down my pre-proposal for funding.
Along […]

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In 1998 I was working at The Natural History Museum in London. I liked the job very very much and was entirely content to work there and indeed, things were going well.
Then out of the blue, I got an invitation to go to teach a course in South America. I was asked if […]

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It struck me recently that I am one of the few people that uses their real name on their blog. The usual reason that is trotted out for using a made-up name is that they “can really say what they mean and feel uninhibited”.
It seems me that this is all very fine that people […]

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Today’s Speakey Engrish award goes to the English girl that comes on the intercom during a Ryanair flight to sell me things. She tells me that I can pay her in Euros.
Its Euro.
E.U.R.O.
It is both singular and plural.
Like Sheep.
It is not Euros, just the same way that it is not sheeps.
Still, I guess you’ll […]

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