Ants and the art of science communication
July 30, 2015
Ants have been in the news this week. First there was Jim Al-Khalili’s interview with E. O. Wilson, a world authority on ants, for The Life Scientific. Then there was the announcement that scientists at the University of Cambridge (funded by the BBSRC) have discovered that ants use three types of hair to meticulously clean …
Images of the cell in art and science: An update
May 7, 2015
This is a Guest POST by Maura C. Flannery, Professor of Biology, St. John’s University, NY, reflecting on, what one may call ‘making cells public’ and the interactions between art and science in this process. The blog is related to an images and visualisation project funded by the European Science Foundation, rather than to the …
Nanoscience, images and technologies of visualisation: A space odyssey
January 22, 2015
This blog post is a story about an intellectual and collaborative adventure that should be all too familiar to academics. However, opportunities for such adventures may sadly be disappearing in an era of impact driven research. It is a story of how enthusiasm, curiosity, serendipity and collaboration can lead to unexpected and joyous outcomes. At …
Making science picturesque
October 24, 2014
I was idly browsing io9 the other day and read a fascinating article on comets in the history of art. This would be a nice topic for another blog post… but that’s not what this post is about. When looking at these delightful pictures, my eyes fell on “an engraving from Le Magasin Pittoresque, a …
Jules Verne: Making science visual
December 30, 2013
On Christmas Eve I had a chance encounter on twitter and the result is this blog post, or rather: essay. Richard Ashcroft had retweeted a tweet about a book by Adam Roberts. The tweet by Adam Roberts said: “Finished copies came by this morning’s post. Very lovely piece of book making!” The book retells Jules …
Making science public: A question of colour
September 16, 2013
Yesterday I was staring at a poster of the periodic table hanging on our kitchen door, a remnant of my son’s school days. I began to muse; imagine it was just a black and white series of elements and numbers, as it was when it was first invented? Who decided to colour it in, and …
Making the planet public
April 14, 2013
I have always wanted to make a link between ISS – the Institute for Science and Society at the University of Nottingham – and ISS – the International Space Station – in OUTER SPACE. When looking yesterday at a picture of a cloud vortex taken by Commander Chris Hadfield from a window of the ISS, …
Science in Public 2013 – Call for Panel Proposals
December 14, 2012
UPDATE: You can see the full Call For Papers including details of all the proposed panels at http://scienceinpublic.org/conference/ 8th Annual Science in Public Conference, 22-23 July 2013 on ‘Critical Perspectives on Making Science Public’ Call for Panel Proposals The University of Nottingham is proud to host the 8th Annual Science in Public Conference, 22-23 July 2013. …
Making plants science: The role of herbaria and images in botany
November 23, 2012
This is a one-off Guest Blog by Maura C. Flannery, Professor of Biology, St. John’s University, NY, reflecting on, what one may call, ‘making the private life of plants public’, or more precisely the use of herbaria, photography and art in botany, as well as issues of truth and trust. The blog is related to …
Big Data: Challenges and opportunities
November 20, 2012
With increasing frequency one can read announcements welcoming us to the age of Big Data (put the phrase “welcome to the age of big data” into google and you’ll get over 488,000 results). Reading about two recent events in particular sharpened my awareness of this new era, namely a big data event at the British …
MSP bookmarks
- Twitter May 8, 2017
- Social innovations in Europe #RRI November 3, 2015
- Harvey Graff, the undisciplinarian September 20, 2015
- Replacing Pesticides With Genetics August 31, 2015
- Addressing hazardous chemicals in the circular economy August 25, 2015
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