tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34695968276869043432024-03-13T05:11:58.928+00:00Bristol University Faculty of ScienceJedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-27739489105403930962012-12-11T15:37:00.006+00:002012-12-11T15:39:19.152+00:00New Science Faculty VideosCheck out these 3 wonderful new films on the <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/science/scifuture">Faculty of Science website</a></span>, a really fascinating look behind the scenes at what it means to do science. As the web page says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Researchers working on everything from theoretical chemistry, to
geology, to psychology, discuss what it means to be a scientist in the
21st century, and what it takes to survive the emotional rollercoaster
that sees them tackle frustration and failure before critical acclaim.</blockquote>
Here's a taster, entitled "Quantum collision: A Meeting of Science, Art, Dance and Music" - a beautiful and thought-provoking film:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Y9HtyGOkJpw" width="560"></iframe>
<br />
<br />
There are also lots of <a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/science/research/">profiles of the scientists who were interviewed in the films </a>on the website. Says Aliya Mughal, part of the team who made the films:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<br />
In a nutshell, the films explore some of the perennial issues in science – the role and responsibility of science and scientists in how their discoveries are used; how scientists feel about the role they play (or not) in influencing policy when it comes to issues such as climate change, global poverty, etc; how much of science is about progress and impact and how much is about pure curiosity. That’s the first film. The second explores the idea of failure and how scientists deal with frustration and mistakes, what gives them the resolve and determination to continue, basically what it takes to succeed in science when you are continually reminded of how much you don’t know versus how much you do.<br />
<br />
The film above focuses on danceroom spectroscopy (dS) – spearheaded by Dave Glowacki, a science-meets-art interactive installation that brings the atomic world to life and seeks to encourage non-scientists to engage with the world around them at a molecular level. Dave’s project debuted at the Barbican in November so we followed his group from Bristol to London to show just how and why it works, with some very interesting perspectives from members of the public who were quite philosophical about how dS made them realise their place in the world! </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The films take quite a candid look at the reality of science, hopefully offering a more personable insight into the ideas, thoughts and people that shape scientific discovery. Our aim was to pitch them in such a way to make science accessible, inspiring and interesting, and to move away from a pure academic exploration to a more imaginative one – in particular, we want to encourage more students to think about science as a creative, exciting (ad)venture that is worth pursuing on a multitude of levels. We worked with some of the newest recruits to the University, selected for their passion, enthusiasm and understanding of the importance of communicating about science.
</blockquote>
<br />
As Sandra Arndt says in her Q&A,
“Science is not really a job, it’s a passion. You get to follow your ideas and do what you really want to do," and this is something that really comes across in these wonderful films!Find it all on the <span style="color: red;"><a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/science/scifuture">Faculty of Science website.</a></span>Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-57188807274911374772012-07-13T01:15:00.000+01:002012-07-13T01:16:37.338+01:00Higgs Boson Song Composed From Research Data<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3J7Nayi1C8/T_9ojeTvLlI/AAAAAAAAE6I/8IKyIJwNJFk/s1600/globo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-X3J7Nayi1C8/T_9ojeTvLlI/AAAAAAAAE6I/8IKyIJwNJFk/s400/globo.png" width="300" /></a></div>
<br />
<iframe width="100%" height="166" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="http://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F52534156&show_artwork=true"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13855652297410642142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-28438778505717643122012-07-12T16:58:00.000+01:002012-07-12T16:58:01.405+01:00Higgs-boson-inspired story on Radio 3's The VerbSo on Monday I got a call, from Radio 3's The Verb. Would I be able to
write a Higgs-boson and physics-inspired very short story by
Wednesday morning to read and chat about on this week's show? Would I?
Oh yes! I did, (and the very tight deadline definitely brought out
something new, something I'd never done before) and then yesterday
morning at the BBC here in Bristol I was recorded reading it and
chatting to the fantastic host of the show, Ian McMillan, about physics
& fiction, flash fiction and the wonderful words of science. It will
be broadcast tomorrow night, Friday 13th, at 10pm UK time, and should
be available as a podcast for 7 days after that. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01kkq4x" target="_blank">Find out more here>></a><br />
<br />
If you are a physicist, forgive me for what I have done to your words...:)Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-10753925651774082232012-05-24T19:00:00.004+01:002012-05-24T19:00:58.304+01:00Biology and the Humanities – Workshop at the University of ReadingCalling all biologists... from the <a href="http://www.bsls.ac.uk/2012/05/biology-and-the-humanities-workshop-at-the-university-of-reading/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=biology-and-the-humanities-workshop-at-the-university-of-reading">British Society for Science and Literature</a>:<br />
<br />
‘Cultivating Common Ground: Biology & the Humanities’<br />
<br />
What do biologists know and think of the humanities? And what do they make of those humanities scholars – literary critics and historians – who have made biology their area of study?
University of Reading staff in the biological sciences and the humanities are currently seeking practising biologists to participate in an AHRC-funded workshop which will address these and other questions. The workshop will consist of short presentations by humanities scholars whose research focuses on biology, followed by discussion and analysis of these and other topics. The workshop will be lead by Nick Battey, a plant biologist with a long-standing interest in the value of humanities research to biology, and there will be presentations by John Holmes (Darwinian evolution in poetry), Karin Lesnik-Oberstein (pre-conceptions in biomedical research), David Stack (understanding Victorian science) and Françoise Le Saux (medieval ideas about magic and the natural world).
The workshop will take place on Wednesday 18 July 2012 at the University of Reading’s Whiteknights campus between 0930 and 1700. Refreshments, including lunch, will be provided, as will reasonable travel expenses.<br />
<br />
Please see <a href="http://www.reading.ac.uk/cultivating-common-ground/%20">http://www.reading.ac.uk/cultivating-common-ground/ </a>for further information. To register for a place, please contact Rachel Crossland: r.c.crossland@reading.ac.uk.Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-12975537926492509032012-05-15T17:59:00.000+01:002012-05-15T17:59:15.495+01:00Evo Devo ArtistThere's a fascinating interview over on the blog of US literary 'zine <a href="http://networkedblogs.com/xFr1Y">Tin House </a>with Anna Lindeman, who has a BS in Biology from Yale and an MFA in Integrated Electronic Arts from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:<br />
<b></b>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
AL: My work integrates animation, music, and performance to tell
stories about evolutionary and developmental (Evo Devo) biology. I
consider myself an Evo Devo artist. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My performance <i>Theory of Flight</i><i> </i>begins as a biology
lecture with scientist Alida Kear describing the developmental
mechanisms of wing growth. The lecture goes quickly awry, though, when
Alida reveals a feather she has grown on her own arm through the
successful co-option of avian genes. It becomes clear that Alida’s
interest in biological flight is rooted not only in scientific
investigation, but also in a deeply personal quest for flight. The
episodes of biology lecture, featuring increasingly extreme experiments,
are punctuated by dream-like interludes that combine music performed by
a singing bird spirit and a look into a cellular world animated with
simple materials—yarn becomes DNA, lace and buttons become proteins. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Evo Devo stories appear throughout <i>Theory of Flight. </i>The
lecture delves into the genetic mechanisms of feather development,
evolutionary theories of flight, and ultimately, investigations into
regenerative limbs and transgenics. </blockquote>
I like the way Anna talks about her work. She says:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I never felt inhibited by the facts that science provides us with; to me
they are the richest treasure trove of source material. Beauty,
absurdity, poignancy, whimsy—all of the sensations I hope to craft as an
artist have already had some masterful manifestation in nature, and
science is a profound way of understanding these manifestations. </blockquote>
Very inspiring! Read the whole interview <a href="http://networkedblogs.com/xFr1Y">here</a>.<br />
<br />Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-71850029880926796922012-05-05T19:01:00.001+01:002012-05-05T19:03:16.382+01:00Milly: Polarization Paradise 2<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kN_FRJ0Gt6WstilL01ifxyzZlXE0GnAM-mgbS5WdRPrzeDV1GRmJ35NlQpkExUaTagwHmihluBdukMY1N0BfGpj-asHss800DL-tMJrwayBsTno0976cXGkDEFvdf2qWu0wTnSf9U6g/s1600/JC062-nightwatch17crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-kN_FRJ0Gt6WstilL01ifxyzZlXE0GnAM-mgbS5WdRPrzeDV1GRmJ35NlQpkExUaTagwHmihluBdukMY1N0BfGpj-asHss800DL-tMJrwayBsTno0976cXGkDEFvdf2qWu0wTnSf9U6g/s320/JC062-nightwatch17crop.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying myself on my latest research cruise off<br />
the coast of the UK. Photo: Zan Boyle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizard_Island_National_Park">Lizard Island</a>, a tiny island on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, famous for its abundance of <strike>bison </strike>lizards and known amongst scientists as a prime spot for marine science. The tranquil, aquamarine waters surrounding the island come as a welcome change from the turbid, brown, worm infested Atlantic I spent so long staring at during <a href="http://bristoluniversityfacultyofscience.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/milly-ugly-fish-pt-2.html">my last trip</a>. My mud sieving days are over, instead, I'll be collecting animals from the reef and testing their polarization vision. "Do you make them wear sunglasses?". Sometimes I regret talking about science with my friends. No sunglasses, but plenty of polaroid and LCD screens.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tSgoYCFm8xG3bogL_MmlLV012GxNP8jjaFWKdkApLEI6RnwTa4zY1K1Os2OAafEHIyvMDzAynHlGQIJD90v_qMjJUGkz0G4T9gTjrmK_qP71VbkrIqJGS418_kdisJuyiwEWyLVzLt4/s1600/Cat+breading.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8tSgoYCFm8xG3bogL_MmlLV012GxNP8jjaFWKdkApLEI6RnwTa4zY1K1Os2OAafEHIyvMDzAynHlGQIJD90v_qMjJUGkz0G4T9gTjrmK_qP71VbkrIqJGS418_kdisJuyiwEWyLVzLt4/s320/Cat+breading.jpg" width="250" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cats love to be breaded. Photo: web.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Sick of your office judging you for spending your lunch break perusing <a href="http://www.breadedcats.com/">breadedcats.com</a>? All you need to do is tweak your computer screen and you can hide your cat compulsions from the world. If you were to remove the front layer of an LCD screen, it would appear blank, but those loaf wearing cats are still there, all you need is a piece of polaroid to bring them back. LCD screens work by emitting polarized light at different angles. By putting a piece of polaroid in front of this system, changes in polarization angle alters the amount of light the viewer can see. The polaroid works by blocking light polarized at one angle (appearing black) and transmitting it at a perpendicular angle (appearing white). To the people working in my lab, I looked like very stange, sitting at a blank screen with sunglasses on...but little did they know, breadedcats.com.<br />
<br />
So, if we want to test the ability of animals to see polarized light, what better than to use an LCD screen that allows us to create any image we want, and show it as a polarization signal. We will be testing cuttlefish, animals with a fascinating visual system, lacking colour vision entirely but possessing an extremely sensitive polarization visual system. Using LCD screens, a member of our lab, Dr Shelby Temple has discovered that cuttlefish can distinguish surprisingly low differences in polarization angle, far better than what we thought possible but how they are able to do this remains a mystery.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMd2RZl_kTwDgLxCru5tkEoKk3osSabZ-Ox7HhWdK9ZNgNP_FB5uaaYuMxsFcfz4rbnZaI_KvCsJDi3ikdJl79D95BY2Ft1_3bOvecPqopRj9qEK8F5XKcXghB4G1jKD__iZzBp9g3Rk/s1600/Cuttlefish+pol+signal+(Shashar+et+al.+1996).tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMd2RZl_kTwDgLxCru5tkEoKk3osSabZ-Ox7HhWdK9ZNgNP_FB5uaaYuMxsFcfz4rbnZaI_KvCsJDi3ikdJl79D95BY2Ft1_3bOvecPqopRj9qEK8F5XKcXghB4G1jKD__iZzBp9g3Rk/s320/Cuttlefish+pol+signal+(Shashar+et+al.+1996).tiff" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cuttlefish showing off it's polarization pattern visible<br />
here in a false colour image. Photo: Shashar <i>et al.,</i> 1996.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
You might be wondering what benefit detecting different angles of polarized light gives an animal living on the reef. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuttlefish">Cuttlefish</a>, like mantis shrimps, are able to signal by polarizing the light reflecting off their bodies. Scientists think that this could allow them to signal covertly to other members of their species without alerting prey or predators nearby, pretty nifty. To do this, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp">mantis shrimps</a> have an exoskeleton with special optical properties due to its structure. Cuttlefish however have a mechanism that allows them to control the polarization patterns they produce. Specialised pigment cells, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chromatophore">iridophores</a>, under control of the neural system are able to undergo ultrastructural changes in seconds, producing a changing polarization signal all over the body. All of this on top of changing colour and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iridescence">iridescence</a>. The cuttlefish is an underwater disco.<br />
<br />
So in in a nutshell, one of our projects will involve using LCD screens to display polarized stimuli to marine animals in tanks, and judging their responses to get a further insight into the mysterious world of polarization vision! More later...<br />
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/fR7Dqf0vzzQ" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />Millyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06767548280221640828noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-4020564869147477302012-04-30T16:21:00.000+01:002012-05-05T03:07:19.521+01:00Milly: Polarization Paradise<br />
I've not been the most active of writers on this blog of late but, fear not, I'm going to write another series of posts as I blog/blather from the field.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHj3UWVWZqm_mafBu0GUXAeL19kYrK6nHJKNUyD1nnILANiM3Zw2Sw2YNU2p-VzdZHN0mgtTB-XqegCdQ6ikixhAXX9DXXH4uDE9uptOSzPpaz-dR4XIEXNgbEpre3xVxDuaXSpJ25Os/s1600/Mike+Bok+Lizard+Island.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHHj3UWVWZqm_mafBu0GUXAeL19kYrK6nHJKNUyD1nnILANiM3Zw2Sw2YNU2p-VzdZHN0mgtTB-XqegCdQ6ikixhAXX9DXXH4uDE9uptOSzPpaz-dR4XIEXNgbEpre3xVxDuaXSpJ25Os/s400/Mike+Bok+Lizard+Island.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lizard Island, Australia. Photo: Michael Bok.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In just under a month from now, my lab and I (Ecology of Vision Group) will be flying to Australia, Lizard Island, on a mission to unveil more secrets about the vision of marine animals. You may be wondering why it is necessary to travel across the world to do this. Well, aside from the fact that scientific success increases significantly when in an idyllic location (obviously), we need access to Australia's diverse range of reef dwelling beasties, including the charming octopus and the not so charming <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mantis_shrimp">mantis shrimp,</a> more likely to rip your hand off than to shake it.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dRzZ-HCypVXv1qM6ijXWoRSou-FHzZomVjgGPLLtp-C6oikoUdEZKq_1Igp2B4RT74y66ZUFNzfq3xdSDZ-ekUoJ8hymQ_XRCbJIM3lC53ef7miDbpqZnLVokN0wYkTcuMr6Gwf0pQ8/s1600/mantisshrimp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9dRzZ-HCypVXv1qM6ijXWoRSou-FHzZomVjgGPLLtp-C6oikoUdEZKq_1Igp2B4RT74y66ZUFNzfq3xdSDZ-ekUoJ8hymQ_XRCbJIM3lC53ef7miDbpqZnLVokN0wYkTcuMr6Gwf0pQ8/s200/mantisshrimp.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mantis shrimp (stomatopod).<br />
Photo: web.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Our team have collected all of the gear we will be needing for experiments: LCD screens, perspex tubes, lightbulbs, cameras, 3D glasses and milk. Now, it may sound like we are planning to watch a film, but actually we are going to do some serious and exciting science.<br />
<br />
The word that binds our research together is polarization. If my colleagues and I were the mince, polarization would be the egg that binds us together forming the burger (?!) that is our group. Slightly off the beaten (egg) track.<br />
<br />
<h2>
Serious science time:</h2>
<br />
<b>What is polarization?</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiG7r-KKY3f-B6JaaY_eEC4Lkb32SBNqKc09n18LFTV8T-To1-ON-F6vyrfNU40WALfWfnvzi2-TjFiaHvy_fyGJrPiJYB-xPxYU0Qx9UOSvU2iXF6NppvhrE89npgnMdmfiLpMAoe4c/s1600/pol+diagram.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoiG7r-KKY3f-B6JaaY_eEC4Lkb32SBNqKc09n18LFTV8T-To1-ON-F6vyrfNU40WALfWfnvzi2-TjFiaHvy_fyGJrPiJYB-xPxYU0Qx9UOSvU2iXF6NppvhrE89npgnMdmfiLpMAoe4c/s400/pol+diagram.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unpolarized light coming from a light source is oscillating at all<br />
possible angles in that plane, however, when it is passed through a <br />
filter (polaroid) it becomes polarized, oscillating only at one angle.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When applied to light, polarization means the direction that the light is oscillating in. If you imagine that you are holding a rope and you shake it up and down, waves form, travelling down its length. You can shake the rope from side to side, or also swirl it round forming a rotating pattern that also travels along the rope. This same idea can be applied to light as it too oscillates as it is travelling along as a wave. Just like the wavelength of light can inform an animal of the colour of something it can see, polarization can also provide additional information as light bounces off different structures or is scattered by particles.<br />
<br />
<b>How can an animal detect polarized light? </b><br />
We, as humans, know that polarized light exists around us, but unfortunately, without polaroid filters, we cannot see it. Unless of course you are one of the lucky few who have deliberately tried to view strong sources of polarized light such as LCD monitor outputs and are now cursed, forever having a strange yellow bow tie shape appear randomly on the desktop. It's called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haidinger's_brush">Haidinger's brush</a> if you fancy having a go yourself. To detect polarized light oscillating at one angle, your photoreceptors must be aligned at that same angle, to absorb the maximum amount of light. If your photoreceptor is, say, 90degrees out compared to the polarized light, then it's not going to absorb very efficiently. This sort of arrangement of photoreceptors where one lies at one angle and a second, connected photoreceptor is lined up perpendicular to it, is very common in invertebrates and is the basis for their polarization vision. Simply put, it allows them to compare the outputs of these two receptors and figure out what angle the light is oscillating at.<br />
<br />
<b>Why is polarization vision useful?</b><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTAaoGCos6H-lvFLz59nuAoJkEq5VYZlDdMpUDr6H2qVUq-43PKSzWhRMfVu3ijgCMlVMKzs1ZcfQAuYs79aMsXZFbL1zOe4_piVm5uHBJdo7cVPR8njvAn74xzwnQ6dp9Qsfp6Fd5-8/s1600/pol+water+reflection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjTAaoGCos6H-lvFLz59nuAoJkEq5VYZlDdMpUDr6H2qVUq-43PKSzWhRMfVu3ijgCMlVMKzs1ZcfQAuYs79aMsXZFbL1zOe4_piVm5uHBJdo7cVPR8njvAn74xzwnQ6dp9Qsfp6Fd5-8/s320/pol+water+reflection.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unpolarized light bouncing off the surface of the<br />
water becoming polarized horizontally. <br />
Photo: Wehner (2001).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
At first it might sound like polarization vision could be disadvantageous, since you have the potential to lose information every time polarized light hits your receptors at the wrong angle. What it does do, however, is convey valuable information. When light bounces off a shiny surface, such as water, much of the reflected light becomes horizontally polarized (oscillating at the same angle as the water's surface). If the light hits the water at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brewster's_angle">Brewster's Angle</a>, then all of the light is horizontally polarized. Now, imagine that you are a water-seeking insect where the survival of your species depends on you reaching water to mate and lay your eggs. Some strong selection pressures there. If you have receptors aligned horizontally and pointing down towards the ground, you have a perfect water detecting device. This is a common feature of water-seeking insects. Unfortunately, lots of man-made surfaces are shiny so if you have ever wondered why you find dead beetles and mayflies on the highly reflective bonnet of your car...now you know. Polarization vision isn't just useful for this one task, light is also polarized as it travels through scattering media such as water, or the atmosphere. As the light scatters it becomes polarized at an angle depending on the incident light. If this is happening millions of times in the sky as the light travels towards the Earth, a predictable pattern is formed which acts as a map to navigation and orientation in bees, beetles and other insects where the landscape is complex, moving and changing or devoid of any useful visual landmarks on the ground. The same applies underwater.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD40R67_bTa0rBvxvY5In7ly3_kNji6yXf0aLoHKIJMbdiDnTr_eiQHxfcscQ_z96wudJjJRPFiTvRDdHt2YbHgJEXk8pcc8NUKeinG-XwFEm_CuQBa20m8kNyUorcXGJxPwbvH-eQw5k/s1600/DRA+Meyer+Labhart+1993-2.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD40R67_bTa0rBvxvY5In7ly3_kNji6yXf0aLoHKIJMbdiDnTr_eiQHxfcscQ_z96wudJjJRPFiTvRDdHt2YbHgJEXk8pcc8NUKeinG-XwFEm_CuQBa20m8kNyUorcXGJxPwbvH-eQw5k/s400/DRA+Meyer+Labhart+1993-2.tiff" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Invertebrates such as insects, crabs and cuttlefish have polarization<br />
sensitive cells in the eye consisting of perpendicularly oriented<br />
light absorbing microvilli. You can see the two orientations in the <br />
TEM image of dragonfly photoreceptors above. <br />
Photo: Meyer and Labhart (1993)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I still haven't got to the bit where I explain what we are doing in Australia. I think that is quite enough for one post, time for a cup of tea.<br />
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</div>Millyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06767548280221640828noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-25945246481156557072012-04-28T18:49:00.002+01:002012-04-28T19:06:54.341+01:00Angel:Mexico Day at the University of Bristol 30/04/12<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/NPRacO7bK4k" width="560"></iframe><br />
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I've just got this email few days ago regarding the Mexico Day at UoB next Monday, which maybe could be interesting for some of you. This special event is not only an opportunity to hear the Mexican Embassador, Eduardo Medina-Mora Icaza, besides the audience will have the chance to look over some posters on currently research projects concerning Mexico:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white;">I'm pleased to announce that next Monday 30th April
will be Mexico Day at the University of Bristol. We would like to invite
you to a special event to celebrate the University of Bristol's links
with Mexico.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Bristol is proud to host the Mexican Ambassador, Eduardo Medina-Mora
Icaza, for the day and he'll be giving a question-and-answer session
for all interested students and staff. </span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">It will be running from </span><span style="background-color: white;">3 o'clock</span><span style="background-color: white;"> in the </span><span style="background-color: white;">Seminar Room of the Nanoscience Building</span><span style="background-color: white;"> on Tyndall Avenue. The hour-long session will be a rare opportunity to put your questions to the ambassador. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">This event will be </span>
<span style="background-color: white;">free of charge</span><span style="background-color: white;"> and we hope you will be able to attend. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Following
the Q&A the Ambassador will be introducing a special lecture 'Rethinking Nineteenth-century Mexico:
Following in the steps of Professor Michael P. Costeloe' by Bristol alumnus </span>
Professor Will Fowler of St Andrews.<span style="background-color: white;"> This will culminate with a wine
reception. Please see </span><a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/sml/events/2012/26.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white;"> for details. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">For directions to the Nanoscience building please see </span>
<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/nsqi-centre/contact.html" style="background-color: white;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></blockquote>
<br />
The Faculty of Science can't be out of this special event, <a href="http://www.bris.ac.uk/chemistry/research/ogu/people/ascencio.html#top">Marisol Correa</a>, a current PhD student in the School of Chemistry under the supervision of <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/chemistry/people/richard-p-evershed/overview.html">Professor Richard Evershed</a>, is conducting a research project about <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016703709005924">absorbed organic residues analysis</a> from utilitarian ‘cooking’ pottery in Mexico. The analysis of organic residues has been a successful tool in order to answer archaeological questions relating to ancient diet and
agriculture in other parts of the world. Besides, the outcome from this project would be useful to achieve a better knowledge of social patterns such as strategies of land use in the urban hinterland.<br />
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uD7OXA3BeNE/Txr-CSxRkcI/AAAAAAAADxs/u-8JpGC65ac/s1600/DSC04589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="96" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uD7OXA3BeNE/Txr-CSxRkcI/AAAAAAAADxs/u-8JpGC65ac/s640/DSC04589.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trajinera#Trajineras">Trajineras</a>, colorful gondolas - Xochimilco, Mexico, 2011</td></tr>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uD7OXA3BeNE/Txr-CSxRkcI/AAAAAAAADxs/u-8JpGC65ac/s1600/DSC04589.JPG" title="Chaac por RCK8, en Flickr"><br /></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13855652297410642142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-87214237665542389332012-04-04T00:41:00.001+01:002012-04-04T00:44:03.974+01:00Angel: Like water for Chocolate<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bCZNkSZOiP8/T3s4lhT30VI/AAAAAAAAERA/-DV0i3HbJEc/s1600/Alebrije.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bCZNkSZOiP8/T3s4lhT30VI/AAAAAAAAERA/-DV0i3HbJEc/s400/Alebrije.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.journeymexico.com/blog/tag/crafts/">Alebrije</a> (ali-bre-haze) - hand carved and hand painted wooden animals created by artisans in small towns outside the city of Oaxaca, Mexico.</td></tr>
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<div dir="ltr" id="internal-source-marker_0.4395281157198059" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px;">The
winter has just faded away, I have to mention that I am a little bit
sad to say goodbye to delightful coffee-&-chocolate afternoons, and
say hello to lemon sorbet times, laid down on the Royal Foyer fields.
However, I’m not going to lie, saying such a delicious ritual has gone,
nope, not at all, but winter weather is one of the reaction conditions
needed to finish off long lab days, full of creativity and motivation.
Bringing up to the surface this memorable experience: Have you ever
thought which is the best cocoa butter crystalline polymorph for either
preparing double chocolate cookies or creamy bar chocolates?</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/808827/Chocolate__The_Noblest_Polymorphism_II.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">The
diverse polymorphs are formed under different crystallization
conditions. The thermodynamically most stable form, VI, has a dull
surface and soft texture; only form V shows the hardness and glossy
surface appreciated by the consumer.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/808827/Chocolate__The_Noblest_Polymorphism_II.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Gourmets
only accept chocolate in its crystal form V, as it is this form that
has the noble surface sheen, crisp hardness and the pleasant melting
sensation in the mouth.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I
am sure, if someone comes up with such a weird question, I would give a
what-face in answer, and then, transform it into an OMG face due to the
fact, cocoa butter can crystallize into six polymorphic forms! Now, are
you intrigued? The click on the following links to find the secrets
behind the chocolate experience:</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<ul style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Chocolate - The Noblest Polymorphism: </span><a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/745325/Chocolate_-_The_Noblest_Polymorphism_I.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">part I</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, </span><a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/808827/Chocolate__The_Noblest_Polymorphism_II.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">II</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and </span><a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/854777/Chocolate__The_Noblest_Polymorphism_III.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">III</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></li>
<li style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/news/1006809/A_Reason_to_Eat_Chocolate.html">A reason to eat chocolate</a></span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally,
If you ask where to find the best chocolate in Mexico, unfortunately, I
don’t know many options due to our chocolate tradition vanishing,
mainly because of big corporations and the bad economy. Nevertheless,
according with my experience, I can recommend visit the city of Oxaca
which offers a great sensory experience. Yep! If you have been there
once, then now your nose is being mesmerized by the smell of sugar,
vanilla, cinnamon and toasted nuts - What a wonderful place is the city
market of Oaxaca!</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div dir="ltr" id="internal-source-marker_0.4395281157198059" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<a href="http://www.chemistryviews.org/details/ezine/745325/Chocolate_-_The_Noblest_Polymorphism_I.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Also
later, in the Mayan and Aztec cultures, cocoa, here called xocoatl,
played an important role, although it was only available to the rich and
privileged. Cocoa was preferably consumed in frothed up form and was
prepared in various ways. In addition to corn meal, flowers and diverse
spices, particularly chili powder and vanilla, were added.</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-left: 36pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/y8xL_VgwIH4" width="420"></iframe>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13855652297410642142noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-19488444473650632492012-03-31T16:11:00.004+01:002012-03-31T16:17:09.407+01:00Julio: Big Conference for Young Mathematicians<span id="result_box" class="" lang="en"><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">Here's</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">an event</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">that will</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">take place</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">at the University</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">of Bristol on 2nd April 2012:<br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" ><br /><a href="http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/%7Emaxsb/yrm/index.php">Young Researchers in Mathematics Conference 2012.</a></span><br /></span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: justify;">The Young Researchers in Mathematics Conference is an annual event that aims to involve post-graduate and post-doctoral students at every level. It is a chance to meet and discuss research and ideas with other students from across the country. The conference spans a wide variety of disciplines arranged into tracks, each of which includes a keynote speaker and contributed talks by young researchers. There will also be plenary lectures of interest to the entire audience. For a full list of tracks and keynote speakers, please visit the <a href="http://www.maths.bris.ac.uk/%7Emaxsb/yrm/index.php">conference website.<span id="result_box" class="" lang="en"><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span></span></a><br /><span id="result_box" class="" lang="en"><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span></span></div><span id="result_box" class="" lang="en"><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"><br /></span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">Starts</span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas">:</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">11:00am</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">on</span> 2nd<span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">April</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">2012</span><br /><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">Finishes</span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas">:</span> <span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">4th April 2012</span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span><br /><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps">Venue</span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas">: </span></span>Queen's Building on University Walk<span id="result_box" class="" lang="en"><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas">, University of Bristol.</span></span><br /><br /><span id="result_box" class="" lang="en"><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span><span title="Clique para mostrar traduções alternativas" class="hps"></span></span>Juliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16469593053230517166noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-11097987181402570232012-03-27T01:43:00.000+01:002012-03-27T01:51:47.711+01:00Angel: Two shootings from the sixth floor and one from the ground<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_s93-jYo--c/T3EII-sZCiI/AAAAAAAAEOI/ee15_R6QkXw/s1600/DSC06282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_s93-jYo--c/T3EII-sZCiI/AAAAAAAAEOI/ee15_R6QkXw/s400/DSC06282.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabot Tower sunset</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4kMf5vt9a0/T3EJaUhCVYI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/CxAuV0l4_ps/s1600/DSC06270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4kMf5vt9a0/T3EJaUhCVYI/AAAAAAAAEOQ/CxAuV0l4_ps/s400/DSC06270.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Creation of Woody</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6AJoPDR4Wfk/T3EJfJqqoEI/AAAAAAAAEOY/YM4Ky-EDd-U/s1600/DSC06329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6AJoPDR4Wfk/T3EJfJqqoEI/AAAAAAAAEOY/YM4Ky-EDd-U/s400/DSC06329.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">when the tree found fascination for colours</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zoX44qSAdrQ/T3EJi4q2WdI/AAAAAAAAEOg/8hCcDk-TO6E/s1600/DSC06332.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13855652297410642142noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-41653169499722586032012-03-05T13:02:00.000+00:002012-03-27T01:52:46.586+01:00Angel: Fancy riding the white lion?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPrYbwuY5kY/Tr60mAZ5IMI/AAAAAAAADtA/_55ytMM02mw/s1600/BB_Photo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IPrYbwuY5kY/Tr60mAZ5IMI/AAAAAAAADtA/_55ytMM02mw/s400/BB_Photo.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.428824387419114" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span id="internal-source-marker_0.428824387419114" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I'm always thinking that I should stop my lab work for a sec to write something </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">o</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: line-through; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">n
this space, I would like to have plenty of time to write all those
ideas coming up in my mind, along the day, such as beautiful crystals
which not necessarily means progress in your research project or boast
about astonishing sunsets from my preferential view on the sixth floor
of the School of Chemistry - If you follow </span><a href="https://twitter.com/#%21/GreatGeorgeWMB"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Great George</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> on twitter, then you have seen one of these pictures!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My
PhD has became something extremely addictive, even though, for along a
period of time I have not got positive results. This non-stop apatite,
to keep on to achieve the main objectives of my research project, drags
me up long hours working into the lab, doing result analysis and
reading; whether that the output of my research could show a highly
impact on my field of study or not.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Of
course in most of the cases, PhD students are always wishing, in some
cases stating, that their research is going to have a huge impact on
their areas. I wouldn’t lie saying that see "one of my publications" on
the cover of one of those fancy journals or having loads of citations
are not part of my ambitions. Nevertheless, rather to have on my plate
such a heavy stress factor, I prefer do my best in something which could
be exciting and delightful to myself. In the meantime, I am really
anxious to see the output of my research project.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On
the other hand, getting out of the context of this post, I would like
to invite you to the Latin American Week, which will take place from
5-10 March 2012. Event organized for the School of Modern Languages:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sml/events/2012/17.html"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">“Week
long series of events including film screenings, translation workshops,
language taster session, portrait photography plus a Latin American
Forum in the Mall Galleries, Broadmead”</span></a></blockquote>
</div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/sml/media/hipla/semana2012.pdf"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline;">Click on me to see the program! </span></a><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13855652297410642142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-8854290438189138232012-02-16T21:40:00.001+00:002012-02-16T21:41:04.453+00:00James: A week @ NPL: Day 4<div><p>I went in today to make the most of my last two days at NPL. Only to find my sample torn in two by the test rig having gone haywire in the night. Tragedy, or maybe not I know exactly what time, temperature and force it broke. So now I have a high temperature fracture surface to investigate.<br>
So with extra data, although fortuitously, in hand I lay out the final few experiments required before I return to Bristol. I even found time to enjoy my lunch in the park by the River Thames, rather unseasonable 12 degrees in the Richmond area today.<br>
So I left this evening my final over night run with far less apprehension than you may anticipate as even if it goes wrong I can still take something away from it.<br>
One more sleep before the end of this little escapade.</p>
</div>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-7901200623339283632012-02-15T17:24:00.001+00:002012-02-15T17:24:51.532+00:00James: A week @ NPL: Day 3<div><p>Today was somewhat a different day again. After sleeping on my results, not literally, I was confident that I knew what was going on and that with some straight forward tests when I get home next week I will ascertain if I'm right or not.<br>
So I arrived at NPL to conduct my experiments totally unflustered and relaxed. And everything went as planned which left me at a little of a loss and to realise that it is quite difficult to procrastinate without the internet or friends around. Thus I got my head down and set about quite a boring day of writing. <br>
Hope to give you something more interesting to read tomorrow.</p>
</div>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-10559143592777697422012-02-14T17:41:00.001+00:002012-02-14T17:57:54.236+00:00James: A week @ NPL: Day 2<div><p>I found myself dragging my feet this morning, this was because after pondering over my experiment in the evening I felt that I only had one roll of the dice left before I may have to retreat home early with my tail between my legs. <br>
So I pottered around doing any other job I could think of before testing my experiment again, eventually just before lunch I bit the bullet (before my sandwich). Amazingly it did something whether it had done what wanted was going to have to wait until after my lunch. <br>
What I had change was the size of my samples, with thanks to the technicians at NPL. To give a little idea as to what I was up to, I was looking to conduct tests on metal samples to see how there resistivity changed with heat treatment but crucially this requires the sample getting hot when you put a high current through it. But yesterday when it didn't work the current density wasn't high enough thus making the samples smaller was an easy way to increase the current density running through the samples as I couldn't increase the current. <br>
So the vital question when I came back from lunch what had happened? Well the exact opposite of what I expected! But as with all science any result is a positive one, you just have to understand what it means.<br>
I have now also set one to run over night so we shall see what tomorrow brings.</p>
</div>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-78450830504387581332012-02-13T16:17:00.001+00:002012-02-13T16:17:27.593+00:00James: A week @ NPL - Day 1<div><p>Occasionally in research you need equipment that your university does not have so you are required to go away to another university or facility.<br>
I have had the opportunity to spend this week at the national physics laboratories to conduct some resistivity tests.<br>
With coming away to do work it means you spend a lot of time planning and preparing so you become naturally very invested and excited about the experiment you are going to do. Myself when I turned up this morning had butterflies and loads of nervous energy. But unfortunately this works both ways; almost immediately what we were looking to do failed, which was totally gut wrenching. Still NPL is an impressive facility and we have been able to use their workshop in order to 'rescue' the work. This is the nature of research however, the work you are doing has never been done before so even with your best guess you don't know what is actually going to happen.<br>
Looking forward to tomorrow (still) and a new attempt, let us hope I don't have to start again rethink.<br>
</p>
</div>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-90288160905723956172012-02-10T19:33:00.001+00:002012-02-10T19:34:30.795+00:00Angel: Random emails, epic moments!Sometimes is so fantastic check out your UoB email:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W3rXTZr9aIE/TzVwpxs6KeI/AAAAAAAAD0A/DagIr1PCjUI/s1600/email.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-W3rXTZr9aIE/TzVwpxs6KeI/AAAAAAAAD0A/DagIr1PCjUI/s400/email.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13855652297410642142noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-11007131560265140822012-02-03T12:00:00.000+00:002012-02-03T12:00:08.104+00:00James: Why do bookshops smell so good?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTgiDU0_Z3Qg3jCnQMyvzfmro-L5pY6fsDHlc30l7twzZc6MvuKvnuijYWuQL4n9dKh5JnMOAn5F0PtCR8jmPRCXL4al16iiTfw9vX2SdS9Z3LCjLU2njWUAmbwocPZRZ6-yb-EwuzcdC/s1600/800px-Plant_cell_showing_primary_and_secondary_wall_by_CarolineDahl+small.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 238px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNTgiDU0_Z3Qg3jCnQMyvzfmro-L5pY6fsDHlc30l7twzZc6MvuKvnuijYWuQL4n9dKh5JnMOAn5F0PtCR8jmPRCXL4al16iiTfw9vX2SdS9Z3LCjLU2njWUAmbwocPZRZ6-yb-EwuzcdC/s320/800px-Plant_cell_showing_primary_and_secondary_wall_by_CarolineDahl+small.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704621238933721314" /></a><br />I am sure we have all come across an old book at one time or another opened it merely to stick our noses in. I for one do for it gives me a sense of that I am learning from the past. But little did I know, until very recently, that the compound that causes this blissful olfaction is one of the most common forms of organic polymer with only <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellulose">cellulose</a><span><span></span></span> more abundant.<div><br /></div><div><br /><br /><div>What I am talking about is Lignin; a complex chemical compound which acts as a main part of the secondary cell wall, in the plant cell diagram by Caroline Dahl you can see the secondary wall labelled. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>So how and why old books, well the lignin is relatively aromatic as it is the key is when it breaks down over time one of the products being very closely related to vanillin. Which is the main extract of the vanilla bean. So that sweet scent emanating from the very pages of our favourite old books is due to the active decomposition of the ancient molecule that was once constructed by a tree in order to keep it's cell strong and protected from pathogens. It gives quite a view to the world around to think that so much must have come before to get us to where we are now. And with that poignant thought I leave you.</div>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-649336797376882002012-01-10T00:02:00.001+00:002012-01-10T00:42:44.532+00:00Milly: Make some cheese!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I really like cheese. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After some cheese based internet cruising I realised that I could realistically make some myself and so I set forth on a mission to curdle myself a brick of paneer. Since it is easy, cheap and fun (for those who don't get grossed out by things that look like vomit) I have decided to share with you, the joy of curdling.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">SCIENCE BIT</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Curdling. That thing you accidentally do during cooking when you add cold milk to hot things or when you leave milk in the fridge for so long that it gets a little chunky. Curdling milk is a necessary first step to make all cheeses. It occurs because, on addition of acid (lemon juice, vinegar or from the product of bacteria), the milk coagulates, no longer existing as a nice stable emulsion anymore but separating out into curds (solid) and whey (liquid). When you mix oil and water, an emulsion, eventually the oil will rise to the surface; this is the same with curdling as the more buoyant curds will float up and sit atop the watery whey, hoorwhey! For cheeses that wish to be hard, rennet must be added (extract of calf stomach), forming more cohesive curdling action via the action of enzymes. These cheeses go on to be inoculated with mould and what not but here I will simply demonstrate curdling cow's milk, with lemon juice, to form paneer, a simple cheese used in indian cookery (bit like solidified cottage cheese).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">COOKING BIT</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 1: Heat up a large amount of full fat milk (and only full fat). I used 4 pints. Use a medium heat and keep stirring or it may burn on the bottom (if this happens don't scrape it off, this will make things worse). At this stage you can add herbs/spices if you fancy.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iGff-8uzELs/TwMrkZCyPrI/AAAAAAAAAHU/dkFyFrQESpo/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iGff-8uzELs/TwMrkZCyPrI/AAAAAAAAAHU/dkFyFrQESpo/s320/photo.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 2: Once the milk is properly boiling (before this happens the milk might balloon into a giant dairy cloud so be ready to turn the heat down) add about half a lemon's worth of juice and stir gently. It should start to look disgusting, as shown in the picture. It should progress through the vomit stage (below) and start to look more lumpy, like overcooked scrambled eggs. If this doesn't happen add more lemon juice (shouldn't need more than 1 lemon if using 4 pints). If desired curdling has not been achieved, you may need to start again (this can happen if the milk is not hot enough).</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFBfI4_TkbA/TwMrmd5JpYI/AAAAAAAAAHc/C3A2EUgLWKM/s1600/photo2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFBfI4_TkbA/TwMrmd5JpYI/AAAAAAAAAHc/C3A2EUgLWKM/s320/photo2.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 3: Pour the appealing mixture through a piece of muslin (try Kitchens, Whiteladies Road) sat in a colander and give it a rinse with cold water until the mixture is cool enough to handle. Give it a good squeeze to get out excess whey, wrap it up in the cloth tightly and sit a weight on top (big pan with tins in should do it). </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3a0Tl5qZ78/TwMroCRvghI/AAAAAAAAAHk/MenBXXTmpTo/s1600/photo3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-P3a0Tl5qZ78/TwMroCRvghI/AAAAAAAAAHk/MenBXXTmpTo/s320/photo3.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Step 4: After about an hour the paneer should be a relatively solid block but it will probably still be quite crumbly.<br /><div><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_c7P1PxrDgM/TwMrqP7wltI/AAAAAAAAAHs/soqBLPA9Qgc/s1600/photo4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_c7P1PxrDgM/TwMrqP7wltI/AAAAAAAAAHs/soqBLPA9Qgc/s320/photo4.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 5: Cook the paneer! I fried mine in some oil to stop it from falling apart when I added it to a curry.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LmBU_Slkw34/TwMrsOyWKmI/AAAAAAAAAH0/Puq5V3B9Uwg/s1600/photo5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LmBU_Slkw34/TwMrsOyWKmI/AAAAAAAAAH0/Puq5V3B9Uwg/s320/photo5.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br /><br />If you fancy a cheap meat alternative or something to make a lovely curry out of have a bash. I like cheese and I hope you do too.<br /><br /></div>Millyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06767548280221640828noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-88702354639755074312012-01-02T00:40:00.003+00:002012-01-02T00:54:20.129+00:00James: Christmas Lectures<a href="http://brucemhood.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/hood1.jpg?w=300&h=200"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://brucemhood.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/hood1.jpg?w=300&h=200" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Now into the new year but a quite not over the christmas period so I suggest you look back to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b018l6vy/">'Royal Institution Christmas Lectures'</a>.(They are all available on iplayer)<div><br /><div>The man to give them this year, pictured here, is one of Bristol's very own Bruce Hood. Whom may already be known to you as he was<a href="http://bristoluniversityfacultyofscience.blogspot.com/2011/05/papi-what-do-you-believe-in.html"> interviewed</a> for this very blog by Papi. </div><div><br /></div></div>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-43765702295184705722011-12-12T12:38:00.000+00:002011-12-12T12:38:19.031+00:00Science, poetry, funding and innovationTwo interesting articles in the Saturday Guardian struck me as worth mentioning. First, poet Ruth Padel, author of Darwin: a Life in Poems, talks about <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/09/ruth-padel-science-poetry?INTCMP=SRCH">The Science of Poetry, The Poetry of Science</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Poetry is about feeling, science is about facts. They're nothing to do with each other!" The A-level students in a school I visited last week were passionate on this point. Behind them was Keats, urging them on. "Philosophy," Keats said – meaning science – "would clip an angel's wings." Science was out to dissolve beauty, "Conquer all mysteries by rule and line, / Empty the haunted air and gnomed mine – / Unweave a rainbow …" Edgar Allen Poe agreed. Science was a "vulture" that shrivelled wonder. "Hast thou not torn the Naiad from her flood, / The Elfin from the green grass; and from me. / The summer dream beneath the tamarind tree?" </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I think this over-romanticises both poetry and science, which have got on fine for two millennia and today are enriching their dialogue. Michael Symmonds Roberts's collection Corpus came out of a conversation with scientists mapping the genome. Jo Shapcott's collection Of Mutability is expanding poetry's audiences in the medical community.</blockquote>
Padel (who mentions Erasmus Darwin - see <a href="http://bristoluniversityfacultyofscience.blogspot.com/2011/11/sir-paul-nurse-and-poetry.html">my previous post</a>), sums up: "The deepest thing science and poetry share, perhaps, is the way they can tolerate uncertainty. They have a modesty in common: they do not have to say they're right. True, perhaps. Or just truer. "A scientist should be the first to say he doesn't know," a tiger biologist told me when I asked some detail of tiger behaviour. "A scientist goes forward towards truth but never gets there." (Read the full article <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/09/ruth-padel-science-poetry?INTCMP=SRCH">here</a>.)<br />
<br />
This might not seem to be precisely the case if you head over to Philip Ball's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/09/science-funding-creativ-philip-ball">article</a> in another section of the newspaper, where he is bemoaning the conservatism of funding bodies:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The kind of idle pastime that might amuse physicists is to imagine drafting Einstein's grant applications in 1905. "I propose to investigate the idea that light travels in little bits," one might say. "I will explore the possibility that time slows down as things speed up," goes another. Imagine what comments these would have elicited from reviewers for the German Science Funding Agency, had such a thing existed. Instead, Einstein just did the work anyway while drawing his wages as a technical expert third-class at the Bern patent office. And that is how he invented quantum physics and relativity. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The moral seems to be that really innovative ideas don't get funded – that the system is set up to exclude them.</blockquote>
As Ball says: "your proposal has to specify exactly what you are going to achieve. But how can you know the results before you have done the experiments, unless you are aiming to prove the bleeding obvious?" He talks about a new scheme being initiated by the US National Science Foundation to fund "'unusually creative high-risk/high-reward interdisciplinary proposals'. In other words, it is looking for new ideas that might not work, but which would be massive if they do." Read the full article <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/dec/09/science-funding-creativ-philip-ball">here</a>.<br />
<br />
This fund, called CREATIV (not a very creative choice), might want to take some hints from poets about unknowns and uncertainties, perhaps?! What are your thoughts - whether you are a poet, scientist or scientist-poet!Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-28991199537171260112011-11-30T19:25:00.002+00:002011-12-08T11:00:19.503+00:00Milly: Deep sea flashers<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIPfzEaAZbCaLXITZGdY7MI0f1s60nuvHuxcc9QVnKz3h4QPQQSysPlxICjQByg8P9J-noqfKINF7bD8gy5hQdtB2sE0MxtQBy0IxgJ2aIO3CfSB6cnxAxUf38FdYhg0bSK8M_XFTm6s/s1600/deep+sea+squid+camouflage.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 113px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDIPfzEaAZbCaLXITZGdY7MI0f1s60nuvHuxcc9QVnKz3h4QPQQSysPlxICjQByg8P9J-noqfKINF7bD8gy5hQdtB2sE0MxtQBy0IxgJ2aIO3CfSB6cnxAxUf38FdYhg0bSK8M_XFTm6s/s320/deep+sea+squid+camouflage.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680899950307783698" /></a><br />Some brilliant <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15654086">research</a> by Sarah Zylinski that came out of the deep sea research cruise in 2010. Strange to think that even in deep, dark, remote regions, animals still need camouflage...<div><br /></div><div>A link to the paper <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982211011389">here.</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Millyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06767548280221640828noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-70951953568709107902011-11-23T10:00:00.002+00:002011-11-23T10:00:03.736+00:00Tom Troscianko, 1953-2011<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnD8BsROHJTK1ngqLaoevafQ8ObwoecMTjpcAlpgmPoccU93CIQJUQduY_5tV71wg76rg5K3mZKRhtLhixjTWxvEBQKIMifQMP0v8Mj74iLuKmR3NSm4RafuEuBaX1OY1T6IiVVbWhkeo/s1600/troscianko.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 154px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnD8BsROHJTK1ngqLaoevafQ8ObwoecMTjpcAlpgmPoccU93CIQJUQduY_5tV71wg76rg5K3mZKRhtLhixjTWxvEBQKIMifQMP0v8Mj74iLuKmR3NSm4RafuEuBaX1OY1T6IiVVbWhkeo/s320/troscianko.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5677952578449047058" border="0" /></a><br />Professor <a href="http://psychology.psy.bris.ac.uk/people/tomtroscianko.htm">Troscianko</a> was a unique lecturer and I was fortunate enough to be one of his students.<br /><br />I was really shocked and sad when I heard that he died on the 16th of November.<br /><br />I know that his students, his fellow colleagues and most importantly his family will miss him greatly.<br /><br />Professor Iain Gilchrist has summed up Tom's life and work in his <a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/news/2011/8058.html">obituary.</a><br /><br />When it comes to death, especially the death of such a larger than life personality it is hard to find the words to express feelings. I will always remember his lectures, not only because he always had pictures of him in a bathing suit (?!) but because he was passionate about his work and most of all he was passionate about life.Papihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18136397887182989040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-61925931398146360192011-11-22T12:25:00.001+00:002011-11-22T12:47:31.914+00:00Sir Paul Nurse and Poetry<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqh5CDvFLQYYtprsnXUWYSq1tWUFyc1KwuPt5AobvmXlKhIbk02OgWYmyEiOSWjX6cT-BSiXIQG9haN_aqnPeQCjgTS0TJm2CZBGVHhdpiAHZ0WbyxsvPY3Hrhkw-2VAH_xPhrBXBsUeq/s1600/paul-nurse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSqh5CDvFLQYYtprsnXUWYSq1tWUFyc1KwuPt5AobvmXlKhIbk02OgWYmyEiOSWjX6cT-BSiXIQG9haN_aqnPeQCjgTS0TJm2CZBGVHhdpiAHZ0WbyxsvPY3Hrhkw-2VAH_xPhrBXBsUeq/s200/paul-nurse.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo: Royal Society</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
There were two great events held here in Bristol last night, one at the University and one at the Bristol Old Vic, and I was hoping against hope that I would find a connection between them to make this blog post flow! And... what do you know? I did. The first was <a href="http://royalsociety.org/people/paul-nurse/">Sir Paul Nurse</a>, president of the Royal Society, Nobel Prize winner, geneticist, president of Rockefeller University New York... all-round very very interesting scientist and excellent talker-about-science! He was giving the Sir Anthony Epstein lecture at the Wills Tower, in the largest, cathedral-like space, which was packed to the rafters... His topic was "Great Ideas in Biology" and he was quick to point out that these weren't THE great ideas in biology but his pick of great ideas... although he felt that most people would agree on 4 out of the 5.<br />
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So, what were his great ideas? Well: The Cell, The Gene, Evolution by Natural Selection, Life as Chemistry (and Physics) and the fifth, possibly contentious one, Biology as an Organized System, by which he meant looking at the biological networks and how they are structured, looking at the flow of "information", at the system as an information carrier.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7OIr2IAxR2KOMr5oeVFn-McAWON86NHEE8A0J7kUxEVjopX2arHEBq4NX45LHU1R4lipel_5NUoD60yvUmKdYEWNvWa57zXVX5dyLhCmYh2YbVd2jY9PJ8-I-IWjQt49L5LDfxsODM0l/s1600/erasmus-darwin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7OIr2IAxR2KOMr5oeVFn-McAWON86NHEE8A0J7kUxEVjopX2arHEBq4NX45LHU1R4lipel_5NUoD60yvUmKdYEWNvWa57zXVX5dyLhCmYh2YbVd2jY9PJ8-I-IWjQt49L5LDfxsODM0l/s320/erasmus-darwin.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
It was all fascinating stuff, some of which I already knew a bit of, but always good to be reminded what a chromosome is, for example... with some great slides and historical perspective! I was then heading to a poetry event, so, I hear you ask, how are the two connected?? Well, it was at Great Idea Number 3, which you would assume centred around one Charles Darwin. But no, in fact Sir Paul wanted to focus on Charles' grandad, Erasmus, who was the first to talk about evolution (Charles later supplied the vast quantities of data to prove it). Not only that, apparently Erasmus - who was a colourful figure, so large that he cut an oval out of his dining table so he might sit rather nearer to his supper, and fathered 14 children - was a poet, at one time "one of the best known poets in England"! And not only that, he wrote much of his scientific reports in blank verse! (See Jenny Uglow on Erasmus Darwin's poetry in <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/sep/21/featuresreviews.guardianreview30">The Guardian</a>). The<a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/erasmus-darwin"> Poetry Foundation</a> gives us his poem,<a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/237380"> The Botanic Garden</a>, and here is an excerpt:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div id="aeaoofnhgocdbnbeljkmbjdmhbcokfdb-mousedown" style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
“You taught mysterious Bacon to explore</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Metallic veins, and part the dross from ore;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
With sylvan coal in whirling mills combine</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
The crystal’d nitre, and the sulphurous mine;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Through wiry nets the black diffusion strain,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
And close an airy ocean in a grain.—</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Pent in dark chambers of cylindric brass,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Slumbers in grim repose the sooty mass;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Lit by the brilliant spark, from grain to grain</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Runs the quick fire along the kindling train;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
On the pain’d ear-drum bursts the sudden crash</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Starts the red-flame, and death pursues the flash.—</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Fear’s feeble hand directs the fiery darts,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
And strength and courage yield to chemic arts;</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
Guilt with pale brow the mimic thunder owns,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #505050; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; line-height: 24px; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
And tyrants tremble on their blood-stain’d thrones.</div>
</blockquote>
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Stirring stuff! Now the poets I went to see after this lecture, <a href="http://planetshapedhorse.blogspot.com/"><b>Luke Kennard</b></a> and<b> <a href="http://www.recreationground.blogspot.com/">Tom Philips</a></b>, did not deal directly with biology but I feel that Erasmus D would have enjoyed the evening, which moved from a searing critique/love poem about Portishead to a tale of the Murderer being taken for a haircut. I was immensely impressed by the whole event, organised monthly by<b> <a href="http://citychameleon.co.uk/wordofmouth/">Word of Mouth</a> - </b> highly recommended if you are in the vicinity!<br />
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So, an evening of poetry, biology and biological poetry, what more could I have wanted?Tania Hershmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15781460794034586895noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3469596827686904343.post-88810781128771839512011-11-11T13:21:00.006+00:002011-11-11T16:44:00.053+00:00James:A Nuclear Renaissance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.nrcuk.net/index.html"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 202px; height: 135px;" src="http://www.nrcuk.net/Images/Main/nrc1.png" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.nrcuk.net/index.html"><br /></a> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Nuclear has had some what of a bad reputation of late, to such an extent that up until the white paper in 2009 there was to be no British nuclear future. As a man who grew up from the age of 4 saying 'I want to be a nuclear physicist' this was very worrying. However, now the tides have turned as realisation has come that, for whatever reason you chose, energy generation can not last on fossil fuels alone and we want power not just when the wind blows and the sun shines. So sorry folks but we need nuclear.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Now I personally was very proud to be part of the launch of the new </span><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://www.nrcuk.net/">Nuclear Research Centre</a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> which will be mainly hosted by Bristol and Oxford universities supported by industry. This is, as the Minister of State </span><a style="font-family: georgia;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Hendry">Charles Hendry</a><span style="font-family:georgia;"> put it is 'the begin of a nuclear renaissance'. Which was highlighted by the demographic in the room as 'networking' began over sandwiches and tea. Britain has been out of the nuclear game too long, so there was a generation gap between those heading and steering the centre and us new guys looking to do the 'on the ground' research. It was alluded to during one of the opening speeches that this is a long term set of goals being created so they aren't for those setting the questions but more the eager minds of the new nuclear research generation coming through.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">Although I may look to be coming from a rather one eyed perspective I think this is a great thing and the first of many steps in the right direction which I hope to be a part of. Another key aspect that will set the NRC apart is that the research will be split into three main areas; first advanced research into generation 4 fission reactors and generation 1 fusion, secondly applied research looking to make the most of the energy produced and finally and possibly most importantly 'Nuclear Futures' a group dedicated to the social and environmental issues. So this will see working together as one not just the physicists, chemists, engineers but also those from the social sciences.</span> <span style="font-family:georgia;">I believe this is a good thing, and Tuesday could turn out to be a momentous occasion, not only for the country but also for Bristol University going forward to be the leader in yet another field.</span>Jedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04716809188722214136noreply@blogger.com0