Alright, there really is no humble way of putting this. My new book [*blush*], having been trailed as “imminent” for several months, is now officially available. In all good booksellers, as they say (and they actually do say this). I’ll be… Read More ›
Okay, the official movie — featuring full slides and audio — has been made… Thanks to Chris Noone for the soundtrack (from the official PSI EGG talking-head version); background to the keynote as per here and here. As a reminder, the audience was a… Read More ›
So here’s something to get the pulse racing. And that’s all there is to it. Sorry if it means absolutely nothing. Despite a tidal wave of news coverage, the only newsworthy element here is that the manufacturers of this so-called “smart… Read More ›
My three-year old daughter is now doing ‘science’ in pre-school. It’s all neat contrasts: stuff that floats vs. stuff that doesn’t; stuff that is magnetic vs. stuff that isn’t; stuff that is soluble vs. stuff that is “in-soluble, Daddy”. Hopefully… Read More ›
“New Study Debunks Prior Belief” is a pretty common format for science news headlines, especially in any area of science that deals with how human beings behave, what they believe, and what values are important to them (psychology, in other… Read More ›
Here are the slides from my lecture from the other week to the Psychological Society at the National University of Ireland, Galway. It’s all about how psychologists — academics in the main — take up biased starting positions in processes… Read More ›
Well, guess what. Only yet another cosmetics advert has been pulled. A cosmetics advert? Pulled? Honestly? Gee whizz. I am in total shock here. I mean, how could this possibly have happened?! It truly does beggar belief. This time, it’s an ad… Read More ›
I am generally nonplussed by birthdays. And I realise that blog posts about blog posts can sometimes be boring. However, as I’m an obsessive hoarder and a data geek, in this case I am going to make an exception. You… Read More ›
L’Oréal are at it again. Today the UK Advertising Standards Authority have once more come down hard on one of their advertisements, which has now been banned. The ad was deemed flawed in one pretty critical respect. It was flagrantly… Read More ›
We already know that men are pigs, but now we also know that men are the kind of pigs who corrupt the morality of dogs. And how do we know this? Well, scientists have discovered it, and the media are… Read More ›
![Not the world's seven billionth person, with her parents this morning. [Note: Unlike Plan International, I am choosing to pixelate the face of this unconsenting minor]](https://thesciencebitdotnet.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/nargis.jpg?w=120&h=120&crop=1)
Typically, I get uncomfortable when I’m in the presence of more than, say, five other people. Therefore, you might expect me to be particularly perturbed by reports that the world’s population reached seven billion people earlier today, 31 October 2011. Such… Read More ›
I don’t know much about Marie Claire, but it appears to be some sort of magazine/website for people who hate women. At least, that’s the conclusion I drew from reading this story in their UK edition’s Health News section: “Women Think… Read More ›
When it comes to questionable science claims in advertising, you rarely need to look further than the cosmetics industry. Just two weeks ago, two magazine advertisements by French cosmetics giant L’Oréal were banned by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority following a complaint by… Read More ›
There is no doubt that in our increasingly image-conscious and superficially focused times, age discrimination presents a creeping civil rights problem. The tendency to judge the professional and social worth of a person on the basis of his or her… Read More ›
