(& a big ‘thank you!’ to Jean Fleming for showing me this on Facebook) This video featuring philosopher A.C. Grayling, on the BBC’s ‘Future’ page (which alas! did not give an embed code), is a must watch for those concerned with (& about) science literacy. Noting that many people feel excluded by science, he explains […]
Continue readingMonth: May 2013
pretty jelly
I’ve got heaps on at work at the moment, but there’s always time to share a lovely picture 🙂 So here’s the stunning Australian spotted jellyfish, Phyllorhiza punctata. It’s native to Australian waters but has apparently become an invasive species elsewhere (eg in the Gulf of Mexico). And yes, I found it on FB: Photo: Mister […]
Continue readinga great synopsis of evolution? no, i don’t think so
The great & wonderful FB (</snark>) this morning delivered me a link to this video, describing it as ‘a great depiction of the process of evolution’. To which, having watched it, I can only say, ‘no, I don’t think so’. Why? Well, apart from the music (repetitive rap-style tracks don’t do a lot for me, […]
Continue readingperhaps the most inspiring graduation address i have ever heard
At the recent graduation ceremony for students from Waikato University’s Faculty of Science & Engineering (& those from its sister Faculty, Computing & Mathematical Sciences), we were privileged to hear an absolutely inspirational address from the recipient of an honorary Doctorate at that ceremony: Dr Gordon Stephenson. And I mean, inspirational! After the event I […]
Continue readingthought-provoking video, pity about the title…
… for I fear the title (not to mention the image below!) of this video by Thunderf00t would put many off if they were not forewarned. A real pity, as the video contains some thought-provoking ideas, eg: the total value of a discovery is the product of data (the utility of an idea) & metadata (can […]
Continue readingout of the mouths of students
We’ve been trialling some software for on-line paper/teaching appraisals & I got my results back the other day. The appraisal form included open-ended questions where students could give extended feedback on particular issues that concerned them, & I’ve been going through it all so that I can give feedback in my turn, thus ‘closing the […]
Continue readingaquatic apes & custard elephants
The ‘aquatic ape’ hypothesis (it can’t be described as a theory) has been around for quite a while, & in fact I’ve blogged about it before. So I was sorry to hear that Sir David Attenborough, who’s done so much to promote conservation issues and enhance our understanding of the natural world, appeared to have […]
Continue readingselling services on-line
Yesterday’s Sunday Star-Times carried the headline: Chinese cheats rort NZ universities with fakes. The story begins: An investigation has uncovered a well-organised commercial cheating service for Chinese-speaking students in New Zealand. The long-standing business uses a network of tutors, some outside New Zealand, to write original assignments ordered by Chinese-speaking students attending New Zealand universities, […]
Continue readingthe gastric-brooding frog – not quite back from the dead
I first found out about gastric-brooding frogs (Rheobatrachus silus) when reading Stephen Jay Gould’s essay "Here Goes Nothing" (as published in the 1991 book Bully for Brontosaurus). As he said, these frogs really do live up to their name: the frog swallows its fertilised eggs, broods tadpoles in its stomach, and gives birth to young frogs […]
Continue readingsee-through creatures
This is a 'glass frog' (image from National Geographic): It's one of a number of transparent or translucent creatures featured on the National Geographic's "Weird & Wild" blog. (Actually I take issue with the Monarch butterfly image there, as strictly speaking we're seeing a transparent pupal case; the butterfly inside is definitely not see-through.) Glass […]
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