Tooth Fairy Palaces and Ivory Towers

OK, so I didn’t get my choice of title on the article. But here’s a taste:

Sara and Gina are collecting baby teeth, to build a palace.

Gina: “The experiment has gone so far, without even being made, that it’s become an interesting journey. What we saw as the end was actually the start.”

Sara: “And the end doesn’t matter so much.”

Gina: “There is no end. But I don’t want to be sticking teeth to a sculpture for the next ten years.”

Anna Perman and I wrote a final major article for the Inside Knowledge blog collaboration with the Imperial College Blast research group. It’s about science outreach: why do scientists do it, what is it for and can it be a bad thing? They’re big questions to tackle, and we can’t offer anything more than informed thoughts. If you’re into science, either on the doing, communicating or hearing about side of things, I’d love it if you could read the article and leave your thoughts either here or over on PLoS.

My new job, starting mid September, will be helping to co-ordinate science outreach with Lottolab Studio. And it means I get to play with giant colourful dice.

Space for reflection

For the next couple of weeks I’ll be in a dissertation-induced haze, and won’t be posting much here (well, nothing original or major at least). Here’s a picture!

Somewhere on the wild South Coast of New South Wales; a blustering southerly wind, dark clouds on the horizon and a view through the bushes from on top of my little car. Breathe in, and smell the fresh, salty air!

Bike, buildings, and a new design

This post does what it says in the title. Let’s do things in order, yeah?

Lonely bikes like this can be found all over Berlin.

This building is stunning. It's also huge. While the weather wasn't great, the sky made a dramatic backdrop.

Potsdamer Platz has gone through several incarnations; this is the most modern and dramatic architecture it's seen so far.

And finally, I stumbled across this blog design late last night. I like it a lot – simple, clean, with a dark border which brings out photos but still a white background for text. I think I’m going to stick with it for a while; let me know your thoughts!

Is this the design I will settle upon?

And other important questions.

Actually, no, just that one.

The header is a placeholder, I’m sure I’ll design a new one. So is the background, but I did want something dark around the edges to make it distinct where the edges lie.

Couple of things I’d like your thoughts on – is the header area too big, and do you like the fact that the posts go on to single pages when you click on them (ie the right sidebar disappears)?

As a bonus for being patient with me, if you give feedback, feel free to leave a suggestion for a blog topic/random question you’d like answered. I’ll pick one and do it!

Eden in vivid sepia.

 

The tinkering continues

I’m not sure if I like this. There is a bit too much obtrusive stuff. Hmmm. Currently struggling to find a theme I like! Any thoughts on this one?

Oh, and just to make your click here worthwhile, a photo: