Monday 25 August 2014

Link Round-up 25th August 2014

It's another Bank Holiday Monday! Yey! This week I've found some interesting links mostly looking at gender issues in science from the gender balanceto Field's Medal winners.
  1. Fantastic news! We finally have a female winner of the Fields Medal, which is a bit like the Nobel Prize for maths. It's just a shame that it took until 2014 for a woman to win one don't you think?
  2. An interesting article on the conversation caught my eye this week, about the argument (which I think isn't an argument at all) of whether girls aren't able to do science or just don't want to do it. It's a  really good read which suggests that we should get busy fixing the problem, rather than going on about the drivers behind it.
  3. Laura Bates (of Everyday Sexism) recently wrote a really great article in the Guardian addressing the 'reasons' people like to use to justify elements of sexism that we still see in society today. This is one of my favourite articles I've seen from Laura, but you should check out her other work too.
  4. It's been a long held idea that heart tissue doesn't have a repair mechanism. However, a team from Vanderbilt University have observed that cells from the blood vessels in the heart can become heart muscle cells, albeit at a very slow rate. This is a fantastic and interesting piece of research, which could also indicate other ways in which heart diseases can damage the heart. Fingers crossed this knowledge might be able to be converted into medical treatments.

And finally, the results of the Hugo Awards, the premier awards in genre fiction, have been announced. Best Novel went to Ann Leckie for Ancillary Justice with the Game of Thrones episode The Rains of Castamere winning the Best Dramatic Presentation (short form) Award.
Currently Watching Doctor Who! The eleventh hour is over and the clock strikes twelve. I saw Deep Breath in the cinema on Saturday and I can't wait to see the rest of the eighth series of Doctor Who. Roll on next Saturday! 
Currently Listening to The Blinding Knife audio book. In preparation for the release of the next volume in the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks being released, I'm refreshing my memory of what happened in the last book. If you hadn't ready The Black Prism or The Blinding Knife, you should!


Monday 18 August 2014

Nine Worlds Geekfest 2014

I'm now back at work after an awesome weekend (and following week off) at Nine Worlds geekfest. What is a geekfest? You may ask. We'll you're about to find out. A geekfest is a celebration (unsurprisingly) of all things geeky, from Doctor Who to SF and Fantasy books, from Steampunk and Science. It's actually quite hard to explain the scope of the event from the number of different tracks to the different activities you could do. Listen to an academic presentation, go see a panel of great authors be quizzed on genre fiction, get your books signed by said authors, learn to (I kid you not) water dance from the First Sword of Bravos (What do we say to people who don't get that reference? Not today), see a science comedy show, take part in a writing workshop, join in a LARP, dance away the night to a Queen tribute band and so, so much more. Whatever your choice of geekery (except boardgames this year *sad face*) Nine Worlds probably had something there for you. They even had a program item to do with (bubble) football.

As this post waxes lyrical, follow the link below to read more about my adventures.

Monday 11 August 2014

Weekly Round-up Monday 11th August

When you read this I'll have just finished having an incredibly geeky weekend at Nine Worlds Geekfest in Heathrow. If you want to know more about my convention adventures you're in luck as I'll be bringing you my Nine Worlds convention diary next week. However, today it's time for a weekly round-up and in honour of Nine Worlds I'm going to be looking at some of the conventions coming up soon which you should be looking at going to.
  1. On Thursday World Con, the world science fiction convention, comes to London in the form of Loncon3. Loncon will be celebrating all kinds of science fiction and fantasy works from TV to tabletop board gaming with a strong focus on literature. Some highlights include George RR Martin and Robin Hobb's readings and panels. Attendees will never be stuck for something to do that's for sure.
  2. The first ever Sheffield Film and Comic Con will be taking place later this month at the Sheffield Arena! So far guests include Burn Gorman, Eve Myles, Paul McGann and John Rhys Davis to name but a few. As it's so close to home for me it would be rude not to go and I wouldn't be taking full advantage if I didn't use it as a fantastic shopping opportunity either!
  3. I've never been to an MCM Expo, something which I'm planning to change in the next year. MCM run a pretty packed program of conventions all over the country, so there's bound to be one relatively close by (normal venues include Manchester, London and Birmingham). The only downside is that guests are often not announced to the last minute so you don't always know who you're going to be seeing.
  4. Should you be going next year? Definitely! Ok maybe wait until you read my diary,  (I'm writing this before the convention so you never know, it might not have been good this year) but then get your tickets booked at the super early bird rate. Nine Worlds is one of the more expensive conventions on this list, but it is also one of the ones with the most to do, so it all balances out.
And finally, it's slightly old news by now, but the season 8 premier of Doctor Who will be streaming to cinema's around the country, along with bonus content and a live Q and A from London's Leicester Square Odeon. Also, tickets are now on sale for the Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular, a concert celebrating the music of Doctor Who, conducted by the amazing Ben Foster, which should be coming to an Arena near you.

Currently Reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, so I'm behind the times, but I'm very much enjoying catching up on this excellent book. If you like Brent Weeks or GRRM you'll love this!
Currently Playing Dungeons and Dragons 5E, I may not have known what to expect at first, but I really love 5E so far and I can't wait to get my hands on the players handbook later this week. If you want to get into Dungeons and Dragons and don't know where to start the D&D Starter Set is a great place to begin your quest.

Monday 4 August 2014

Bad Science - A Review

Every now and again you come across something you feel you have to shout about from the rooftops. Recently I've been reading Bad Science by Ben Goldacre and it is definitely in that category. In short it's a must read for everyone. If I was suddenly made Prime Minister tomorrow I would put this book on the curriculum as a compulsory text. Basically, it's a really important book.

We live in a world built and defined by scientific advancement. Science and engineering powered the industrial revolution, many people are kept alive by a cocktail of scientific discoveries and we carry technology in our pockets everywhere we go which could only be found in science fiction in the not so distant past. Therefore, isn't it important that as a society we are well informed about the innovation that powers our lives? Is it right that the media are constantly reinforcing the message that science is hard? I think that it is almost impossible to make a viable argument that it is a good thing to have a public who aren't engaged in one of the most important cornerstones of their daily lives.

However, I digress. What is Bad Science about? What is it that defines it as a really important read? Bad Science is basically a guidebook to help people see the real science behind the fluff we are often presented with in the media. When did you last see a newspaper story claiming food X will prevent cancer? I'd guess it was pretty recently, and often journalists overstate the effectiveness of these sorts of studies. It's unfortunate, but in order to produce more exciting column inches and sell papers huge sweeping statements are much more appealing than working through the minutia of a piece of research. If you'd like to cut through this kind of hype and see the truth in science stories, then Bad Science is the book for you. It does a really great job of giving us a tool kit to try and see through the spin, advertising and news coverage into the heart of what's actually going on. By using case studies Goldacre looks at various fields from the tablets that make you smarter, to homoeopathy and the unfounded MMR scare. Don't worry this isn't a stuffy textbook; Bad Science is well written with a great sense of humour. However, no amount of humour can cover up the often concerning nature of the material Goldacre addresses. For example, from the book I learnt that the experts chosen and quoted by the media, might not be quite so expert after all and, even more worryingly, health scares tend to be reported on by non specialist correspondents. I'll certainly be bearing these points in mind when the next big scare comes along.

To me, the key thing that makes Bad Science great is its accessibility. You don't need any prior knowledge of science or journalism to enjoy it. In many ways it simply tells us that science is for everyone, and that with a bit of thought you can see through the journalistic haze right into the heart of an issue. One of my favourite aspects of the book was how it looked at the placebo effect in quite a lot of detail, and I now want to find out more about how our mind and body can be influence each other.

Bad Science isn't perfect. There are times when Goldacre talks about a subject and I found myself thinking "Yes that would be great in an ideal world, but is that achievable?". I also think that there are some issues with the "Bad Stats" chapter as there seems to be a skirting of experimental error (on which I have made my views clear in the past). However, as a window into the world of journalism and why so many people get swept up in bogus claims about wonder cures, it is brilliant. I will most definitely be getting myself a copy of Bad Pharma, the follow up to Bad Science which focuses on the pharmaceutical industry, very soon. So, do yourself a favour and get reading!

Bad Science is published by 4th Estate in paperback and has an RRP of £8.99. At the time of writing it could be found online for around £6.50 or as an ebook for under £4.