I’m an occasional contributor to Scibernia, the Science podcast also broadcast on Near fm. Too occasional, unfortunately. While I’ve done a few reports for the project, scheduling problems mean I rarely get a chance to sit in on the studio …
Tag Archive: science
Jan
17
Poll positions
Fine Gael senator Catherine Noone writes about a phone poll of local councillors attitudes: “Two-thirds of Councillors from the two Government parties would support changes to the Croke Park Agreement, according to this survey carried out by my office. A …
Nov
15
Concern at post-graduate cutbacks
The director general of the statutory body charged with funding basic science research has expressed his concern at proposals to abolish funding for postgraduate students. Dr Graham Love was speaking at the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Summit in Athlone, an …
Jul
26
Numbers Game
If you haven’t read Carl Sagan’s ‘Contact’, and dislike spoilers, stop reading now. ‘Contact’ is an epic novel about SETI and first contact, and Sagan uses the theme to explore intersections between science and religion. Evidence of alien intelligence causes …
Jun
27
The Wild Irish
“Politics with Hidden Bases” looked at Irish TDs, and found Fianna Fáil TDs are more likely than average to have Gaelic surnames, while Fine Gael have an above-average number of Old English surnames. The explanation offered is that in patriarchal …
Sep
24
The Conor Project
Last week Conor Lenihan planned to launch an anti-science screed. Then the taoiseach had a bad night, and the story died. But I was curious, so I sent an email to every sitting TD. Quoting the Project Steve statement, I …
Sep
14
News talk
Yesterday, the news cycle covered Conor Lenihan’s proposed launch of a book on creationism. The science minister began by defending the gig as a favour to a friend, then the story went away when the invitation was withdrawn. This afternoon …
Sep
11
In the beginning was the word
There was a time when book burning mattered. Once upon a time, religions enforced dictates by burning books containing the wrong opinions. To be orthodox was, literally, to hold the right opinion. And just in case that didn’t work, heretics …
May
28
Failure to communicate
I attended a seminar on the chilling effects of libel this evening, hosted by the Science Gallery in TCD. Simon Singh spoke about his successful fight against the British Chiropractic Association, and Peter Wilmshurst spoke of his ongoing battle with …
May
21
It’s Alive!
This week, scientists created artificial life. Well, sort of. Truth is, once you snip away the press release puff and spin, it’s more a case that scientists copied life. Here’s how the BBC reported what happened: ‘The researchers copied an …