Category: Science

Myth-Busting: 3 Facebook facts you thought were true (but aren’t)!

We are loving our time here in California: It’s a place famous for movies, sandy beaches and huge citrus fruits! We clearly like to keep good company, because Barak Obama has been visiting San Francisco at the same time as us. I somehow don’t think that El Presidente’s visit to the West Coast has been as much fun as ours – we’ve been enjoying visiting vineyards while he was meeting with Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook CEO) and a bunch of other technology executives to debate  ‘ways to encourage innovation and job creation’. I think we got the better deal…

facebook engancha
Is Facebook wreaking real relationships?
After enjoying the recent movie ‘The Social Network‘, a good friend of mine (BenVealPR) blogged an interesting article asking the question “What role does Facebook play in your life?”. Ben thinks that Facebook is “a fantastic tool …[for] maintaining relationships”.

Could he be right? Or is Facebook and ‘social networking’ an evil that undermines real relationships? I decided to hunt down some facts and figures to find out a bit more… Read more

“Did You Pack Your Own Bags?” and other pointless airport security questions…

We’re off on our holidays, but (groan) we are stuck in the airport because our plane has been delayed – again!

An Airbus in downtown Hong Kong
The last time I flew, I had to tend to a medical emergency...
The reward for hours of waiting for security and immigration checks is… even more waiting! It’s been a bit like queueing to get on a ride at DisneyLand: The line deceptively curves and bends behind buildings and scenery so you never really know how long you are going to wait. Our hope is that the end result of all the sitting around will be somewhat more worthwhile – and less eventful – than a runaway train on Big Thunder Mountain! And please no medical emergencies like last time…

Perhaps it’s the jet lag setting in;  maybe it’s the boredom – but my wife and I have decided that airport security questions such as “Have you packed these bags yourself, sir?” are pretty pointless and should be replaced with some far more interesting alternatives…  Read more

Earn a Nobel Prize in your Lunch-Break! The Best “Citizen Science” Games Reviewed!

Have you ever felt like you could be an undiscovered genius? Well scientists have now come up with ingenious ways of you using your brain to push back the boundaries of science... by playing video games! So if you'd like the chance to see if you're the next Einstein (without the hair) just put down that Sudoku, stop playing Angry Birds and take a look at these computer games! You never know, by playing them you just might help discover the cure for cancer...

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Why ice cream tastes SO good! (Even on a rollercoaster)

We all have our personal weaknesses. A quick survey in the office told me that chocolate or cigarette addictions are common frailties. My wife’s Achilles heel is buying handbags. My weak spot? Eating ice cream.

ice cream horrorLight, creamy and sweet… Ice cream is perhaps the ultimate in feel-good foods. Having a bad day? An ice cream is the answer! (although your waist-line might not thank you too much)

Twice I have tried to make ice cream at home, but both times were a complete disaster: My best attempt resembled a rock-solid lump of green milky ice! So despite having abandoned an alternative career as an ice cream entrepreneur, I still wonder how those ice cream makers (such as Ben & Jerry’s and Haagen Daz) get their ice cream to taste SO good? Welcome to the secrets and the science behind the worlds most under appreciated frozen dessert…

(and if you don’t like the science bits you can laugh at a video of people trying to eat ice cream on a rollercoaster) Read more

Are you a Shopping Addict? Try the ‘Shopaholic Test’!

I’m starting to get concerned. My wife has just started looking for her next handbag, and she has expensive tastes…

Free Mall Girls Riding on The Escalator Creative Commons

Personally, I just don’t ‘get’ the shopping bug: For me, a Saturday afternoon on the high-street sounds like a traumatic experience. It would be tempting to say it is a ‘woman-thing’, but I would risk the wrath of many an equality-minded woman. And besides, I know many a man who can’t resist the allure of the clothes/guitar/video-game shop.

But are you the type of person who lives to shop? Or are you like me, and do you think that ‘retail therapy’ is a contradiction in terms? Today’s blog is all about the ‘Shopping Addiction’ phenomenon: Find out what it is, shopaholic myths and take an online quiz to find out if you are a shopaholic… Read more

Art and Science: If a Picture Could Say a Thousand Gigabytes…

ConfusedI don’t like big numbers. There are nine billion people in the world, but how many of us can honestly imagine of more than a couple thousand people? When you look at the moon on a clear night, it looks pretty close. But it’s actually over 240 thousand miles away! I think Norwich is a long way – If I try to think of more than about a thousand miles, my brain melts…

Today’s blog is all about ingenious ways of making mind-boggling concepts and huge numbers understandable to mere mortals like you and I… Read more

The Burns Night Face-Off: Haggis versus the Big Mac! Which is really better?

Haggis vs. BigMac: Which is really better to eat?
Haggis is like Marmite: People love it or hate it. Banned in the USA and slammed by health critics, just how bad can this Scottish delicacy really be?

Haggis is no longer the reserve of the ardent kilt-wearing Scot because more and more of us Burn’s Night revellers are opting for this authentic fare. Not helped by its anaemic appearance, the haggis has an image problem. Ardent proponents of this ‘boil in a bag’ of sheep innards claim that it is authentic, traditional, and no worse than most processed meat products many of us eat.

So, on the eve of my first Haggis experience (I know I’m late for Burn’s night), I cast a critical eye on the evidence for and against this Scottish national dish.

And I promise not to use any offal puns… Read more

Geek-Gadget of the Week: The SmartPen!

Writing, just who does that anymore?

Is writing by hand dead?
With so much work being done on computers these days, the poor old pen has pretty much been consigned to the stationary drawer. Technology is now so portable that we can stay ‘connected’ in every conceivable situation: laptops for coffee-shop working, iPads and PDAs while commuting, and Smartphones when we’re out and about.

In our house, important bits of paper also have a habit of getting lost. This would be a typical conversation:

“Where’s that important letter dear?”
“Where did you last see it?”
“On the coffee table, I think!”
“Have you checked the pile of important letters?!” (points to large box of unfiled papers)

My idea of organised paperwork...
So for disorganised people like us, it makes sense to keep computer records of anything important. And if you’re a tech-savvy touch-typer, the keyboard is far quicker than writing something by hand.

Which is all a shame really, because there’s something special about writing by hand: It’s completely different to typing words on a screen, you recognise your handwriting, and those words BELONG to you.

So there’s good news for all the quill-lovers out there because the humble pen has finally come of age! If you think writing is dead, think again: the ‘SmartPen’ is a pen for grown-ups. Loaded with microchips and clever technology, it will even meet the whims of the iPad generation (and it’s a darned sight smaller)… Read more

Can’t sleep? Why taking the Blue Pill is Best! (Unless you’re an Italian man)

Insomnia is something all of us struggle with from time to time. Not being able to get off to sleep is perhaps one of the most frustrating and loathsome things in the world (second only to an itchy back).

Counting sheep never seems to work very well...
You can toss, turn, and even count sheep, but nothing seems to work. Sometimes your mind just refuses to switch off. Francis Scott Fitzgerald got it right when he said,

“The worst thing in the world is to try to sleep and not to.”

Do you have a solution to insomnia? My father always has a glass of milk and a biscuit (ginger nut, incidentally) before bed. I find reading a book or listening to the radio normally works or me.

Many of us resort to herbal or medical remedies. If you had to choose one, which would you go for? Did you realise though that the colour of your remedy has an effect!? Read on to find out why blue is best… Read more

The Top 10 Medical TV Myths

Everyone loves a good hospital drama. They tick all the boxes for good TV: Gritty plots, life and death situations, steamy relationships, ethical dilemmas and blood and gore. Now more popular than ever, medical TV dramas have come a long way in the last 50 years. But just how accurate are they?

You might be surprised to discover just how many inaccuracies modern hospital TV dramas have in them. Here’s the Top 10 list of things you will only ever see in a TV hospital… Read more