So I’ve just got back from Cardiff, where the sun shone on a collective1 of science communicators, performers, public engagement professionals, and other specialists in the loose field we use for ‘gainful employment’. For those unfamiliar with BIG, it is the UK’s STEM Communicator Network, (originally called the ‘Hands-On Group’, then the ‘British Interactive Group’, who specialised in museum prop building.)
Continue reading “BIG: Love Handles, Middle-age Spread, and Heat-death of the Universe”The Typo-Fallout
I recently wrote a profile piece for the Discover Materials website, as I’m an ambassador for them. It’s run by a colleague and friend, Chris Hamlett. He does amazing work on behalf of the Henry Royce Institute, coordinating outreach events and ambassadors from several universities in the UK, enabling them to present material science in a sexy way. When he asked me to prepare a profile he suggested it should be ‘>300 words’.
Continue reading “The Typo-Fallout”Death of a Disco Dancer
Welcome to a different world. It’s not even the same physical environment I worked in last year. Gone are the days of the daily commute and bustle of an office to work in. We may all get back to it one day, but many of us have been transformed in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic that bit in anger 15 months ago for the UK. Home-working, loungewear, and online grocery shopping; all a new normal. New jobs created in delivering goods, teachers adapting to online pedagogy and technology-enhanced-learning, and suddenly everyone lives in a house with a blurry background. A review of railway ticketing options was the news today. Part of me embraces all this. And yet, we’ve lost something.
Continue reading “Death of a Disco Dancer”