We’re returning to the issue of the New Atheism today. I’ve been thinking about it more and more lately. Rosie (whom I’ve had some spectacular arguments with over the topic) has just had a New Atheist T-shirt made up that reads “God: Neither Necessary Nor Sufficient” across the front of it. And Jason at EvolutionBlog […]

I have to apologize from the erratic blogging. Me and Rosie are still reeling from a variety of things. Rosie mainly is buried under a mountain of work and I’m still playing catchup from the internet blackout I experienced while on vacation.
Our last Brain Parade closed off with commentary from a Nobel Prize winning […]

Do you perceive a growing sense of mistrust from the public with respect to science?
This is the second parter of a Brain Parade that we ran last month. I’ve already given an answer focusing on the “culture wars” in the United States and Canada and growing acceptance of Global Warming back then.
Looking back at my […]

I’m back from my vacation in Spain. I hope you all missed me, sorry about the week of silence. I reckoned I could keep the blog up out there but the places I was visiting weren’t well wired and what internet I did get was absolutely medieval so I gave up in frustration.
Flying into Madrid’s […]

Rosie: Apologies for the erratic blogging at the moment but Jose’s in Spain and I’m buried under a mountain of reading for my course, as well as working on a lot of really exciting statistics concerning non tariff barriers and tariff equivalents in China for an EU trade delegation in about two weeks time (I think this probably makes me a capitalist running dog).

This is a bit unusual but I’m actually doing a normal blog post today. Please bear with me, this feels a bit strange. I’m reacting in large part to a ball that’s being kicked around today, largely by Lou Anders who is Getting Medieval on Reality’s Ass (and just to show you how incestous the […]

Science has come under fire from some people on religious grounds. Some scientists (eg. Richard Dawkins) have returned fire by criticising religion. Is this productive? Or should scientists avoid talking about the merits of religion?
This is the second parter of a Brain Parade we ran over a month ago. You can read the first installment […]

Rosie and I stumbled across Banner of Souls a novel by a British Science Fiction and Fantasy author Liz Williams. It’s the first of her work that I’ve come across and I was impressed by her writing and the “way out there” setting so I contacted Liz and she was kind enough to oblige me […]

What ethical dilemmas posed by future technology or social changes would you like to see explored more thoroughly in contemporary Science Fiction?
I’ve got a lot of things I want to say on this one (so its a good thing it’s a two parter). And its especially apt since I just watched the first two […]

Outside of your field, what advances/research excite you the most?
This is a touch one for me to answer. I’m not a scientist so I don’t have “a field” but I’m not going to let a lack of qualifications stop me. To me the most exciting thing going on right now is what is being referred […]