Monthly Archives: September 2010

Cotch: Los Lagos

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Joe

This time last year, I was cycling around the lake district, Los Lagos, in Chilean Patagonia. I was there with Computer Aid International, who refurbish old office computers and send them to schools, hospitals, and development projects around the world, … Continue reading →

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AWWTM: Crap cycling and walking in Beijing

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Joe

Over at At War With The Motorist, I look at another of the obvious ill-effects of Beijing’s burgeoning car dependency — the plague of badly parked cars filling the pavements and cycle paths.  You can read it here. Also, try … Continue reading →

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Lay Science: Suspending Disbelief

Posted on September 26, 2010 by Joe

I was listening to an old episode of the SETI institute’s podcast Are We Alone, in which they talked to a CSICOP (or whatever it is they call themselves these days) investigator. He described how he approached claims of the … Continue reading →

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In which a load is lifted

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

I think I’ve mentioned before that I keep a copy of Burkhardt’s Selected Letters of Charles Darwin handy in the smallest room (“for fun“). In this letter to Asa Gray in November 1857, a load is lifted from Chaz’s mind… … Continue reading →

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Protest The Pope!

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

At the weekend around 12,000 people marched through London in protest against the policies of the Pope.  A photo essay on cotch dot net explains why we were there.

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Held to ransom

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

It’s ten years since the Road Haulage Industry blockaded oil refineries to complain about the price of diesel, and the whole country ran out of fuel.  At At War With The Motorist I ask what has been since then to … Continue reading →

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The driving test in China

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

Melinda Liu in Newsweek, on sitting the written exam for a Chinese driving license: The most memorable question is the one about intestines. Specifically, it’s a multiple-choice question about what to do if you come across a traffic accident victim … Continue reading →

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How many people die on China’s roads, and why?

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

Continuing the China strand on At War With The Motorist, exploring questions that aren’t easy to answer.  The main conclusions are that an absolutely staggering number of people die on China’s roads each year, and they do so because on … Continue reading →

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Risk compensation, shared space and unstable evolutionary strategies

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

This post probably doesn’t quite work, but at At War With The Motorist I continue the thread on shared space by considering the mechanism by which it works: risk compensation — the idea that when traffic management is ripped out, … Continue reading →

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Shared space in Beijing

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

At At War With The Motorist, I continue the threads on the concept of shared space and on transport in Beijing, looking at how roads work and how road users behave in a city where traffic management is meaningless, and … Continue reading →

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Cycle Trippin’

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

Boing Boing brings us the story of a San Francisco bike messenger who takes acid at work. To do what I do, I have to be paying attention 100% of the time. My peripheral vision and reflexes are my best … Continue reading →

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Oceans on evolution: you’re doing it wrong

Posted on September 21, 2010 by Joe

This is another archival repost from the old blog — this one from December 2008. So, BBC TWO’s Oceans: marine ecology’s answer to Time Team. I get as excited by marine biology as the next nerd, and you don’t have … Continue reading →

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Journalology: What is the scientific paper?

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Joe

A year ago, the discussions at the Science Online conference inspired me to explore the question “what is the scientific paper?” — and specifically, what is wrong with the scientific paper and what its future might be.  In time for … Continue reading →

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Cotch: Arno’s Vale Cemetery

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Joe

Over at cotch dot net, I’ve thrown together a quick photo essay on the Victorian park cemetery at Arno’s Vale in Bristol, which until recently was rather derelict and overgrown.  You can read the while post at Arno’s Vale Cemetery.

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AWWTM: A momentary attraction

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Joe

Vaughan of the ever fascinating Mind Hacks discusses a recent study that looks at the effects of having an attractive passenger in the car on driver errors.  The researchers put forty people in driving simulators and made them drive through … Continue reading →

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