About the author
Geek and nerd Joe D has in the past studied genetics, molecular and cell biology, worked in cancer research, and made contemptuous amounts of money from incompetently composed photographs. The views expressed on this weblog are not his own; rather, he stole them from you through mind invasion.
Author Archives: Joe
Journalology: What is the scientific paper?
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
Cotch: Arno’s Vale Cemetery
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.
Posted in cotch dot net
Tagged arnos vale, bristol, cemeteries, good locations, gothic, locations, photo essays, photography, uk, urban, urban decay, westcountry
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AWWTM: A momentary attraction
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
Posted in at war with the motorist
Tagged concentration, distractions, driving, psychology
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AWWTM: Shared space in Portishead
Every journalist and cycling campaign group can cite one great example of a town where the simple switching off of every set of traffic lights has transformed it overnight into a transport utopia: Drachten, half way between Amsterdam and Groningen … Continue reading
AWWTM: Shared space
The latest trend in street engineering is shared space. It sounds great: the street belongs to everybody, Motorist, pedestrian and cyclist, and we all look out for one another and show some respect. It’s a reversal of the forced traffic … Continue reading
Did Darwin Kill God?
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this time from april 2009. I found on the iPlayer the latest in BBC2′s series of Darwin documentaries, Did Darwin Kill God? This is theologian Conor Cunningham’s attempt reconcile science … Continue reading
Posted in shouting at my radio
Tagged biology, creationism, evolution, memetics, religion, reviews, science, television
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Review: The Selfish Genius
This was originally written a year ago on a now disused blog. I’m reposting it here because I enjoyed writing it so much that I wouldn’t want it to disappear. People love a good argument with Richard Dawkins. So many … Continue reading
AWWTM: In pictures: Britain’s once proud stations
A petrol station on Clerkenwell Road has been turned into a cinema. This is a disaster; an act of war on the Motorist that must be condemned. The BBC’s Andrew Sully explains why this epidemic of sudden garage death should … Continue reading
Church leader declares crackpot ideas, gets free air time
This is another archival repost from the old blog — this one from March 2008. Wow, a slow news day, eh? The BBC, shunning predictable Chinese military aggression, another turn of the tides in Iraq, and yet more boring news … Continue reading
Posted in shouting at my radio
Tagged bad arguments, badjournalism, catholic church, hybrid embryos, keith o-brien, politics, radio 4, religion, science
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AWWTM: Helmets and seatbelts
From At War With The Motorist today… From the World Health Organisation’s Multi-Sectoral Forum on Road Safety in China (March 2008), on driving in a country where over a quarter of a million die on the roads each year: Both … Continue reading
Posted in at war with the motorist
Tagged beijing, china, helmets, safety, seatbelts
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AWWTM: Beijing: a burgeoning car dependency
The BBC reports that a 62 mile long standstill on a motorway just north-west of Beijing has entered its tenth day. Motorists on the road between Jining and Huai’an, including hundreds of trucks from the coal fields of Inner Mongolia, … Continue reading
Posted in at war with the motorist
Tagged beijing, car dependency, china, jams, motorways
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Sir David was wrong
Another in the ongoing project to archive posts from an old blog – this one from february 2009. Not in the television programme — well, I don’t know, I haven’t seen it yet due to pesky tennis fans capturing the … Continue reading
Posted in shouting at my radio
Tagged bad arguments, biology, darwin200, david attenborough, evolution, genetics, human evolution, science
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Lay Science: Society of Homeopaths launch photography rights grab
Several my usual topics collide as pseudoscience exploits photography for some bad marketing. The Society of Homeopaths, an organisation representing British homeopaths (including many who advocate the use of their failed medicine as malaria and HIV/AIDS treatment), are employing the … Continue reading
Posted in lay science
Tagged bad marketing, bad science, copyright, homeopathy, photography, pr, rights grab, society of homeopaths
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Hey, look at this social media clown
I have an underused “I get mail” category over here, which could easily get filled with sarcastic posts about the incompetent and irrelevant marketing crap with which I am constantly bombarded. Instead, I’ve been saving up for the truly special … Continue reading
Posted in i get mail
Tagged bad marketing, government waste, politics, social media, spam
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Journalology: Incentivising academic fraud
Over at Journalology I discuss the issue of academic fraud in China, again. Academic fraud is an issue that few take seriously enough anywhere, and while China has a particularly big fraud problem, I worry that people allow that to … Continue reading