Life seems to be getting faster and faster in the modern age – we no longer kill time, we try to save it. Continue reading
Take your Time
Superheroes of the lab – a spotter’s guide
The superhero craze shows no sign of abating in Hollywood, but a research lab remains as likely a place as any to find unusual talents (after all, how many Marvel characters were created as a result of experiments?). Here, in the first of a two-part series, is TIR’s guide to the superheroes of the lab – science’s own Suicide Squad? Continue reading
The artisan scientist
There’s a passage in “Lark Rise to Candleford”, Flora Thompson’s eloquent eulogy to pre-industrial Britain, where she recounts staying near Northampton with an aunt. Her aunt’s husband is a shoemaker, one of the many independent artisans of the time plying his trade in laces and leather. Continue reading
First past the post
A quick tip of the hat this week from TIR to Nature Communications. In an editorial published on September 12, they have announced that from now on they will list (on an opt-in basis) all preprints undergoing review for publication in the journal. The move is an important step in the ongoing change to the way that priority of discovery is determined in research. Continue reading
“I know it when I see it”
What do good scientific research and hardcore pornography have in common? Continue reading
Seeing triple (a short guide to experiment reproducibility)
With the reproducibility crisis in science showing no signs of abating, it’s never been more important to clearly communicate how rigorously your data were obtained. Here’s TIR’s short guide to technical replicates, biological replicates, independent experiments, and what they do and don’t tell you. Continue reading
Holiday Reading 2017
TIR will be on holiday the next couple of weeks. While we’re away, here’s a selection of literary treats (mostly, but not wholly, science-based) to keep you engrossed wherever you are. Best wishes for a long and enjoyable summer to all our readers!
Raise a glass (you deserve it)
It’s a shame that the prevailing emotion upon acceptance of a paper tends to be relief rather than elation. Continue reading
Surfing and drowning (find your breaking point)
Stress is a near-constant feature of life in academia, but that doesn’t mean it’s automatically a bad thing.
Number crunching (thanks for reading!)
Earlier this week, TIR’s most popular post – “The cell biologist’s guide to fine dining” – went past 10,000 views. A big thanks to everyone out there for reading it, commenting on it, sharing it, and in one outstanding case, for taking 5 minutes out of a Gordon Conference presentation to read excerpts from it (!). Much appreciated.
There’s lots more to come from us here at TIR, so please keep coming back, sign up for e-mail alerts (at the top of the page), and put the word out to your friends and colleagues if you think they’d be interested in what we’re doing here. We’ll continue reflecting on things…
Cheers,
Brooke & Oliver
Total Internal Reflection 