Month: July 2014

fresh wedges of folded minted haloumi cheese

Cheesemaking: Haloumi

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I received a cheesemaking kit for Xmas. Having made feta a couple of times, I decided to branch out and try haloumi. People were interested on twitter, so here it is: the process of making haloumi from scratch. Well, from… Read More ›

Science outreach and when glorifying heroes can alienate prospects

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When science heroes have a documented history of treating some kinds of people badly, their glorification by science fans can be alienating for members of the groups those heroes treated badly.

[I]t is dangerous to rest your scientific outreach efforts on scientific heroes. […] Science outreach doesn’t just deliver messages about what science knows or about the processes by which that knowledge is built. Science outreach also delivers messages about what kind of people scientists are (and about what kinds of people can be scientists).

Photo of Australian Parliament House (APH) in Canberra

Media Circus: Palmergeddon edition

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This morning the Murdoch Media is full of grotesque caricatures of Clive Palmer focussing on his fat (wow, whodathunkit?) while trumpeting FUD about “chaos” in parliament because one vote on one bill in the Senate has not gone the government’s way. That spinaround didn’t take long, did it?

Palmer’s pursuit of populism has worked in the national interest for this brief moment.

What news story/commentary/analysis has grabbed your attention lately?