Science and the Budget

Yesterday's budget speech by Finance Minister Brian Lenihan included little to cheer about from an section of society. That being said, there was some slightly positive rumblings with regard to science and science funding.

Indeed, the minister said in his speech to the Dail that "science, technology and innovation" would be one of a number of what he called "key investment priorities for 2010".

Lenihan indicated his intention to create a single stream of funding for science and technology, which will be detailed in the new year.

Conor Lenihan, Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation welcomed the news that his budget will increase: "The budget for high-tech start-ups and focused commercial research is up for the first time in three years.

These increases mean we will not just retain our centres for research excellence but will add nine new industry-led research competency centres.”

On the education side of things, the 2011 provision for Universities and ITs will be reduced by 7% to €1.113 billion. However, when the increase in the student contribution in factored in, that reduction will itself be reduced to 2.2%.

Meanwhile, Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) has welcomed an €11 million increase in their funding. Mr. John Travers, DG of SFI noted a 2011 capital allocation of €161 million which was up on last year's figure: "During this intense period of economic difficulty, this clearly highlights Ireland’s commitment to investing in high quality scientific and engineering research to support long-term, sustainable economic development.  The SFI research community continues to enhance Ireland’s international reputation in science and engineering, enabling increasing levels of high tech foreign direct investment and indigenous innovation. The budget allocations will allow third level institutions to foster emerging talent and continue to build partnerships with industry so that innovative research can continue to flourish for years to come.”

According to SFI’s Director of Policy & Communications, Dr. Graham Love: “ The increased financial provision to SFI in 2011 will allow us to nurture research investments made over the past decade and to invest in a new wave of cutting edge science and engineering. This is very important for Ireland’s international reputation, for our on-going ascent of the international science rankings, and for transforming the academic-industrial relationship to Ireland’s economic advantage”.

The Joy of Stats

In previous years, I've taught a course in statistics and data analysis to final year biology undergraduates. With this comes a sort of weird affection for all things statistical. It's not the coolest thing in the world to admit to, but i think the cool boat has long sailed for this particular scientist!

Last nights "The Joy of Stats" by the ever-enthusiastic Prof. Hans Rosling on BBC4 was a tour de force in public service broadcasting and science communication. Rosling's obvious enthusiasm, combined with state of the art graphics and excellent contributions from other leading statisticians made the whole topic come alive.

Unfortunately, BBC iPlayer doesn't allow you watch the show online if you are outside the UK, but it will be repeated on Monday next at 11pm on BBC4. In the meantime, you can enjoy this wonderful clip from the show where Rosling demonstrates how you can condense huge amounts of data on public health and wealth and make it interesting and exciting!

Christmas Science 3: Holly

In the run up to Christmas, Communicate Science offers you 20 Christmas Science Facts. We'll post one every day until the 25th December.

Holly
There are about 400 species of Holly (Ilex spp.) around the world, with about 80 of them considered to be threatened in the wild. So called 'English Holly" (Ilex aquifolium) is popular in temperate areas for its attractive red fruits against the dark glossy foliage.

These fruits are also attractive to birds who eat them and deposit seed elsewhere, often under other trees. As 'English Holly' is very shade tolerant, it is becoming invasive in forested areas where it is not native, including old-growth forests in the US.

In Ireland, where I. aquifolium is native, it has a strong association with winter and Christmas. In pre-christian times, Holly was seen as a source of life and growth in winter, when the red fruits and dark-green foliage were at their peak.

Holly berries are somewhat toxic to humans.

Christmas Science2: Reindeer Gender

In the run up to Christmas, Communicate Science offers you 20 Christmas Science Facts. We'll post one every day until the 25th December.

Reindeer Gender
For now, we'll confine ourselves to the non-flying type. More about flying reindeer later in the series.
Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) vary considerably in colour and size, with both genders growing antlers. There is some debate as to the gender of Santa Claus' reindeer. While both male and female reindeer grow antlers, males loose theirs at the end of mating season (early December).

This would suggest that all of Santa's reindeer must be female. Indeed, except for Rudolph, there is really no indication in their names to sugest otherwise. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blixen could all refer to females rather than males.

A reindeer's antlers are unique to the individual animal, just as fingerprints are unique to humans. This allows them to be tracked and monitored in the wild and in parks.

In terms of surviving in cold conditions, like the North Pole, the reindeer has hairs which are hollow in order to trap air and increase their bouyancy, thus allowing them to swim.

Christmas Science 1: Frankincense

In the run up to Christmas, Communicate Science offers you 20 Christmas Science Facts. We'll post one every day until the 25th December.

Frankincense
According to the Christmas story, one of the Magi brought a gift of frankincense to the infant Jesus shortly after his birth. It is an aromatic resin that comes from trees of the genus Boswellia and is used in perfumes and incense.

The bark of the tree is slashed to release the resin which hardens on the bark of the tree.Depending on the location of the tree and the climate, different grades and quality of frankincense can be produced, its quality based on colour, purity, aroma and age.

Frankincense was used in religious rites and ceremonies and the Egyptians ground the charred resin into a black powder called kohl. This was used to make the distinctive black eyeliner seen on many figures in Egyptian art.

Frankincense has been investigated as a treatment for ailments from Crohn's disease and arthritis to various cancers.

My Secret Life: Flying Snakes...not on a plane

New research out of Virginia Tech. has looked at the dynamics of gliding reptiles or flying snakes!


The snakes can "fly" by flinging themselves off their tree-top perches and gliding to another tree or to the ground.

The researchers looked at Chrysopelea paradisi and recorded their gliding patterns on camera after allowed the researchers to create and analyse 3-D reconstructions fo the animals' gliding patterns during the flight.

The results show that, despite travelling up to 24 metres from their starting point, they never reached an "equilibrium gliding" state but neither did they simple plummet to the ground....contd. here.

My latest guest post for PBS NOVA's Secret Life of Scientists blog is now online. This week's episode features physicist and glider pilot Allan Adams talking about his love of being in the air and condensing the history of the universe into 30 seconds!


You can read the post and watch the episode here.







Sir George Everest - Engineer

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Sir George Everest. The Welsh engineer was born in Powys and was heavily involved in mapping the Indian subcontinent between 1818 and 1843. Everest died on this day in 1866.

Everest joined the Royal Artillery in 1818 and became the assistant to Colonel William Lambton, who had started the Great Tigonometrical Survey of India in 1806. When Lambton died in 1823, Everest succeeded him as superintendent of the survey.

Everest retired in 1843 and was kinighted in 1861. He was a Fellow of the Royal Academy and Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society. His niece, Mary Everest (daughter of his brother Thomas), married the mathmatician George Boole (who worked, died and is buried in Cork, Ireland) and was herself a noted educator.

In 1865, Peak XV was renamed in his honour (despite his objections) as Mount Everest. According to the archives of the Royal Geographical Society: after the announcement of Peak XV as the highest mountain in the world, Andrew Waugh, Everest's successor, wrote: "...here is a mountain most probably the highest in the world without any local name that I can discover...", so he proposed "...to perpetuate the memory of that illustrious master of geographical research...Everest."

Many people thought it should take local names such as Chomolungma (Tibetan) or Devadhunka (Nepali). After much debate, the Royal Geographical Society in London officially adopted the name Mount Everest in 1865.

Incidentally, Everest always pronounced his name EVE-Rest, so we usually pronounce the name of the highest mountain in the world incorrectly.