September 2021

Big News:
Goodbye CO2. One of the biggest stories, in the U.K at least, has been the carbon dioxide (CO2) shortage. This problem has been on the horizon for a while, since gas prices started to rise at the beginning of the year – caused by increased gas demand following a harsh winter at the end of 2020 and the re-opening of industries as COVID-19 vaccinations increased. This situation came to a head when two CO2 production sites in the U.K ceased production after it become too expensive to continue production. The implications of the current shortage are still unfolding but predictions are not promising for a range of sectors, including food and drink, scientific research and, crucially, healthcare.  
A very COVID Winter. In even less optimistic news (it’s been a rough month) the U.K laid out its plans for dealing with COVID-19 during the coming winter. As usual the British government were as vague as possible, and personally I’m no clearer what there strategy is. If you want to learn more about what we should be doing, I suggest this article from an actual medical expert – as opposed to a politician.

Little News:
Fighting hurricanes with bubbles! To prevent this month’s Newsletter being all negative, here is some more fun science – Norwegian company OceanTherm plan to use bubbles to prevent the formation of hurricanes.  Hurricanes occur when hot and cold air meet over warm ocean water, to prevent this the company want to use pipes to distribute compressed air into ocean water. The bubbles would then draw cooler water up to the surface, reducing the water temperature, and reducing the risk of hurricanes forming. If you’ve ever been given a drink with a straw in and blown bubbles, it’s the same principle - -just on a much larger scale.

My reading suggestions for this month:
Article: For anyone who doesn’t follow me on social media (find me here) I’m a big fan of ancient philosophy, especially Stoic philosophy. I’ve found that some of the practices have drastically improved my mental health, especially over the last year. If you’re interested in getting started I highly recommend this article about being a stoic for a week.
Books: I’ve been reading a lot of none-fiction over the last few months, but this month I decided to take a break and go back to my favourite genre – Fantasy. I’m a sucker for anything Fantasy, maybe it’s the D&D nerd in me. This month I’ve been working my way through the Farseer Trilogy, which follows an illegitimate son of a Prince as he is trained to be an assassin and survive a Kingdom wide war.

June 2021

Note: This was originally sent out on 30th June 2021. To receive these suggestions directly, subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

A Book: A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy
For anyone that follows me on social media you’ll know I’m a big supporter of Stoicism. It’s a great philosophy that can really help keep you grounded in tough times. If you want a modern Guide to practicing Stoic philosophy then Bill Irvine’s books is a great place to start.
Favourite quote: “Throughout the millennia and across cultures, those who have thought carefully about desire have drawn the conclusion that spending our days working to get whatever it is we find ourselves wanting is unlikely to bring us either happiness or tranquillity.”

An Article: The importance of stupidity in scientific research
Scientists are not smart. In fact, some of the scientists I know might (on the surface) appear to be some of stupidest people I know.  This article dives into why sometimes science (and scientists) need to be stupid.  And more importantly, why there are different types of stupidity – and they are not all equal.
Personal impact:  I’m approach the end of my PhD and between that, the pandemic and general life admin I sometimes feel like I’m getting stupider by the day. But this article gave me a new outlook and reminded me why I love science so much.

A Journal Publication: Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma when jumping from aircraft: randomized controlled trial
Ever wonder if jumping out of a plane without a parachute would be dangerous? Well to check if that is the case some scientists decided to give it a go (don’t worry no one was injured during the study).
Most interesting fact: Interestingly, using a parachute didn’t significantly reduce death or risk of injury – although they weren’t able to convince anyone to jump a plane while it was in the air, so the results might be a bit biased.

May 2021

Note: This was originally sent out on 26th May 2021. To receive these suggestions directly subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

A Book: Sapiens:A Brief History of Humankind
I usually try to avoid scientific books for my leisure reading, but this one was recommended to me by a few other people. Yuval Noah Harari gives an overview of the history of humankind, and highlights the important developments that allowed us to go from a species who relied on stone tools to one who has developed advanced technology.
Favourite quote: “A meaningful life can be extremely satisfying even in the midst of hardship, whereas a meaningless life is a terrible ordeal no matter how comfortable it is.”

An Article: How Is Anyone Being Productive Right Now?
Like everyone else I’ve been trying my best to stay productive over the last year. Early in the pandemic just getting out of bed and opening a word document was the height of my success. Reading about how other people have struggled over the last year, and the strategies they have used to overcome recent challenges really helped me.
Personal impact: I’m a big fan of the To-Doist app and this article convinced me to try and use it to organise both my personal and work life (not to say I still don’t forget things, but I’m better than I used to be). 

A Journal Publication: The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of “writer's block”
Sometimes you sit down to write the a paper, a report for your boss, or a new blog post, but when you’re staring down at a blank page the words just won’t come. Turns out that 40+ years ago others scientists were struggling with it too. This author even published their failed attempt at overcoming writers block (spoiler alert: it didn’t end very well).
Most interesting fact: this paper has no facts or figures, so instead I’ll just suggest another article that tried to summarise the science behind writers block.

April 2021

Note: This was originally sent out on the 28th April 2021. To receive suggestions like these every monthly subscribe to my newsletter.

A Book: How to Think Like a Roman Emperor
If you want a handbook for how to beat anxiety, conquer your anger and start establishing a more philosophical mind-set towards life, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Favourite quote: “The wise person is consistent in both thoughts and actions”

An Article: Stepping off the Hamster Wheel
In a time when mental health and wellbeing is at the forefront of peoples mind discusses the state of these topics in academia.
Personal impact: I’ve been questioning if I want to stay in academia after my PhD, and so I’ve been reading a lot of articles like this to try and weigh up my options.

A Journal Publication: We read spam a lot: study of unsolicited and unwanted academic invitations
Dealing with spam email is an almost daily occurrence for scientists: predatory journals, marketing emails, fake conferences – you name it, there’s an email about it. But being the nerds they are, a group of scientists actually sat down to figure out how much we actually get. The answer: a lot.
Most interesting fact: On average they found that scientists received 312 spam emails a month. Sometimes it feels like that’s how much I get in just one week.

Until next month and with kindness,

Steve

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