http://nerd-alert.net switch your brain on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 10:04:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Nerd Alert podcast is a seat-of-the-pants mix of science, music and topical banter. It is hosted by three nerds in Oxford. It is recorded live. It is unscripted. It is unrehearsed. It is nerds with microphones. Anything can happen. The show is aimed at a general audience - we are scientists, but we like to pick ideas apart so that any engaged, 21st-century person can follow. We also like on-air experiments; suggestions are always welcome! No matter what the topic – science, media, megalomania, mongeese – we like to emphasise critical thinking and the scientific method. But we’re not on a high horse about it. We wouldn’t even know how to ride one. The usual line-up is a trio of neuroscientists: Jonathan Webb, Neil Rabinowitz and Blake Richards - with help from the odd special guest. We also have a website (nerd-alert.net) with a blog and a Science Desktop of the Week section. If you love or loathe the show, please visit & comment on an episode! We like hearing from like-minded folks and we’re always up for a nerdfight with anybody else… Go on. Switch your brain on. Feedback: "I first listened to a couple of the shows when I was home with a stomach bug, and had to stop because the giggles hurt too much. Tell me there are more coming!" - Bianca in Ithaca, NY. "Great show - a fantastic mish-mash of science rubbish to listen to at 4:30am." - Paul in Adelaide. "Cracking stuff!" - Hugh in London. "Neeeeeeeerds!" - Nic in Canberra. "When you all stop talking at the same time, it'll be great!" - Neil's mum. The Oxford Nerd Alert Team no The Oxford Nerd Alert Team jonathanjbwebb@gmail.com jonathanjbwebb@gmail.com (The Oxford Nerd Alert Team) science + chat + news + music science, neurosience, nerds, skeptics, music, Oxford http://nerd-alert.net/wp-content/plugins/powerpress/rss_default.jpg http://nerd-alert.net/stuff/blog/randoms/ Oxford, UK http://nerd-alert.net/blog/2011/11/incredible-timelapse-views-of-earth/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/2011/11/incredible-timelapse-views-of-earth/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 12:22:14 +0000 joseph http://nerd-alert.net/?p=2802 These are time lapse sequences taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station during August and October. The combination of city lights, aurora and thunderstorms from space are simply mesmerizing. A super fun game is to try and guess the location of each sequence from the visible land masses. I’ll post them below the vid. For full trippyness you may want to click through to watch it in HD on the vimeo site. 1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/2011/11/incredible-timelapse-views-of-earth/feed/ 0 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/10/throwing-some-science-shapes/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/10/throwing-some-science-shapes/#comments Tue, 18 Oct 2011 22:02:15 +0000 nicky http://nerd-alert.net/?p=2743 We’ve all suffered that terrifying moment during our research when we’ve been asked what it is we’re actually doing. There’s that slight awkward pause, the sucking-in of breath through the teeth, and then… we bust out the moves and interpretive dance our way to an explanation. Right? Well, maybe not. But that’s the premise of Gonzolabs‘ annual Dance Your PhD contest. The objective – as if it needs clarifying – is to get PhD students to translate their thesis into [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/10/throwing-some-science-shapes/feed/ 0 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/08/octo-camouflage/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/08/octo-camouflage/#comments Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:21:14 +0000 nerd alert http://nerd-alert.net/?p=2662 There’s been a bit of a hiatus here at Team Nerd, but rest assured it is temporary! There is another podcast in the pipes, and the flow of wallpapers and blogposts will resume before you can say “Where the hell is the octopus?”     In the meantime, we hope you enjoy this spectacular, informative little video from Science Friday. Impressive stuff.]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/08/octo-camouflage/feed/ 0 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/07/thanks-for-all-the-fish/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/07/thanks-for-all-the-fish/#comments Thu, 14 Jul 2011 12:36:42 +0000 nerd alert http://nerd-alert.net/?p=2541 A brief, brief post in the name of perspective. I like perspective, as I have discussed before. Today there is a lot of coverage in the UK press of an increase in the numbers of animals used in science experiments. These statistics are released every year by the Home Office, which regulates animal experiments in Britain – very thoroughly and very tightly, I can say with confidence as a license holder. This year the number of procedures was 3.7 million. [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/07/thanks-for-all-the-fish/feed/ 1 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/06/planespotting/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/06/planespotting/#comments Fri, 24 Jun 2011 01:00:24 +0000 jonathan http://nerd-alert.net/?p=2476 About this time each week, you would usually be regaled with a fresh blogpost from a member of Team Nerd. This week, however, there has been an unfortunate alignment of sub-optimal circumstances* and no such blogpost will be appearing. So here are some fun links about planes instead! Tenuous, I hear you say? Don’t even bring that word in here. This is vital stuff. Hey, I’ve even got a news peg. There’s an air show going on. Haven’t you heard? [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/06/planespotting/feed/ 0 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/03/journal-of-universal-rejection/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/03/journal-of-universal-rejection/#comments Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:19:29 +0000 roisin http://nerd-alert.net/?p=1915 Never again lose sleep or freak out about the fate of your article. Send it to the The Journal of Universal Rejection. All submissions are guaranteed to be rejected immediately. About the Journal: You can send your manuscript here without suffering waves of anxiety regarding the eventual fate of your submission. You know with 100% certainty that it will not be accepted for publication. You retain complete rights to your work, and are free to resubmit to other journals even before [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2011/03/journal-of-universal-rejection/feed/ 0 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/12/the-making-of/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/12/the-making-of/#comments Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:00:16 +0000 jonathan http://nerd-alert.net/?p=1348 [fb-like] This time each week we usually beam another nerdy podcast your way, but there won’t be any new ones until January. In the meantime, please subscribe in iTunes, have a listen to some of our old shows, and check out this behind-the-scenes video that Pete made! Consider it the “bonus features” disc for the Nerd Alert box-set that will never happen… [WARNING: burritos - and broadcasting standards - were harmed in the making of this movie.]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/12/the-making-of/feed/ 0 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/molecular-animation/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/molecular-animation/#comments Sat, 20 Nov 2010 06:10:22 +0000 roisin http://nerd-alert.net/?p=1172 [fb-like] Apoptosis by Drew Berry at Walter & Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research I stumbled upon this after reading an article in The New York Times which described the growing field of molecular animation, in which scientist animators use graphics and video magic to visualize the intricacies of cell biology. This particular film depicts apotosis, a process in which a cell begins to self-destruct in a form of controlled cell death. The frenetic imagery and soundtrack confers an interesting [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/molecular-animation/feed/ 2 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/symphony-of-science-the-poetry-of-reality-an-anthem-for-science/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/symphony-of-science-the-poetry-of-reality-an-anthem-for-science/#comments Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:48:20 +0000 joseph http://nerd-alert.net/?p=1162 [fb-like] This video just made my day, now I’m totally psyched to hit a few experiments. It’s part of a musical project called the Symphony of Science headed by John Boswell, which aims to deliver scientific knowledge and the general philosophy of science in musical form. Because the lyrics are so awesome I’ve pasted them in here, naturally it’s an all star line up: Lyrics: [Michael Shermer] Science is the best tool ever devised For understanding how the world works [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/symphony-of-science-the-poetry-of-reality-an-anthem-for-science/feed/ 3 http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/stop-the-uk-we-want-to-get-off/ http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/stop-the-uk-we-want-to-get-off/#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2010 00:20:09 +0000 jonathan http://nerd-alert.net/?p=1084 Here at Nerd Alert, we dislike bollocks. We prefer brains. That’s why several recent developments have made us, and countless other nerds, more than a little bit cross. First of all, the infamous and (unsurprisingly) much-tweeted ‘Twitter Joke Trial’ came to a sudden end today when Paul Chambers was handed more than £3,000 in additional expenses to go with the £1,000 fine he was appealing. Now, there are many different flavours of overheated opinion to be found online about this [read on...]]]> http://nerd-alert.net/blog/randoms/2010/11/stop-the-uk-we-want-to-get-off/feed/ 0