Confidence in Science

Election 2017: what’s at stake for science?

Science, technology, education and innovation are the pillars of prosperity. Yet, we rarely choose to elect a candidate based on how these fields will be supported. If you too are a scientist or STEM student in the UK, you should be aware of how the main…

Assonance in science

Alliteration and assonance.. Boring non-sense?

Turns out they are some of the most powerful techniques used not only by poets and song writers, but also by ad designers, politicians and influencers at large. In other words, anyone whose job is to use words to…

Coca Cola, beyond what you drink

Whether you drink it or not, you will find Coca Cola’s bio-plastic story inspiring.

The story starts in 2009, with the launch of PlantBottle™. Ever great and ambitious Coca Cola decides it is time it should lead a revolution in the plastic bottle…

Language hacks

As scientists, we have a reputation for speaking so-called academese, an elite language made of abstract jargon and excessively long words.

This has its advantages. It works very well when we speak to one other within a common field. It also creates a standardised way of…

Correlation, Causation, Location

Big data is growing my conviction that, ultimately, it’s the words that matter.

Humans talk words and act on words, and therefore the words we use to interpret and communicate data become more important than the bare data itself.

Happy Chinese New Things!

Cefic Chemdata International 2016How do you say Chemistry in Chinese?

This 2017 is starting under the Chinese sign of the Rooster, bringing attention to values such as hard-work, reliability, and responsibility.