-
Hiding in plain sight
There must be more transparency and openness in research aided by scientific instrument makers, writes Carsten Bergenholtz, Sam MacAulay and Inge Seim The Biologist 65(4) p6 Within academia and industry, scientific instruments are at the core of daily...
-
How to...find fossils
Grace Paget on why fossil hunting is fascinating work and not just for the experts The Biologist 62(4) p28-30 In December 2014, amateur fossil hunter Jonathan Bow made an astonishing discovery on the south Wales shoreline. He unearthed the first...
-
The Bioscience Awarding Gap Network
The Bioscience Awarding Gap (BAG) Network is an advisory group to the Heads of University Biosciences (HUBS). The group promotes within HUBS the communication, discussion and adoption of practices that are shown to reduce demographic awarding gaps in...
-
What is next for Biology in the Curriculum and Assessment Review in England?
Yesterday the Curriculum and Assessment Review Panel published its interim report. The Royal Society of Biology has contributed formally to the call for evidence, and recently met with Professor Francis as part of the Science Education Policy Alliance...
-
All together now
Could a diverse group of compounds known as oxylipins, found across the kingdoms of life, be the molecules that enabled ancient single cells to join forces and become multicellular? Georgy Kurakin and colleagues look at the evidence October 6th 2021...
-
Lessons from larvae
Biologist and author Professor Matthew Cobb explains why studying the much-maligned maggot can help us better understand ourselves – from our genes and development to our sense of smell The Biologist 63(4) p12-15 Maggots have a bad reputation....
-
A symbol of hope
This year marks 50 years since the first efforts to protect Brazil’s golden lion tamarins began. It has become one of the region’s most innovative and inspiring conservation stories, writes Jeremy Mallinson OBE FRSB December 4th 2020 The Atlantic...
-
Animal Science Meeting 2019 Report
The 17th Animal Science Meeting, co-organised by the Royal Society of Biology and the Animals in Science Regulation Unit, took place on Friday 6th December The conference brought together representatives from the animal research sector with expertise...
-
The Genesis Quest: The Geniuses and Eccentrics on a Journey to Uncover the Origin of Life on Earth
Michael Marshall The University of Chicago Press, £20.00 This book explores multiple theories about the origin of life and the story of how these ideas have progressed over the last century. The book's distinctive style comes from well-researched...
-
The Ecology of Malaria Vectors
Jacques Derek Charlwood CRC Press 2020, £63.00 I feel somewhat pipped at the post in writing this review: the foreword to The Ecology of Malaria Vectors already lays out the important position statement, that this book represents not only a future...
-
"I don't think the department has ever locked its doors to academics before in 200 years"
Biophysicist Professor Pietro Cicuta tells Tom Ireland how nearly a thousand Cambridge researchers have joined his Slack channel to develop coronavirus ideas – from ventilator prototypes to an app that diagnoses the disease from the sound of coughing....
-
"It's a Wild West online"
Tom Ireland talks to author and broadcaster Angela Saini about the biology of race, and why she is lobbying for regulation on how scientific information is shared online February 7th 2020 Angela Saini’s critically acclaimed book Superior: the Return of...
-
"It's a Wild West online"
Tom Ireland talks to author and broadcaster Angela Saini about the biology of race, and why she is lobbying for regulation on how scientific information is shared online February 7th 2020 Angela Saini’s critically acclaimed book Superior: the Return of...
-
The Biologist scoops award for best specialist magazine
The Biologist has won ‘best specialist magazine’ at this year’s PPA Scottish Magazine Awards. The Biologist has won ‘best specialist magazine’ at this year’s PPA Scottish Magazine Awards. The Biologist, the RSB’s membership magazine, was shortlisted...
-
Royal Society of Biology Outreach and Engagement Award 2019 winners announced
Two outstanding science communicators have been recognised with this year’s Outreach and Engagement awards. The RSB Outreach and Engagement awards celebrate outreach work carried out by new and established bioscience researchers who inform, enthuse and...
-
Ecology and Conservation of the Diamond-Backed Terrapin
Willem M. Roosenberg and Victor S.Kennedy (Eds) John Hopkins University Press, £59.00 The editors have compiled an authoritative volume on this important North American reptile, it harnesses the passion and sense of urgency for this threatened resident...
-
Bat
Tessa Laird Reaktion Books, £12.95 Historically, in China, bats have been a symbol of good fortune. In Australia, indigenous people treasure stories of humans being at one with fruit bats. Yet in the West, until the advent of Batman, bats were...
-
Who was...Arthur Milnes Marshall?
A skilled zoologist and communicator, Arthur Milnes Marshall died in an accident in 1893, aged 41. His absorbing lectures offer a fascinating snapshot of the era’s biological knowledge, writes Martin Luck. Portrait of Marshall (above) courtesy of The...
-
Cats on Camera
For the last 10 years, Susan Cheyne and her colleagues have been setting camera traps to find out more about Borneo’s elusive cat species. She tells The Biologist about the highs and lows of trying to capture images of these rare and endangered species...
-
Me And The Biospheres: A Memoir By The Inventor Of Biosphere 2
John Allen Synergetic Press, £40.00 This is the autobiography of the visionary behind the Biosphere 2 project, a huge closed-system research facility built in Arizona and sealed in 1991 with eight ‘biospherians’ living inside it. To dream up such a...
