Hello followers and happy new year 2012, the year when apparently (for non-scientists out there) it will all end!
So, another new year, and a nice interesting new episode of Science Chat to start it off.
By the way, it will be quite an exciting year for Science Chat because the podcast will be branching out with a new strand (which I’ll tell you more about in a future post) but I think you’re going to enjoy it. Of course, Science Chat will continue to examine the big (and not so big) topics in science communication as it has done for the last couple of years, so don’t worry on that score.
So back to this episode:
Cafe Scientifique in Portsmouth is part of the worldwide Cafe Scientifique movement and has been in operation since 2006. It’s run by people from the University of Portsmouth in partnership with Portsmouth City Council and you can find out all about it by searching on the University of Portsmouth website or through this link http://www.port.ac.uk/cafescientifique/ as well as on twitter at @portscafesci. Maricar Jagger who looks after PR for the Cafe was kind enough to take time out to speak to me for this episode.
The podcast can be found in the usual place… http://www.sciencechat.podomatic.com/ as well as on iTunes and of course you can find out more about Science Chat by following me on twitter.

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In this episode of Science Chat, episode 30, I talk to Dr John Joyce who founded the Explorers Education programme in the Marine Institute of Ireland to start young people off on the road to becoming marine scientists at an early age… in fact at the primary school level.
This is another great example of someone just getting stuck in and making things happen in science education – and this is also an example of a programme which has been able to integrate with the education curriculum. The programme has quite a cool website with some illustrations by Dr Joyce himself and you can find it at http://www.explorers.ie/.
The podcast can be found in the usual place… http://www.sciencechat.podomatic.com/ as well as on iTunes, and as usual, you can contact me either through the blog or through twitter.

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Continuing with Science Chat’s lookback at ESOF 2010 in Turin, this episode features Joachim Dengg who presented the topic entitled Crossing borders with outreach programs and educational networks: A research institute’s novel and daring approach to science education.
You can find more details about Joachim and the outreach programs he’s involved with on http://sfb-outreach.ifm-geomar.de/.
The podcast can be found in the usual place… http://www.sciencechat.podomatic.com/ as well as on iTunes, and as usual, you can contact me either through the blog or through twitter.

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As you may have realised by now, one of the main reasons that I produce this little podcast is to look at different and exciting ways in which people are communicating science, so when I saw that Niamh Shaw, one of the actors taking part in Dublin’s Absolut Fringe, a festival of theatre, comedy, music, dance and spectacle, is doing exactly that, I jumped at the chance to get her along to the Science Chat studio for a chat. Niamh’s show is called That’s About The Size Of It and in it she questions our place in the world and reminds us that all humans are curious… and also mostly composed of empty space – as is everything else. She also introduces us to the 10th dimension and asks some interesting questions. You can find out more about the show on the festival website http://www.fringefest.com/event/thats-about-the-size-of-it/ and book tickets as well. The show runs until Wednesday with a performance on Monday 19th Sept and another on Wednesday 21st.
The podcast can be found in the usual place… http://www.sciencechat.podomatic.com/ as well as on iTunes, and as usual, you can contact me either through the blog or through twitter.

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Science Chat – Episode 27: Deadly Moons

September 8, 2011

In this episode Science Chat talks to Irish astronomer and artist Deirdre Kelleghan about her project Deadly Moons which is part of the Universe Awareness (UNAWE) site which recently won the Science magazine’s Online Resources in Education (aka Spore) prize. You can find out more about Deirdre and Deadly Moons on her website http://www.deirdrekelleghan.net/ as [...]

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Rise of the geeks, an evolutionary response…

September 5, 2011

To be honest, I have to admit that I’m not even sure geeks is the correct term – so I’ll let you make your own mind up about that…
What I’m trying to convey is how, with the popularity of shows like The Big Bang Theory, it’s now more acceptable to be seen as a ‘geek’. [...]

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Science Chat – Episode 26: ESOF 2010 Retrospective Part 2 – Informing and engaging citizens on climate change issues

September 3, 2011

In this episode Science Chat continues its look back at ESOF 2010 in Turin by chatting to Bruna Valettini who was one of the group of speakers at a session entitled ‘Informing and engaging citizens on climate change issues’. Bruna also tells Science Chat about a new project on sustainable fish consumption that she’s involved [...]

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Science Chat – Episode 25: Crowd-funding

August 10, 2011

In a recent episode Science Chat looked at the subject of anonymous peer review and staying with the broader subject of scientific research, in this episode Science Chat looks at the subject of crowd-funding with Dr Andrea Gaggioli of the Open Genius Project. Crowd-funding is a type of microfinancing which allows researchers to pitch their [...]

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Science Chat – Episode 24: ESOF 2010 retrospective part 1

July 27, 2011

As you probably know by now, Dublin will play host to the ESOF City of Science Conference for 2012 and in the year leading up to this, Science Chat is looking back at ESOF 2010… a kind of retrospective if you like.
As Science Chat is the science communication podcast, the series will concentrate on the [...]

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Science Chat – Episode 23: Anonymous Peer Review

June 9, 2011

Ah, peer review, peer review… a subject so dear to the hearts of so many scientists and to so many of us science communicators as well. I guess it was only a matter of time before Science Chat was contacted by someone who wanted to put forward their opinion on this much debated subject. And [...]

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