Crystals And Catalysts

I almost completely forgot that exactly four years ago today, I launched my blog! 🎊 Four years ago!  I've not been active on my blog lately, mainly because I'm working on my dissertation and my future career steps after my masters is finally over🕐😭

My journey on this blog is now three years old! 🎉 It's been three years since I cut my route in academia and diverted it to science communication and I do not regret my decision one bit, because I'm enjoying every step of it and I'm doing what I love and it's brought me opportunities I wouldn't have experienced had I not started my blog. I remember I was so anxious when I  published my first blog post, were people going to like it? Were they going to hate it? Would I get a mountain of hate all over my blog and social media? When actually the science community, particularly on Twitter and Instagram, has been so welcoming and supportive throughout the years. What made me change my mind? I've always had a passion for journalism - in any form - and if I wasn't very introverted when I was a teenager, I would have gone for a career in journalism and left science behind. In one of my internships, I interned in a research and marketing company who was r...

This blog post was my entry for the Tipbox/Abcam science writing competition (2017), although I didn't win, I'm glad I took part in the competition. Let me know your opinions on my post below in the comments. :) My love for science started when I was very young. I know that at first, I remember that I aspired to grow up to become an astronaut. My passion for space and space travel then turned into a love for archaeology and I wanted to become an archaeologist, taking my dad with me to “archaeological digs” at the museum. By the time I got to my GCSE's and A-levels I had decided that I wanted to become a pharmacist. So I interned at a local pharmacy so that I could experience what my future career would be like - it was then I realised I just couldn't spend my life dispensing medicine (no offence to all the pharmacists out there!) I just felt like I wanted to do something different. UCAS application time was imminent and I had to pick a course I wanted to s...

For the second day, discussing a controversial topic in science I will be reviewing the efficiency of Alternative medicine . But to what extent can we trust alternative medicine? First of all, what is alternative medicine ? Alternative method contains the practice of: acupuncture, chiropractic and homeopathy. All of these techniques had not been proven by scientific methods.   The reason why it’s so popular is due to the power of anecdotal evidence. For example, you can hear from a friend that alternative treatment helped improve their back pain. At first, this may seem as the treatment works and you’ll want to try it. But you have to remember that the experience of a single person doesn’t prove that a treatment works the same for everyone. Sometimes the body gets better on its own or via a placebo effect, giving rise to the “it worked for me” response and encouraging more people to follow in their footsteps.   ................. Contrary to what th...

Is it possible, that after years of controversy, between the public, that GMO’s are safe? There are many people for or against GMOs, but mainly against. Even though the public are showered with incorrect, and sometimes dishonest, information about GMOs a.k.a genetically modified organisms, s cientists and science writers are working to correct any misconceptions about GMOs to the public and eliminate misleading data. What are GMOs? GMO’s are plants or animals that have gone under genetic modification: where scientists alter their genes with DNA from different species of living organisms, bacteria or viruses to get desired traits such as resistance to disease or tolerance of pesticides. Such as: apples that have been genetically modified to be resistant to browning. Studies about GMOs... The results from a meta analysis (conducted by Wilhelm Klümper, Matin Qaim , Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, Georg-August-University of Goettingen, ...

Some #sciart in light of the #NYCBlizzard RT @TomKierein : Another frozen bubble pic by Candice Trimble pic.twitter.com/PTvlOgxblf — SciArt (@Sci_Art) January 27, 2015 #SciArt leaf prints with linocut organic molecules responsible for their colours http://t.co/H57dew88bN #printmaking pic.twitter.com/MjdJqDI6if — Ele Willoughby (@minouette) March 7, 2015 Trending now on #Biocanvas - titanium carbonide crystals http://t.co/L6eGLD9GqT #chemistry #sciart #microscope pic.twitter.com/LezUa1s2p6 — Biocanvas (@biocanvas) December 7, 2014 Amazing Photographs Of Drugs Under The Microscope http://t.co/Z6GzxQNRlr #microscopy #sciart — GE Life Sciences (@GECellBiology) July 15, 2014 Crystals vibrating to hue of Love. -CB " #art @CRoullardArt #MicroCrystal my piece "Crystal Rock Garden" #SciArt pic.twitter.com/7nijCfNm9i " — Carl Barbarotto (@Carlolight) April 22, 2015 The infectious beauty of salt transforming metal. S...

Personally, I love instagram. Its great for sharing images be it in the lab or personal interests. Here's a list of my favourite science Instragram accounts, hope you like them and if there's someone I've missed out, comment below and tell me about them. 1- From the Lab Bench The account of Paige Brown Jarreau - She's recently completed a PhD in science communication and she blogs about science communication & her research. But Paige's instagram is filled with her beautiful photography such as this blue bird here. 2- PopSci This is the account of the popular science website: Popular Science, who post about the "latest science, tech and futuristic nerdery" 3- WIRED This is the account of the popular science blog: WIRED, who post about the science, technology and everything in between. 4- CellPress This account goes by the saying "Science is Art" and their instagrm is full of colourful images, such as this one of ne...

Just as I love writing on my science blog, I also love reading other science blogs and seeing what science looks like through other peoples eyes.  Here's a small list of my favourite science blogs which I recommend you go and check out! Compound Interest The Chemical Blog Pictures from an Organic Chemistry Lab Just Like Cooking From the Lab bench IFL Science The Chronical Flask Chemistry Blog New Scientist Guardian Science SciCurious

Science Blogging Problems... There are two main problems that some science bloggers may come across: closed access articles a smaller audience The first and main problem I  have as a science blogger is closed-access articles. Usually I find a really good topic / idea for a blog post and I try and research suitable journals to support my article, but the one that would perfectly match my post is ...you guessed it... closed access! So I cant use that one and I'll have to go back and search for open access journals that fit the topic I wanted to discuss, or try and make do with all the information I can get out of the abstract. The other problem is reaching a smaller audience. Not everyone who reads, likes to read about science or health related posts most the time, at least that's my opinion. Mainly those who are fascinated by science and love to read about it will read science articles and science blogs. When I started science blogging I was convinc...

What do you think about the future of science blogging? more people / scientists will start blogging science blogs will become like lab books / diaries  as science blogs become more popular, audience will grow & spread science education More people / scientists will start blogging In the near future science blogging will become more popular and science blogging will become popular between scientists. It could be a great way to communicate their research and write about other research.  Science blogs will become like lab books / diaries  Already, science bloggers utilise their platforms to blog lab work and lab photography. Science blogs could soon become a replacement for the standard lab book and all work will be documented on-line instead of on paper.         As science blogs become more popular, audience will grow & spread science  Currently the audience for science blogs consists of people wh...

If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself. - Albert Einstein I love writing. And I have always loved journalism & science. If I didn't have a career in science, I would have definitely had a career in journalism. Science communication is the best mix between science and journalism. I aspire to be a good, professional science writer. A good science writer is able to write a post that caters to different tastes and they can also explain scientific concepts well via written communication to someone who lacks the understanding. I hope my posts convey this. However I do enjoy working in the laboratory, and I wish I had started my blog during my studies at university so I could have written and posted photos of my progress in the lab during my project. I love reading and seeing other scientists "lab diaries".