This is, to my mind, a quite astonishing report about Nature Publishing Group (NPG) hiking its proposed 2011 journal subscription charges to the University of California (UC) by 400%. (NPG is the company that runs the Nature Network blogging platform). That’s right: 400%. I know nothing about the ins and outs of this deal.

Wunderkind of audiovisual media that I am, I confess to being rather late in getting around to this one. Even I hesitated at the narcissistic self-absorption of it. But as a blogger, I must learn to overcome such hesitations. Here, to demonstrate my proper credentials and my total commitment to the vocation, is a photograph–taken just now–of the computer on which I have begun to compose this post.

This is a quick one. The internet’s not working terribly reliably at home so, in case you missed it on Twitter, Facebook or Friendfeed, here is a short film about what myself and some of my group got up to last Saturday. Hit it Van… Thanks to GrrlScientist for already promoting it on her blog.

Confused by the title? I’m not surprised. I’m a little confused myself. Though this is a common experience in science and nothing to be ashamed of. I was thinking about the Boomtown Rats since I was using their celebrated second album, A Tonic for the Troops , to keep me running around Hyde Park in the warm sunshine last Monday afternoon. More often than not I use music these days to help drive myself along.

I saw this and thought of you… …Steffi.

Ha, this’ll make you laugh. Having spent my last blogpost in wistful reflection on the endless judgements that I find myself subjected to as a working scientist, I have just signed up–quite voluntarily, of my own free will and with my eyes wide open–for a whole lot more. However, this time it should be fun. Though I confess to being a little bit terrified. I am going to take part in the upcoming round of I’m a scientist, get me out of here!

When I die and am laid in my grave and my soul ascends to the Pearly Gates and the Supreme Being peers at me over half-moon glasses and declares, “Well Stephen, it’s Judgement Day”, I will look him in the eye and reply: “Dear God, not again!” Because, as a scientist, my life seems to be a never-ending succession of judgement days. Lately it’s being getting ridiculous.

For three days last week I was at the EMBL in Heidelberg taking a fantastic course on data visualisation. As is often the way with scientific training, the course was intense: lectures and practicals from 9 in the morning till 10 at night. This particular course was perhaps unusual in being divided into three modules even though each student focused on just one of them.

Load. Aim. Fire!!!!! Grant application submitted. Who knows what will happen? If you feel moved to comment, please do so randomly. I’m all out of evidence and logic.

It seems somehow to have always been there. I cannot remember when it first came to my attention but I have long been aware of it as a landmark or rather a landscape in the background of my mind. Jacob Bronowski’s documentary series, The Ascent of Man , was first broadcast on BBC2 in 1973.

I wanted to write something in time for World Homeopathy Awareness Week since homeopathy is such an amazing phenomenon. But though the promotional week is now over, I’m sure you can remember it. You will have memories of some of the things that were written and said. Memories are so important for human beings. They enrich the present and allow us to navigate from the past into the future.