Yes, as the title indicates, I have decided not to beat around the bush, and come out with it. I am travelling around seeing lots of different sports, and while in Spain I felt I had a duty to see “Los Toros”. Because it is controversial, because it straddles sport, art and something else, and … Continue reading So, I went to a bullfight
Author: EEL
Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen.
Social networks, quantitative genetics, and a sense of adventure. He/him
Joy Ride
The frenetic football of Morocco done with, I boarded the ferry in Tangier, bound for Tarifa and so Spain. This was to be the 2nd of 3 continents on this trip, and my longest stay in any one country, at 2 weeks. With a great diversity of traditions among the different regions of Spain, I … Continue reading Joy Ride
When in a crowd
As I mentioned in a previous post, it may not be entirely obvious why this sporting voyage I am on started in Morocco. The answer is something unassumingly know as the MdS, or les Marathon des Sables. This “race” (perhaps better termed a survival event) takes place in the Moroccan Sahara. And you run for … Continue reading When in a crowd
Football, football every where, does it make you stop and think?
My adventure into what makes sport so attractive for all humankind (see previous post) began in Africa, in Morocco, and in the busy market city of Marrakech. To be frank, I was a little daunted to be starting here; it would be a big change from the quiet lanes and inlets of Cornwall, my previous … Continue reading Football, football every where, does it make you stop and think?
The end, but also the beginning
If you follow me on Twitter you may be aware that I recently finished my PhD. Yippee!!! Three and a half years of work, and its safe to say the hand in is a bit anti-climatic. Thankfully a couple of friends, Sean and George, were there to buy me a pint, enjoyed in the sunshine at … Continue reading The end, but also the beginning
Becoming a better science performer
Yeah yeah I know, “science performer” sounds hilarious, but let me explain what I’m talking about. Doing science, or being a scientist, is not just about intelligence or raw brain power. As important is imagination to work out new approaches or see new links, tenacity to see your ideas and projects through to the end … Continue reading Becoming a better science performer
Where did they get that from?
The press, essential part of the science machine or irritating nuisance? Rather excitingly, I had something published the other day. It was about male-male competition in crickets, using social network analysis. You can read about it here. In short, we found that males can't use pre-copulatory competition to avoid sperm competition, that males who attack other males a … Continue reading Where did they get that from?
Creepy-crawly personality, pain and emotion
I delve into the research to find out in invertebrates have personalities, feel pain, and can show emotion
The cooperative ape
Its an easy thing to forget when the media is fanatical about telling us how people are always being nasty to each other, but humans are actually a very cooperative species. We work together to achieve things we could not alone, and have done for millions of years. In fact, much of this niceness is not … Continue reading The cooperative ape
Arbeit mach frei?
Does work set you free? The phrase has a chilling presence, as it was used on the gates of Nazi concentration camps. Whether it was a taunt or an indication of a mystic ideal I am not interested in going into. In fact, I don’t really want to talk about Nazi’s or prisoners at all … Continue reading Arbeit mach frei?
Evolutionary Ethology Lab 