Life of a Lab Rat

If the inestimable FSP gets annoyed with it, then I feel I'm in good company (passim).

Seriously, what is wrong with these people? Do they actually believe they're right? Why do they keep 'uncorrecting' things, and — most importantly — how do we know which articles are affected? After all, you don't go to an encyclopædia to discover stuff you already know.

I do like this idea:

Ideally, my students would be able to look at a flawed Wikipedia entry on a topic we have discussed in the course, and see the errors.

It's tempting to deliberately direct students to dodgy entries and see if they cotton on.

Everyone is visited by the F-Up Fairy, once in every while. And it happens to the best of us, including, I'm delighted to say, Nature's web team:

We have had a number of complaints regarding the Nature Register page. After some thorough investigation we are pleased to announce that the problems have now been rectified.

Please visit My Account <http://www.nature.com/nams/svc/myaccount>
where you can view your account and make adjustments accordingly.

If you would like to register with nature.com please click here:
Register <file:///C:\Documents%20and%20Settings\r.raymond\My%20Documents\My%20Pictures>

R. Raymond must be feeling pretty silly.

"Oops".

Some people just don't get it.

A reader wrote to me, on the horrors of MSDS and risk assessments etc., and suggested I look at something called 'Chemwatch'.

So I looked at the website, and BANG! Browser window resize! Choice of flash or non-flash! Eye-hurting design!

Wake up guys. That stuff is sooo last millennium. And because of it, I really can't be arsed.

What's wrong with this picture?

Here's the full text from the University's website, accompanying the single image:

Physicist Laszlo L Kiss last night captured these stunning images of the lunar eclipse.

The eclipse began at 6.51, when the earth's shadow made its way slowly across the moon and reached a climax at 7.52, when the moon was entirely engulfed by the earth's shadow.

During the eclipse, the moon appeared to be red, as light from the earth's atmosphere passed through it.
Lunar eclipses occur twice a year when the moon partially disappears as the earth shadows it.

Sometimes, I despair.