March 2020 - Green Tea and Velociraptors

UNESCO mobilizes 122 countries to promote open science and reinforced cooperation in the face of COVID-19

March 31, 2020protohedgehogOpen Science

SOURCE UNESCO on 30 March hosted an online meeting of representatives of ministries in charge of science all over the world. Participants included 77 ministers, including governmental secretaries representing a total of 122 countries, as well as Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Sarah Anyang Agbor, African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, […]

A plea to end an academic culture of bullying and harassment

March 27, 2020March 27, 2020protohedgehogUniversity

A toxic academic bullying culture has evolved from whispers in university corridors to infiltrating social media spaces. A recent report by the Wellcome Trust stated: “Survey findings indicated that 43% had experienced bullying or harassment, while 61% had witnessed it.” That is not a good number. Academic bullies have learned to weaponise their elite status, […]

The OpenCon saga, 5 month update

March 25, 2020March 25, 2020protohedgehogUncategorized

As I am sure many of you are aware, the last 5 months of my life got kinda transformed by a public statement from Opencon. Thousands of people were engaged in the ‘mobbing’ that surrounded it, sharing unfounded accusations and harsh judgements, and generally adding noise and confusion to the mess. This post is an […]

4. 30-minute self-guided meditation

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020protohedgehogUncategorized

Many of us are currently in self-isolation mode, at home, and probably a little bored and frustrated. There is probably no better time for all of us to take up, or continue to practice, meditation than now. Just in time for Global Nyepi 2020, I wanted to see if I could play a small role, […]

3. Centering meditation

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020protohedgehogUncategorized

2. Loving-kindness meditation

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020protohedgehogUncategorized

1. Super beginners guide to meditation

March 23, 2020March 23, 2020protohedgehogJourney To Nowhere

Join Global Nyepi 2020 – World Silent Day, March 25

March 21, 2020protohedgehogJourney To Nowhere

A friend sent me this video below recently, about an event called Nyepi, and it immediately resonated with me. With most of the world in ‘self-isolation’ mode, what better opportunity to we have as a global society to reflect? Nyepi is a Balinese holiday, a very special day of the Balinese calendar. It is a […]

Editorial: Geoscience in a time of pandemics

March 20, 2020protohedgehogScience Communication

Source: Tennant, J. P., Illingworth, S., Stewart, I., and von Elverfeldt, K.: Editorial: Geoscience in a time of pandemics, Geosci. Commun., 3, 71–72, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-3-71-2020, 2020. We, the executive editors at Geoscience Communication, sincerely hope that this message finds you and your loved ones in good health. We are in the midst of a global-health crisis, […]

Three new preprints on the future of Open Science

March 8, 2020protohedgehogOpen Science, Peer Review

To start off the week, I am delighted to share three new articles/preprints/perspectives about reforming various elements of scholarly communication/publishing/open science. Enjoy, and any feedback very much welcomed! A value proposition for Open Science Open Science has become commonly understood in terms of its practices. Open Access, Open Data, and Open Source software are all […]