Way back in January I learned about something called The Lynx Space Academy from my friend Rachana. They want to take people into deep space and I feel this is an opportunity too good to miss. To be in with a chance you need to be amongst the top 200 people. Rach joined and in no time at all she has rocketed (excuse the pun!) into the top 50. I don't know how she did it but I'm very pleased for her.Inspired and encouraged by her I joined myself. I still have a long way to go as you can see and my highest position so far has been 1166. Please go and vote for me, I will be eternally garteful and be happy to return the favour some day. The link is here
https://www.lynxapollo.com/en_GB/106420/sarah-murray
You can vote more than once using different browsers and email combinations. I don't know how much voting time is left but please give a girl a helping hand. Thank you, so so much!
I wish you all a good week and I'll be back when the voting is over and decisions made. Good luck and well done Rach
xxx
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Monday, 31 December 2012
My reflections of 2012
My how time does fly especially when you are having fun and yes its that time of year again. That time when many of us look back over the passed 12 months. For some of us it will have been a good year but unfortunately for some, maybe not so good. For me personally I feel it was a good year, certainly a good time to be british, and so I thought I too would put my thoughts into a blog post. In early January I signed up to do the Amsterdam Marathon which mean't I started the year in training for this already, so no more alcohol or junk food for 10 months. Anyway more about this event later on. I have always loved the TED conferences/talks and am very pleased they are as popular as they are now, thanks to the internet. Just so much innovation and inspirational stuff going on all over the world. This means I had a secret longing to attend a TED Talk but thought that such a thing was still a long way off. Anyway my luck was in this year as I attended 2 local TEDx talks, both at Salford. The first was TEDxSalford 1.0 at the Lowry Centre at the end of January. This was an all day event which didn't disappoint, I really really enjoyed it and all over the speakers were amazing and so inspirational. However, one talk stood out among the rest and I still think about it now and again. It was a talk given by a mystery guest who was a NASA astronaut. His name is Col. Ron Garan and the reason I loved his talk was because he talked of changing the world and in a way which I have always felt. I.E. all countries should get along and work together to effect change.I truly believe that this is the only way to make a real difference in the long term. Listen to his amazing talk for yourselves.
The end of March was a very exciting time and I would say the highlight of my year. There was a convention taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina called 'The Mad Monster Party' and Rutger Hauer was going to be there autographing things with all proceeds going to his non-profit organisation 'Starfish' which helps HIV+ women and kids all over the world and has done so for 12 years. I went along for the whole weekend as a helper and it was the best fun!It was so good to meet more lovely people and a few friends whom I'd so far only known via the net. Meeting friends always adds to the fun for me. Of course it was a real treat helping out Starfish and hanging around with Rutger and the team. This year I personally am celebrating 10 years of supporting and fundraising for them.Here is a photo of us all.
I was sad when it ended but wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Early April saw me back at Salford for TEDxSalfordChange. This event was half a day and free to attend. It included a live link up to Berlin where one of the speakers was Melinda Gates. As usual and as you would expect from TED, all talks were terrific. The Gates Foundation were co-organisers of this event and you can find out about it and listen to the speakers on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/371422082892332/
Whilst americans celebrated 4th July, physicists were very excited and happy to have discovered the Higgs-Boson particle at the LHC in CERN, Geneva. This completed the standard model and is just a very small blip on a graph but great news for the science world.
This year our queen, Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee
, 60 years on the throne. Alot of events celebrating this happened nationwide especially in early June. The end of July saw another exciting event the Olympics from London. I am not a great lover of sports especially watching it and have heard many comments about how we can host it given the state of our economy and heard many people including co-workers moaning about taxes etc. Despite not being a sports watcher I disagree with this view. I feel proud that the UK is included and takes its turn to host the games. I loved the enthusiasm for it which seemed to dominate Twitter at the time.
In early July I was in talks with a prof from Tel Aviv University about the possibility of me spending 3 years over there doing AIDS research. What a career change that would've been. However it was not mean't to be and there is no point in dwelling on it.
August was a sad month as the world said goodbye to first man on the moon Neil Armstrong. We drank a whisky at our bedtime to commemorate his life and mark his passing. RIP xxx
The end of August also saw me revisiting one of my favourite cities, the
beautiful belgian city of Ghent. We spent 4 nights here before I return
to work and it was my other half Glynn's idea. I worked at the
university here back in 2001 and loved it. A medieval city with great
history and gorgeous views wherever you look. See for yourself.
The end of October saw me in Amsterdam running the marathon I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I wanted to mark my 10 years of running and fundraising for Starfish by running in my favourite foreign city so here I am. I also met a couple of dutch friends whom I'd only known online up until now. They are also great Rutger Hauer fans and supporters of Starfish. I can now also say that I have ran around an olympic stadium. I have got used to that idea now but it still thrills me!
Not long after this was over with I signed up for the Liverpool Half Marathon which is 17th March 2013. Needless to say I am not in training for this yet and am enjoying my window of eating and drinking what I jolly well like thank you.
This year ended on a sad note with the death of a national treasure, everyones favourite presenter of astronomy Sir Partick Moore just missed reaching 90. About 11 years ago I had the pleasure of watching him lecture at my university here in Manchester. He was introduced by Astronomer Roayl Martin Rees and of course he was talking about the universe. He had his famous monocle and xylophone with him. Afterwards I watched others queue up to get his autograph and kicked myself for not having anything with me he could sign. So I tried to talk to him outside the lecture room afterwards. He was only interested in handing out flyers promoting Jodrell Bank though. I have no clue what I would have said to him and he was a huge guy. He will always be missed RIP xxx
Well I think thats everything, I certainly hope I haven't missed out anything of note from this year. It only remains for me to thank you for reading. Thank you :) and also...........Happy New Year! Celebrate it safely and I hope that 2013 is incredibly good to us all. I am optimistic. Lots of love xxx
The end of March was a very exciting time and I would say the highlight of my year. There was a convention taking place in Charlotte, North Carolina called 'The Mad Monster Party' and Rutger Hauer was going to be there autographing things with all proceeds going to his non-profit organisation 'Starfish' which helps HIV+ women and kids all over the world and has done so for 12 years. I went along for the whole weekend as a helper and it was the best fun!It was so good to meet more lovely people and a few friends whom I'd so far only known via the net. Meeting friends always adds to the fun for me. Of course it was a real treat helping out Starfish and hanging around with Rutger and the team. This year I personally am celebrating 10 years of supporting and fundraising for them.Here is a photo of us all.
I was sad when it ended but wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Early April saw me back at Salford for TEDxSalfordChange. This event was half a day and free to attend. It included a live link up to Berlin where one of the speakers was Melinda Gates. As usual and as you would expect from TED, all talks were terrific. The Gates Foundation were co-organisers of this event and you can find out about it and listen to the speakers on their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/371422082892332/
Whilst americans celebrated 4th July, physicists were very excited and happy to have discovered the Higgs-Boson particle at the LHC in CERN, Geneva. This completed the standard model and is just a very small blip on a graph but great news for the science world.
This year our queen, Elizabeth II celebrated her Diamond Jubilee
, 60 years on the throne. Alot of events celebrating this happened nationwide especially in early June. The end of July saw another exciting event the Olympics from London. I am not a great lover of sports especially watching it and have heard many comments about how we can host it given the state of our economy and heard many people including co-workers moaning about taxes etc. Despite not being a sports watcher I disagree with this view. I feel proud that the UK is included and takes its turn to host the games. I loved the enthusiasm for it which seemed to dominate Twitter at the time.
In early July I was in talks with a prof from Tel Aviv University about the possibility of me spending 3 years over there doing AIDS research. What a career change that would've been. However it was not mean't to be and there is no point in dwelling on it.
August was a sad month as the world said goodbye to first man on the moon Neil Armstrong. We drank a whisky at our bedtime to commemorate his life and mark his passing. RIP xxx
The end of October saw me in Amsterdam running the marathon I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I wanted to mark my 10 years of running and fundraising for Starfish by running in my favourite foreign city so here I am. I also met a couple of dutch friends whom I'd only known online up until now. They are also great Rutger Hauer fans and supporters of Starfish. I can now also say that I have ran around an olympic stadium. I have got used to that idea now but it still thrills me!
Not long after this was over with I signed up for the Liverpool Half Marathon which is 17th March 2013. Needless to say I am not in training for this yet and am enjoying my window of eating and drinking what I jolly well like thank you.
This year ended on a sad note with the death of a national treasure, everyones favourite presenter of astronomy Sir Partick Moore just missed reaching 90. About 11 years ago I had the pleasure of watching him lecture at my university here in Manchester. He was introduced by Astronomer Roayl Martin Rees and of course he was talking about the universe. He had his famous monocle and xylophone with him. Afterwards I watched others queue up to get his autograph and kicked myself for not having anything with me he could sign. So I tried to talk to him outside the lecture room afterwards. He was only interested in handing out flyers promoting Jodrell Bank though. I have no clue what I would have said to him and he was a huge guy. He will always be missed RIP xxx
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Day 9: Higgs Boson
Sunday 4.11.12 Looking forward to visiting the John Rylands library and hearing a talk about the Higgs Boson by a man I have been tweeting with for some time Ian Sample. He has a new book out about this subject. Before talking about it he spoke of Peter Higgs for a while whom he has met. Journalists think Higgs is a shy genius because he is reluctant to talk to them. However, apparently he just thinks they are idiots. Apparently he was always going to be a theorist because he is worryingly bad with experiments in the lab lol. It was a fascinating talk as they all are. At last I also bumped into fellow chemist Louise who loves Didsbury bless her. She greeted me at the desk and I saw her later on too handing around the microphone. I left happy but saddened that the festival was over so quickly as usual. Hopefully I will be a volunteer again next year. I do apologise for the lack of photo's. It was just not possible this year. Thanks for reading and take care.
Day 8: book readings
Saturday 3.11.12 I had such a good time at Blackwells bookshop last Saturday that I decided to come again this week if it didn't clash with any other festival event I had wished to attend. So I found myself here again at 11am for a talk entitled 'on being' by Prof Peter Atkins who is a renowned chemistry professor. In fact he wrote my undergraduate text book Physical Chemistry so I felt quite honoured to be listening to him. His talk was bascially about science verses religion and he used alot of big english words lol. Science of course wins and he was rather like Richard Dawkins I guess. His book was only little so I bought it. The next talk at 2pm was called why Humans like to cry by a lovely neuroscientist who also enjoys poetry, opera and speaking german. I also bought his book. And lastly at 3.30pm a former chemistry teacher spoke to us using a white board about the Higgs Boson. As I'd bought 2 books already I decided to not buy his. I know where I can go when I do need to buy it. I also discovered labcoats and purple hoodies here too. I went home happy.
Day 7: Contagion
Day 7: Friday 7.11.12 Back at the MOSI cinema at 7pm for the screening of this film which never having seen before I was certainly excited to see. It was introduced by microbiologist Joanna verran and starred Jude Law, Kate Winset, Gwenyth Paltrow and Matt Damon. It was a realistic medical thriller about a deadly SARS like virus. It was as I expected by then I do love a good movie. There was a discussion afterwards with a guy whos name sadly escapes me. He was from the universities department of History of science and medicine. Awesome way to end the working week
Saturday, 17 November 2012
Day 6: The XXX Files
Thursday 1.11.12 This was part of the science after dark series and was one of the highlights for me. Largely because it took place in my favourite pub, The Lass O'Gowrie and I managed to persuade my other half to accompany me. Also it had adult themes and kept us very entertained betweem 7-10pm. Three entertaining talks from experts at the Manchester Metropolitan University. They were Embarrassing bodies (i.e. infectious diseases) with Prof Val Edwards Jones, Famous people with congential diseases by Dr Chris Murgatroyd and Evolution of the Penis by Dr Michael Carroll. This last speaker was a soft spoken irish man and so full of the blarney though I must admit to never hearing an academic say the words shagging and knob as much as this guy did. All in fun in the cosy upstairs room of the Lass.
Day 5: The cost of Transport
Wednesday 21.10.12 This panel discussion was the event of choice for me this evening and it took place at the Manchester Conference Centre. A very nice place and I think the first time I have been in for years since it was refurbished. This was a 2 hour affair from 6.30-8.30pm with light refreshments first and some free literature some of which I picked up along with a free 2 gb memory stick. The discussion was about the latest developments and their potential impact on the future of transport. It was a four member panel which included the Chief Scientific Advisor DOT, Rod Smith and a non expert comedian who has attended the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Timandra Harkness. She was very good and of course funny. I agree with her about wanting a flying car as long as it is powered by hydrogen, water or electricity. Strangely I don't recall electric cars being mentioned at all. Road tax was discussed alot with one audience member asking if it was right to punish us with increased taxes. I agree in recovering the amount needed to pay for repairing roads etc but not to continue increasing taxes forever.
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