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Monthly Archives: August 2012
Cyberoutreach
A lot of my outreach activities have been done in person: public talks, school visits and the like. I also do media interviews too, but there’s nothing like speaking in front of a group of people to keep you on … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
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Fly me to the Moon…
There are some questions that come up a lot in astronomy outreach with kids, and this is about one of them. The question is “have you ever been to the Moon?” There is a variant: “have you ever been to … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Education
6 Comments
Oops! Tweeting a story before it’s official and other outreach blunders
I seem to know a lot about Things That Can Go Wrong™ in public outreach. I’d love to say it’s only because I’ve seen other people do them, and have never done them myself. Sadly, I’m as guilty as the next … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Outreach
3 Comments
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to School Visits: Fit the Second
The Primary Phase School visits are fun, and I’ve found visiting primary schools to be a wonderful experience. I’ve done visits through Scientists in Schools, MyScience and through people I know (and I’m always happy to do more!). There are … Continue reading
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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to School Visits: Fit the First
I recently read a post over at Galileo’s Pendulum that discussed the most terrible scientific talk ever. There are many general lessons that one can learn from the post, and I already try to avoid each of the things that Matthew … Continue reading
People don’t like asteroids turning into planets!
Okay, I don’t have much television experience. I have been interviewed on TV exactly once, and it was early in my outreach career. However, that one experience taught me a lot about what television wants from a scientist. Put simply, … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Outreach
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How many stars can you see in the night sky?
The real answer to this question depends of course on where you are when you’re looking – and it can be quite depressing. But this is an “out of the mouths of babes”-type story. Up to now I’ve focused on dealings with … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Outreach
Tagged astronomy, mouths of babes, outreach, school visits, science
15 Comments
One day you’re gonna look up at the sky and open your eyes!
A caller once said this to me after a long discussion about a light he’d seen low on the horizon early one morning. By long, I mean four phone calls and several emails over a few days, all from this … Continue reading
Why there’s no such thing as a stupid question
One of the reasons I love speaking to people about astronomy is the range of questions I get asked, from the basic to the obscure. I speak to a lot of people: many school students and amateur astronomers − they’re … Continue reading
Adventures in Public Outreach
This is my new blog, dedicated to my various astronomy and science outreach activities, and some of the weird and wonderful people and things I encounter along the way. The blog’s name comes from a common refrain I hear in … Continue reading
I Wouldn't Normally Call 