Wow! Now that's a cool sunrise photo!

The guys on the International Space Station have a great view - and one of the perks of the job is the 16 sunrises they get to see everyday. This has got to be one of the coolest photos of one of them...


It was taken by astronaut Douglas H. Wheelock and he posted it up on Twitpic (and I saw it up on Gizmodo). He's since posted this even more amazing one of the "Southern Lights" up on Twitpic as well... not a bad way to show some scientific stuff in an interesting way!

Irish science communicators take over web

There's a great buzz around science communication in Ireland these days and it can be hard to keep up with everything. It's even hard to keep up with the on-line resources aimed at making it easier to keep up with everything.

LinkedIn is fast becoming a focus for active discussions and information sharing on a whole range of topics, and a new group has been set up on LinkedIn called "Science Communicators Ireland" that will help us all keep in touch with what's going on - including Irish funding opportunties from the Institute of Physics and the Wellcome Trust.

Between this group and the active Communicating STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Maths) forum and even the Facebook page for DCU Science Communication MSc people, it does feel like we're taking over the web. It's great that there's so much going on on-line, and all this means there's no better time for the 2010 Communicating STEM Conference which will take place in Armagh Planetarium on May 13th 2010 - the theme is "Communicating STEM - Make it Happen" - you can register on-line now.

Taoiseach shows Agtel video at Innovation event

I was delighted to be involved with the launch of the Innovation Taskforce report - and the video we produced for the event was a central part of An Taoiseach Brian Cowen's speech.

It features lots of interviews with the taskforce members and it was great to interview them and hear their opinions first hand. The important role of innovative science and technology startups is one of the key messages that comes across as well as the role of R&D by multinationals.

An opinion piece in the Irish Independent on Friday, 12 March 2010 gave the production a nice mention too:

"There was even a slick PR video, which had executives from companies like Facebook and Bell Laboratories saying nice things about what a great place Ireland was to do business in."

The video is now up on the Innovation Taskforce section of the Department of the Taoiseach's website ...

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EU e-Skills Week and Ireland

Engineers Week has been a big success and has gotten lots of media attention - and it's interesting to hear that it won't be long before the next Irish event that will focus people's minds on careers in the STEM area...

EU e-Skills week in Ireland, from 1^st -5^th March [is] aimed at encouraging students to think about taking science/maths/technology subjects and to explore careers in ICT and also creating links with ICT organizations.

EU e-Skills Week -1^st -5^th March 2010

EU e-Skills Week highlights the growing demand for skilled ICT users and professionals to drive a competitive and innovative Europe. This exciting campaign seeks to inform students, young professionals and SMEs about the vast range of opportunities that ICT-related jobs present.

The launch event ‘Smart Futures’ will take place on 1^st March and we are looking for ICT professionals or Engineers who would be interested in attending to find out more about the ‘ICT Champions’ programme run by ICT Ireland and Engineers Ireland.

Details of EU e-Skills week - http://eskills-week.ec.europa.eu or contact katecannon@fit.ie for details of what is happening in Ireland.