Mary Mulvihill

Vote now, and help to put a scientist on RTE’s list of the greatest Irish people ever. If you’ve been following the story so far, you’ll know that the short-list of 40 candidates includes three people associated with Boyzone, only three women, and not one scientist or engineer — for what promises to be a [...]

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Did you know that the Irish invented Shamrock, put a man on the moon, changed the face of modern warfare and electrified the world? What Ireland has done for the world, is the topic for the Big Ideas discussion, as part of the St Patrick’s festival (tonight). Against a panel of writers, musicians, politicians and [...]

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If you are new to freelancing, or to hiring “consultants”, then you may be wondering how much to charge/how much to pay. Well, here’s a simple calculation that I’ve found very useful over the years — both to educate colleagues who are starting to work for themselves, and commercial clients who are new to out-sourcing. [...]

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Here’s my hot economic tip to beat the recession: buy glue shares! No really, bear with me. The dismal scientists have ways of measuring economic activity and the depth of a recession.  Armchair economists such as myself keep our eyes on alternative indices, and watch for signs of the times we live in. For instance, [...]

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HANDS up if you’ve ever bought a gift-bag for a bottle of wine. Thought not. Me neither. So where have they all come from? There are currently six – six! – lurking in the spare wardrobe where we store presents and gift-wrapping. I’m beginning to think that, like wire clothes-hangers, they can breed in the [...]

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News just in . . . A Dutch design team has been picking holes in the fonts that people use, and come up with a ‘wholly new’ font. The many small holes mean that you use less ink when you print in this font. The design is also sans-serif — it lacks the small tails [...]

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If you’ve ever wondered what a 2,000 year old computer looks like, then just click on this video, to see a working model of the fascinating Antikythera mechanism. This amazing device contains some three-dozen intricate gear wheels, with drive wheels, and differential and epi-cyclic gearing — yet it was made in the first century BC [...]

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As a nation, we Irish seem to be wedded to our cars. No, this golfer isn’t lost in the rough — just commuting naturally between his home in Salthill and the local golf course. A lovely image by Galway-based photographer John Smyth that kind of says it all really. Yes, we are a very driven [...]

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A clear and simple diagram can be very effective at conveying technical concepts, and especially the complex processes you find in science.

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