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        <link>http://my.rsc.org/index.php?page_id=1007&amp;module_name=sblog_info&amp;sblog_id=52&amp;group_id=&amp;tk=1huMmQ7nTc1WBxBQH-sbLI_XWp4nZOgjc6gg22RQrtc,&amp;tm=1qRGm8FZPwKZRR5yJYnJkaUB1ivA4u44NB1vsusdjWk,</link>
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        <pubDate>Fri, 24 May 2013 10:00:00 +0100</pubDate>
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            <title>RSciTech awards</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/733</link>
            <description><![CDATA[
At the recent Gatsby Charitable Foundation conference Strengthening our Technician Workforce, RSC Affiliates Harry Fox and Lee Philips were amongst the first candidates to be awarded entry to the new Registered Scientist (RSciTech) Register. RSciTech and Registered Scientist (RSci) are new registers owned by the Science Council which the RSC has license to award.&nbsp;
<br /><br />Posted by Andrea McGhee<br />Jun 21, 2012 3:01 pm<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:01:27 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/733</guid>
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            <title>Roadmap series 2012: Future Cities Policy event</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/628</link>
            <description><![CDATA[Following on from the ‘Chemistry for Tomorrows World’ lecture series, the RSC are launching a series of high profile Roadmap events throughout 2012 focusing on the areas identified in our 2009 report Chemistry for Tomorrow’s World: a roadmap for the chemical sciences.  We have a series of eight events planned over the course of the year, the first of which covers the topic of ‘Future Cities’.<br /><br />Posted by Sarah Hobbs<br />Mar 5, 2012 10:34 am<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Mon, 05 Mar 2012 10:34:55 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/628</guid>
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            <title>Obituary: Dr Richard Pike</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/489</link>
            <description><![CDATA[After the sad passing of Dr Richard Pike last month, please find below links to a number of obituaries. http://www.rsc.org/AboutUs/News/PressReleases/2011/RichardPikedies.asphttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8680088/Richard-Pike.htmlhttp://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article3115414.ece (Note. The Times use a paywall)
 http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&amp;storycode=417058&amp;c=2
<br /><br />Posted by MyRSC Team<br />Aug 12, 2011 9:44 am<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Fri, 12 Aug 2011 09:44:49 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/489</guid>
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            <title>Science Minister waves with pride his CIKTN Endangered Elements table in Chemistry World</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/371</link>
            <description><![CDATA[
	David Willetts, the Science Minister, recently appeared before the Science and Technology Select Committee on a host of topics, including rare earth elements and the Pfizer closure.
	He's advised by many learned colleagues, but he held up one source of information in particular: Chemistry World, the RSC's monthly magazine, and an article including a 'Periodic Table of Endangered Elements' created by the Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network (CIKTN).
	As Mike Pitts, the Sustainability Manager at the CIKTN, noted on his blog, the Minister said the table was 'particularly useful for the layman.'
	You can find said excellent table here; also, here's a picture of the Minister looking pleased with his copy of Chemistry World.
	Willetts said at the RSC's Parliamentary launch of the International Year of Chemistry that: "chemistry is fundamental to everything that enables us to lead civilised lives." Life won't be civilised for much longer if we don't make it more sustainable, so it's great to see the Minister taking on board advice from the right people.
<br /><br />Posted by Jon Edwards<br />Mar 8, 2011 10:52 am<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:52:17 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/371</guid>
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            <title>Proposed science exams</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/194</link>
            <description><![CDATA[
	The proposed new science GCSEs submitted recently by examining boards, but later rejected by the regulator Ofqual, plumbed new depths in &#39;dumbing down&#39; these important subjects, according to Richard Pike, chief executive of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
 In scrutinising draft examination papers in chemistry, marked &#39;subject to accreditation&#39; and prepared by Edexcel, Dr Pike said that of a total 27 parts to the various questions, only one required candidates to write a chemical equation (for 3 marks out of 50), while the toughest calculation involved merely adding 1 to 100 (for 1 mark).

	In this specimen Higher Tier paper for the most able 16 year-olds in state education in England, planned to be first examined in 2013, the most highly rewarded questions (6 marks each) required solely narrative answers. One required candidates to discuss the pros and cons of using biofuels instead of petrol for cars, while the other addressed the use and disposal of polymers.
	
	These two topics, extraordinarily representing almost a quarter of the marks, are amongst the worst taught in secondary schools, with a lack of any quantification, and text books used by teachers and pupils perpetuating misleading or erroneous information.

	A revision book for the OCR examining board makes no mention of the concept of &#39;full life-cycle analysis&#39; for biofuels, which would have identified the very large quantities of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere (100-200 tonnes per hectare) in clearing land in some tropical areas to establish biofuel farms. Nor is there mention of the very low yield of fuel from such crops (currently, at best 4 tonnes per hectare annually). The same book also does not explain, industrially, where the feedstock for polymers comes from.

A further concern is that a 300-page A-Level book on environmental studies, endorsed by the AQA examining board, which should be chemistry- based, contains not a single substantive calculation. In covering a wide range of topics so superficially, it claims that oil-based drilling mud is used (solely) to &#39;lubricate the drill pipes&#39; in oil exploration, whereas the principal purposes are to balance the pressure of the oil in the reservoir to avoid a &#39;blowout&#39;, and to carry rock debris upwards to the drilling rig as the hole is drilled.

	Dr Pike said: &quot;A number of questions could be answered merely from reading a national newspaper every day, as the scientific content was minimal and general knowledge would have been sufficient.
<br /><br />Posted by Michael Bonne<br />Aug 12, 2010 10:48 am<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 12 Aug 2010 10:48:23 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/194</guid>
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            <title>Don't leave physics and chemistry departments with uncertain future</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/157</link>
            <description><![CDATA[The Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Physics warn today that science departments in UK universities will be beset by financial difficulties if adequate funding is not ensured. The two learned societies say that chemistry and physics departments in the UK have to be valued and supported throughout the austerity era to avoid squandering the UK&#39;s scientific supremacy.


	
		Are you at a university chemistry or physics department that is under-funded and undervalued?
		
	
		Are you a lecturer struggling to provide teaching through lack of resources?
		
	
		Are you one of the many (not few) students in full lecture theatres and labs fighting for paid-for support?
		


<br /><br />Posted by Michael Bonne<br />Jul 8, 2010 11:07 am<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:07:58 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/157</guid>
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            <title>Who is to Blame for the BP oil spill?</title>
            <link>http://my.rsc.org/blogs/52/146</link>
            <description><![CDATA[
	
		
			
				
			
				&nbsp;
			
				Dr Richard Pike was interviewed several times last week across the BBC and Sky News, explaining the science and technology behind the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The spark was a letter published in he Daily Telegraph, which led to interviews on Radio 5 Live, the Today Programme, BBC News 24 and Sky News. The appearances culminated in a one on one interview with Kirsty Wark on last Thursday&rsquo;s Newsnight.
		
	


<br /><br />Posted by Michael Bonne<br />Jun 21, 2010 10:59 am<hr noshade />]]></description>
            <pubDate>Mon, 21 Jun 2010 10:59:14 +0100</pubDate>
            <guid>my.rsc.org/blogs/52/146</guid>
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