Trumping Science

Trump (photo: Wikipedia)

For the second time this year, I woke to news that winded me. As I left the house, the rain hammered against my face and coursed down the gutters. It felt that weather was a physical manifestation of the despair that many of us felt.

As the UK had done nearly five months before, the United States appeared to have voted for isolationism after a divisive, bullying, ill-informed campaign. Fear, anger and retreat had triumphed over hope, openness and inclusivity.

For the second time this year, I tried to imagine what this result may do for research and the funding that underpins it. The initial signs aren’t good.

Blond on Blond

Boris and Jo: Blond on Blond

With just three and a half months to go until the EU referendum, the debate on whether to stay or go is already at fever pitch. In TV studios and pubs across the land ill-informed but passionate views are being swapped, and the focus swings from immigration, to trade, and back to immigration again.

One of the key question is the European Union's position on the display of wild blond hair (WBH), particularly for the older man. Whilst in the past Europe has been a key exporter of WBH, it has in recent years been somewhat ambivalent to those whose hair seems to defy the laws of physics. Witness the European disdain for Donald Trump.