Those Brits come up with the wackiest ideas. Intrepid young cosmologist Andrew Jaffe, at Imperial College London, is participating in a fun scheme from the Royal Society: pairing members of Parliament with scientists, who will follow them around for a few days.
Sorry I've been so quiet this week: I've just finished participating in the Royal Society's MP-Scientist Pairing Scheme. They've linked 25 youngish scientists from throughout the UK with a member of Parliament, and let us "shadow" them for much of this week (as well as giving us presentations on the way science and scientists interact with the UK Parliamentary system): attending meetings, watching debates, going to the bar, generally absorbing the chaos that goes along with politics and government.
Sounds like a blast. Although I suspect that "going to the bar" doesn't result in any martinis being served. (Not that this would ever happen in Britain, anyway; a friend relates the story of being tossed out of a London pub for trying to order a martini. Too American, apparently.)
