What's in a byline?

Journalists are often told how important it is to 'have a personal brand' in order to get your name out there. But what happens if your name changes? Does the journalist then have to start from scratch, with their former byline disappearing and taking their 'brand' with it?

Essentially that's the question female journalists have to face if they get married - do they decide to take on their partner's surname in their professional dealings, and run the risk that people will think they disappeared off the face of the earth, byline-speaking? 

It's for this reason that I imagine a number of female journalists opt to stick with their maiden name when it comes to what goes on the top of their articles - it's certainly a lot easier, and there's no messing around with having to explain to contacts or sub-editors that you're the same person, you haven't disappeared anywhere or metamorphosed into another creature overnight, you just so happen to have got hitched.

Personally, I reckon sticking with one's maiden name as a journalist is definitely the way forward - it's easier, less hassle, and above all, if you've managed to build up a name for yourself in a certain field, you won't lose that named identity you've worked so hard to foster. 

Of course there's nothing wrong with choosing to take on a partner's surname in professional dealings - but if you're going to do an Elizabeth Taylor and make your way through several hubbies, there are going to be some confused sub-editors around. (Then again, getting the right byline isn't always a prerogative for every sub, unfortunately - I know of one sub-editor who, on having it pointed out to him that he had put the wrong byline on top of a story, replied that it didn't matter whose name was on the top of a story, adding: "It's only a design thing anyway". Tell that to the journalist who's worked hard on that story, only to have the credit given to someone else).

Anyway, another issue struck me as well - what if two journalists in the same country have exactly the same name? Is it a problem? One answer could be to stick an initial into your name, to differentiate it. Three might be pushing it, though - I'm not sure a name like JRR Tolkien as a byline would look that great. 

Either way, it wouldn't be as unfortunate as being threatened with legal action because of the name your parents gave you at birth - take the case of reporter Bill Wyman, who received a letter from lawyers telling him to 'cease and desist' from using his own name. This was because lawyers for a certain Rolling Stones bass player of the same name thought it was "a seriously misleading and arguably, an intentional, unauthorized exploitation of our client's name".

Ironically, the Rolling Stones' Bill Wyman wasn't even born with that name - he was born William Perks, and changed his name to Bill Wyman three years after the journalist Wyman was born. 

Welcome to Robotville

Humans met robots at a special four-day exhibition at the Science Museum in London this week, with 22 cutting-edge creations from laboratories across Europe to interact with, including ones which could tell jokes to those which read your emotions.

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The Robotville exhibition, which was only on from December 1 - 4, drew big crowds. Although it was free, you needed a ticket, and when I arrived at 1pm, the only time slots left for that day were 4.30pm and 5pm, so that gives you an idea of how popular it was.

Once inside, one of the first robots you see is IURO, a robot designed to pick up information by talking to humans. By speaking into a microphone, visitors could ask the robot questions, such as 'tell me a joke' and 'what is your favourite movie?', and the robot in turn would ask questions too.

Obviously the complexity of questions which the robot can ask or answer is limited, but it was impressive nevertheless.

The biggest attraction, however, had to be the pint-sized Nao - this swivel-hipped humanoid robot carried out feats such as bopping to Michael Jackson's Thriller before taking a bow to rapturous applause from its audience.

Another crowd-pleaser was iCub - this humanoid robot learns how to identify and then pick up objects with its dexterous fingers. At the exhibition this week, it was fascinating to watch the child-like robot pick up a red ball from the hands of children interacting with it, as though enacting a scene from Steven Spielberg's AI.

This year, 2011, marks the 90th anniversary of the term 'robot', first coined by Czech playwright Karel Capek in his play Rossum's Universal Robot.

According to the Science Museum, 'Robot' comes from the Czech word robota, meaning serf, or slave.

Actually defining what a robot is, however, is very difficult, say experts: for instance, a washing machine is arguably a robot, so it's a tricky one to pin down.

The BBC's Rory Cellan-Jones visited the Robotville exhibition this week, and his video from the museum is worth watching to see the robots in action.

According to the Science Museum, there are now nearly 10 million robots on the planet, more than one for every resident in London. It is fascinating to see how robots are catching up with science fiction and becoming more advanced every day, and the exhibition offered a glimpse of what the future may hold.

The economy may be dreary, but there's good weather ahead for Surrey's science

For many people around the UK, Tuesday's (November 29) autumn statement from Chancellor George Osborne was not a cheery affair. But it heralded good news for science in Surrey, with a number of organisations set to get a slice of the extra £200 million the government is putting towards research.

In Surrey (the area I cover as a reporter for the Surrey Advertiser), £80 million of that £200 million boost will go towards a new laboratory complex in Pirbright run by the Institute for Animal Health (IAH).

With additional support from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council's (BBSRC) own capital budget, the money will allow the construction of the £100 million second phase of the development of the IAH campus at Pirbright, which would be scheduled for completion in 2016.

The new facilities will join the world-leading £100 million high containment laboratory currently under construction at Pirbright, which will contain some of the most deadly viruses on the planet, and due to become operational in early 2014.

By providing a range of facilities for Institute scientists, IAH will be well placed to work on a range of important animal diseases that threaten global farming and food security.

The government has also allocated £21 million to kick-start an innovative project to fly radar satellites around the Earth, which has been developed by Guildford-based Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL).

The radar project is set to launch a series of satellites which will be able to image any place on Earth inside 24 hours.

All in all, especially given the current financial climate we're in, it appears that science in Surrey has done pretty well indeed.