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Some THES readers may have heard about the furore whipped up in the newspapers over a television show called Big Brother. Now, former contestant and physics graduate Jon Tickle is to be offered a year's free membership of the Institute of Physics, as he has, the institute says, "raised the national profile of physicists". So can Mr Tickle shatter the stereotypes that dog physicists? Here's how the papers have described the former contestant: "Quite possibly the most boring man in the universe" ( The Guardian ), " Big Brother bore... claims not to have had a girlfriend for ten years" ( The Sun ) and "sent housemates to sleep by talking about his favourite films, Star Wars and Lord of the Rings" ( Daily Express ).