Monthly Archives: September 2010

Lowly Grad and the Magic Beans

Posted on September 26, 2010 by namnezia

You had seen him several times skulking around your poster, furiously scribbling notes. Every time he came by you recognized his pointy beard and short stature. Once he pulled out a ruler and started measuring your error bars, another time … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments

Uninspired post brought on by a stuffy nose

Posted on September 25, 2010 by namnezia

The guy at the Korean restaurant told my wife that for sure those pickled serrano peppers would get rid of my cold. She had told him that I was sitting miserably in my office with a mean cold and asked … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Dirty World

Posted on September 23, 2010 by namnezia

Check out this map generated by Aaron van Donkelaar at Dalhousie University. It uses NASA satellite imagery to calculate the amount of air pollution throughout the world. More specifically, it is looking at levels of fine particulate matter less than … Continue reading →

Posted in Maps | Leave a comment

Echo Chambers

Posted on September 22, 2010 by namnezia

In the late 70’s, French anthropologist Bruno Latour set off to do some interesting fieldwork. He spent time observing the daily rituals and customs of scientists in situ, in the laboratory of Roger Guillemin, discoverer of TRF, at the Salk … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific Practice | 4 Comments

Tentacles!

Posted on September 22, 2010 by namnezia

So we’re spreading out our tentacles! Recently I was asked by the nice folks at LabSpaces to contribute to their science blogs. I was quite excited by the offer, and agreed to cross-post some of my favorite science-y material from … Continue reading →

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¡Rumba buena y guaguancó!

Posted on September 20, 2010 by namnezia

This weekend I spent a whole day doing actual labwork, a rare occurrence. A student had left the lab and the reviewers of her paper wanted more experiments. Since most of my current lab crew is newish or absorbed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Hot Pants! Haaah! | 4 Comments

Squid

Posted on September 18, 2010 by namnezia

For those of you that were inspired by the recent talk about pencils, a new series of online columns debuted today at the New York Times. Artist and illustrator James McMullan will be writing a twelve part series called Line … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

I do the best imitation of myself

Posted on September 15, 2010 by namnezia

A recently published article in The Scientist reminded me of a recent incident in my lab.  One of my students handed me a draft of her latest manuscript, and as I was looking through the Methods section I noticed that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Expanding Diversity

Posted on September 15, 2010 by namnezia

For the last three summers I have run a small program to bring high-school students from underrepresented minority groups to my university for four weeks during the summer to take a course and work in my lab. All of these … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Erev Rosh Hashanah

Posted on September 8, 2010 by namnezia

Yesterday I was talking on the phone with my mother in Mexico who was telling me about her plans for Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. She’s planning a delicious dinner for 30+ close relatives. She is preparing some traditional … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments