Don’t you hate it when you’re right? I thought I was joking when I previously wrote about a career in science: Maybe a better analogy is an actor. Working as a researcher has about as much certainty as an ugly actress in Hollywood. I saw that the Cosmos Ultimate Science Guide 2012 (page 32) had statistics… [Read more…]
February 26, 2012
No, this isn’t another post on laboratory-grown meat – this is spam of the email variety. Maybe you think spam just involves offers to enlarge parts of your body and the like, but if you’re in research then you get the joy of biology spam. All the universities have the names, specialties and email address… [Read more…]
September 29, 2011
The Advertiser front page today: Retrovirus threatens Kangaroo Island koalas The survival of Kangaroo Island’s koalas in is grave danger because of an AIDS-like virus affecting 40% of the population. Experts say the disease has the potential to impact koalas in a similar way to how mouth cancer is wiping out Tasmanian devils. The Environment… [Read more…]
September 12, 2011
It’s GFP cats – new genetically modified cats that express green fluorescent protein and glow under fluorescent light of the right wavelength.
September 11, 2011
I know I’ve been absent for a fortnight – I’ve been writing like a mad woman, or rather like a someone writing up their PhD, which is the same thing as mad, and haven’t felt like more writing on the blog. And I’m afraid that now instead of a sardonic sans science takedown I’m going to bore… [Read more…]
August 14, 2011
I’ve had a busy week, so I’m just posting my favourite biology PhD video. Everyone in biology has already seen it, and everyone not in biology won’t love the references to labelling tubes and Western blots. So I may bore everyone, but it’s still great. Caught in a Bad Project – Zheng lab Lady Gaga… [Read more…]
July 31, 2011
Hi guys, I’m just casting the next stone in our astrophysics vs biology skirmish. That xkcd comic was way too nice to theoretical physicists, so I’ve tweaked it a little. Update: apparently the falling theoretical physics/maths stick figures in my original were too abstruse, so hopefully this version clears up the sarcasm: Okay, so there’s… [Read more…]
May 8, 2011
People always think methane is smelly. I do research in gastroenterology and one of the gases we test in breath samples is methane, and because people associate methane with fart odour I get strange looks and jokes. People I’m going to test are embarrassed by the idea of me knowing they produce methane. To clear… [Read more…]
May 4, 2011
Our ASC SA blogging workshop cousins The Other Side of Science have their real blog up and running. They’ve broken out of their .wordpress.com site like (I’d say a butterfly from a chrysalis, but that would be way too nauseating) … like wasp Glyptapanteles emerging from a caterpillar. Does their old site live on as… [Read more…]
May 1, 2011
The Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens are magnificent this year with vivid red and yellow autumn leaves. I couldn’t resist snapping photos – the curse/blessing of digital cameras! I guess a colourful autumn is normal in all those cold dark places, like Europe, where the deciduous trees come from, but for the past few years here all… [Read more…]
April 25, 2012
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