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Dinosaur DNA discovered in GenBank
Is it real or is it April Fools?...Posted on April 1, 2008 8:18 AM • 3 Comments •
Discovering Biology in a Digital World
My thoughts on biology, teaching, life, and exploring the living world via the digital one. Only my opinions are represented by these postings, they do not represent the viewpoints of any funding agency or Geospiza, Inc.
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I am a microbiologist and molecular biologist turned tenured biotech faculty turned bioinformatics scientist turned entrepreneur. My passion is developing instructional materials for 21st century biology (Geospiza Education).
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- Workforce shortages in biotechnology, part I. Why is this a problem?
- Would your class like to clone and sequence plant genes?
- You tell 'em Arnold!
- The Genetic Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) is passed by the House
- The snake rescuer
- A molecule for May
- A vaccine against lung cancer?
- Comparing mutant and wild type structures
- The Personal Genome discussion
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Humor:
Whatever happened to Bill Nye the Science Guy?
We used to love watching him blow stuff up on TV. But things are different now.... GrrlScientist has the movie....Posted on March 31, 2008 11:54 AM • 4 Comments •
A Rosetta stone for parents
It's a good thing my 13 yr old doesn't read my blog. Why? Because I'm on to her. Being a biologist, well, acronyms are my life. And, for a long time, I've been able to interpret some of the lingo that she uses on AIM. Lately, we've certainly been having our little talks about cell phone bills for texting and...Posted on March 14, 2008 9:29 PM • 0 Comments •
The day PZ visited Seattle and became a pirate
Happy Birthday! Is it PZ Myers or Captain Barbosa in disguise?...Posted on March 9, 2008 1:50 PM • 2 Comments •
What do you do when you hear "achoo!"? The etiquette of a sneeze
In the cubical world, is the "Gesundheit" the right thing to say?Posted on February 23, 2008 12:26 PM • 38 Comments •
The choir sings about PCR
Yesterday, I posted a memorial for Ron Mardigian, an enthusiastic champion of science education at Bio-Rad. Today, I scanned RPM's blog and what do I see? A choir! Bio-Rad has produced a really funny music video. It reminds me of the music video from "We are the World," except some members of the choir are holding PCR machines and singing...Posted on January 11, 2008 12:32 PM • 2 Comments •
What's that taste?
This wasn't in the lab, but it was an accident, and it was funny later on. Normally, I wouldn't think twice about storing bacterial cultures in a refrigerator. After all, bacteria on a petri plate, inside of a plastic bag, are kind of stuck. They can't get out of the plates, and even if they did, they certainly can't crawl...Posted on December 24, 2007 10:00 AM • 10 Comments •
The Twisted Chipmunk Christmas Song
You're not likely to see the Twisted Chipmunk Christmas Song on the big screen this weekend. But, if you liked White Trash Christmas, you'll enjoy this irreverent holiday video. From the Seattle animators, formerly known as ToonedIn, now Global Wonder Entertainment....Posted on December 23, 2007 11:00 AM • 1 Comments •
I'm dreaming of a ....
White Trash Christmas. This is the perfect antidote to the Frosty, Rudolph, and The Little Drummer Boy overdose. From the Seattle animators, formerly known as ToonedIn, now Global Wonder Entertainment....Posted on December 22, 2007 12:55 PM • 0 Comments •
Let's not forget the pets!
Holiday gifts for your animal companionsPosted on December 8, 2007 10:14 AM • 1 Comments •
Greg Laden may love Linux, but nothing beats Mac and PC
If this is so funny, can it really be wrong?Posted on December 6, 2007 11:11 PM • 3 Comments •
You could always give your loved ones the flu
or E. coli, or perhaps a little Giardia (just to loosen things up, of course), or maybe even Herpes. All these scary pathogens become works of art, when Infectious Awareables puts the images on neckties. And what could be funnier than a pair of boxer shorts full of Gonorrhea?...Posted on December 6, 2007 11:35 AM • 4 Comments •
Science Cliches: what are your favorites?
The perpetual science student's contribution to modern language.Posted on December 5, 2007 4:33 PM • 30 Comments •
Serial killer or computer scientist? The quiz results
Who's better at telling the difference?Posted on November 12, 2007 4:13 PM • 1 Comments •
The Halloween aftermath: graphing the candy, part I
Fun ideas for your Halloween lootPosted on November 1, 2007 12:00 PM • 8 Comments •
Programmer, Serial Killer, or both: can you tell the difference?
Can you tell the difference between the sort of person who would write a programming language and a serial killer?...Posted on September 16, 2007 7:33 PM • 20 Comments •
Steven Colbert becomes intimately acquainted with his own DNA!
Thanks to Steven Colbert you can hear about DNA directly from Dr. Spencer Wells from the National Genographic Project. I read about this video in the GenomeWeb Daily Scan and had to check it out. Who would have thought scientists could be so funny?...Posted on August 16, 2007 11:00 PM • 0 Comments •
Understanding software engineers: a guide for biologists
I found that one of the most challenging things in moving from an academic institution to a software company was getting used to the difference between software engineers and biologists. Now at last, we biologists can start to understand the mysterious ways of software engineers with this helpful reference from Silicon Glen. Although, maybe we biologists do have something in...Posted on August 9, 2007 8:45 AM • 0 Comments •
And we thought publishing was complicated in biology
Biologist 1: How many physicists does it take to write a research paper?...Posted on August 8, 2007 6:34 PM • 8 Comments •
Conventions, authorship, and fields of study
What happens when authors play by different rules?Posted on July 28, 2007 3:49 PM • 15 Comments •
Professor Steve Steve bears all at Virginia Tech
Not content with his recent exploits in human experimentation and cavorting with Plosites in San Francisco, Professor Steve Steve jetted across the country once again, last week, hitting both both Blacksburg, VA and Seattle, WA, and creating pandemonium wherever he went. And raising the question - how does he get back and forth across the coast so quickly? Will you...Posted on July 25, 2007 8:32 AM • 0 Comments •
The signs are everywhere
At the Seattle Art Museum's new sculpture garden, we can read all the signs....Posted on July 15, 2007 4:48 PM • 0 Comments •
Professor Steve Steve caught experimenting with human subjects!
It's okay, they're science teachers.Posted on July 15, 2007 2:17 PM • 3 Comments •
What if Garrison Keillor did bionformatics?
What happens when a biologist tries to talk to the IT group?Posted on June 22, 2007 7:00 AM • 8 Comments •
Project Jim, celebrity sequencing, and the divine right of geneticists
I want my genome sequenced, too! Apparently, it's become a popular thing to get your genome sequenced. Craig Venter was the first. Jim Watson's genome (of Project Jim) was ceremonially released this morning (courtesy of 454), and now George Chuch, Larry King, cosmologist Stephen Hawking, Google co-founder Larry Page, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and former junk-bond trader Michael Milken want...Posted on May 31, 2007 1:36 PM • 9 Comments •
PZ's fan club at the Seattle FolkLife festival?
Could it be PZ in disguise?Posted on May 29, 2007 12:08 PM • 6 Comments •
Opening up new VISTAs
I received a mysterious file last week, via e-mail from one of my students. According the e-mail, the file contained the answers to an assignment....Posted on February 13, 2007 8:50 PM • 9 Comments •
Biology as a second language, part II. How many ways can we use a word in one sentence?
`When I make a word do a lot of work like that,' said Humpty Dumpty, `I always pay it extra.' -Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll In biology, we often ask our words do a lot of work. In what other field would we write direction like this "Transfer 10 lambda of lambda phage DNA into a cuvette and...Posted on February 3, 2007 8:13 PM • 2 Comments •
In the movies: fighting flies and lobbing lobsters
And a mutation that makes males flies fight like a girlPosted on January 21, 2007 1:41 PM • 0 Comments •
Could it be camouflage?
Are lab-coat wearing researchers just acting like my dog?Posted on January 6, 2007 10:04 PM • 1 Comments •
Bored on Thanksgiving?
Here's an experiment you can do at home.Posted on November 22, 2006 3:17 PM • 0 Comments •
Let's watch that again in slow motion, shall we?
We need lab movies of people doing things wrong.Posted on November 6, 2006 9:04 AM • 3 Comments •
Dim Sum, anyone?
Some experiments are doomed from the startPosted on November 2, 2006 9:10 AM • 1 Comments •
Your doggie on drugs
Is your precious pup spending an unusual amount of time time hanging around by the pond? Is poochy looking a little green around the gills? Does fido seem a little feeble? My friend you've got trouble. Trouble with a capital "T". What's the canine equivalent to catnip?...Posted on October 26, 2006 7:00 AM • 0 Comments •
Dihydrogen Monoxide: Controversial Solvent Exposed
Yikes, I've spilled some DHMO on my hands! What do I do now? Do you know the truth about DHMO? Look at this web site and tell me if you still want to go swimming....Posted on October 13, 2006 4:40 PM • 6 Comments •
Is the truth in Duluth?
Viking ships and runestones. It must be seen to be believed.Posted on October 5, 2006 12:34 PM • 1 Comments •
Cephalopodia at the PTSA!
Usually, I leave the cephalopod genre to PZ, but that was before I attended last night's PTSA meeting.Posted on September 28, 2006 8:20 AM • 1 Comments •
Too funny to ignore
Chad Orzel posted a cute bit about True Lab Stories: The Party Game. I like these things because, yes, they make it clear that those of us who do science put coffee cups on top of our cars and drive off, just like everyone else. For those of who are thinking about careers in science, you don't always have to...Posted on August 17, 2006 1:36 PM • 1 Comments •
People who look like their dogs
Past Favorites for the holidays: Now that the dog genome is done, maybe we need a new project in genetic variation. What genotypes make people look like their dogs? technorati tags: dogs, humor dog genome...Posted on July 3, 2006 9:58 AM • 0 Comments •
Holy Moly! What kind of scientist are you, Batman?
This important question, posed by Benjamin Cohen of The World's Fair, is one that cannot be ignored. And, most importantly, can be quickly answered....Posted on June 21, 2006 2:08 PM • 0 Comments •
