Shelley Batts is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Michigan. She studies hair cell regeneration in the cochlea, and is just embarking on that quixotic quest called 'thesis.' She lies awake at night pondering how science intersects with politics, culture, policy, money, medicine, and religion in an attempt to be more than just a niche scientist sitting in the oh-so-lovely ivory tower. Follow me and my parrot on the quest to get funded, get a PhD, and stay sane.
Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth, are never alone or weary of life. ~Rachel Carson
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Cochlear Hair Cell Regeneration
Interview With Dr. Irene Pepperberg
On Religion and Taking the 'Red Pill'
Neuroscience of Cocaine Addiction
Parrots Have Object Permanance
April 30, 2007
Category: Blogging
Several people have emailed to let me know that some commenting is going on at the Volokh Conspiracy over what qualifies as "fair use." Its cool that some experts in law might chime in. Check it out....
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:32 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Academia
So, as I mentioned before, Dr. Irene Pepperberg is in Ann Arbor to deliver a lecture at the annual Neuroscience Spring Symposia today. Also giving talks is Dr. Steven Finkbeiner from UCSF (on neurodegeneration in Huntington's) and Dr. Clifford Saper...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:17 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 29, 2007
Category: Birds
Irene is in the building. Be still my heart!
Posted by Shelley Batts at 6:02 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
Got this from UM's publishing license negotiation team. I asked for permission to publish the email, and they said sure. I removed names just in case anybody decided to be over-zealous again. :) ---------------- Hi Shelley, I'm the Electronic Resources...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:34 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 27, 2007
Category: Blogging
Looks like the big dogs are coming out to play: Science Journal (Almost) Polices the Blogosphere...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:25 PM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Friday Grey Matters
Last week I came across an interesting press release on a strange phenomenon: vocal 'naming' of parrot chicks by their mothers. At the time of that posting I hadn't come across the primary journal article, but a few commenters...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:39 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Friday Grey Matters
Gang-gang parrots love to tear into tough stuffs.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:00 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
SEED and Page 3.14 to host discussions of fair-use blogging,
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:52 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 26, 2007
Category: Blogging
Earlier today I noticed this blog post on a Nature Blog, (cross posted here) specifically on FnL - Euan Adie's blog, who was overly critical of the science blogosphere's response to the 'Fair Use' kerfuffle (WileyGate?). He opined that it...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 6:45 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
Thats what some bloggers have suggested. Well, am I? Some may call it cowardly, but here was my response: Sorry, guess I'm not as brave as you. Perhaps its is all well and good for people to try to take...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:36 PM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
Looks like our efforts paid off. :D Dear Dr Batts I'd like to introduce myself as the Director of Publications at the SCI. There has been a general misunderstanding with this issue. Our official response is below, which we are...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:15 PM • 45 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
.....discussion. I'm not out for blood, and I'm really kinda hoping that I'll get an email in my inbox today that says "Yes, feel free to use and discuss the mentioned graphs." So far I haven't, and I think that's...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:03 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 25, 2007
Category: Blogging
Tomorrow the hammer's coming down hard over the 'Fair Use' issue, at ScienceBlogs and hopefully around the blogosphere. Quite a few of my fellow SciBlings have pledged to post about this issue, as it affects us all (not only all...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 5:45 PM • 42 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogging
I was threatened with legal action if I didn't take it down immediately.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:40 PM • 79 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 24, 2007
Category: Chemistry
Yes, someone tested out the caffeine soap and blogged the results! Seems like he felt a bit of a buzz, however whether its caffeine or a bit of the placebo effect, well who can say. I jumped into the...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:54 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Chemistry
As a student, no one takes this study more seriously than I.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:10 AM • 28 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 23, 2007
Category: Behavior
Video game addiction study seeks participants.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:56 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Weird Science
Lots of people don't like coffee (not me, I love love love it), but still want that delectably artificial pick-me-up in the morning. What are they to do??
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:11 AM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 20, 2007
Category: Stupidity
According to nutty gun-lover Ted Nugent, school shootings like Virginia Tech could be avoided if we all toted guns, and has the anecdotes to prove it! There are so many gems in this piece. For example: Already spineless gun control...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 4:26 PM • 38 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Friday Grey Matters
German researchers at the University of Hamburg claim to have documented that some parrots seem to give their offspring (but not their mates) individual "names," in the form of a distinctive call which is different for each of their...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:01 PM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: AIDS
VIRIP was isolated from 10,000 liters of blood, and when slightly modified, prevents the HIV virus from binding to host cells to replicate.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:45 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 19, 2007
Category: Blogging
Sorry, I accidentally published a post-in-progress which wasn't finished yet (on HIV, for those that were mystified about where the rest of it was). Got a couple confused comments, so sorry bout that. Oops! You'll just have to wait until...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 11:32 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
GABA + Japanese candy = FUN
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:17 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Behavior
Ok, no nobody really *likes* to work. Even if you like your job, there are some days that you'd rather just sleep in or not have to jump through hoops or deal with your boss' same old TPS-report complaints....
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:30 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 17, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
Anti-cancer vaccines seem to be a burgeoning field in immunology (for example, the HPV vaccine) and what's more, they seem to hold much promise. A recent clinical trial at UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center has tested a vaccine (vitespan, trademark...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:38 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 16, 2007
Category: Risky Business
In response to the horrific school shooting in Virginia Tech, a commenter in this post left a link to a fascinating story from the latter part of 2006. Its a Boing Boing article, which quotes Loren Coleman, entitled School shootings:...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 4:25 PM • 19 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Risky Business
I was pretty shocked to see the headline on CNN.com right now: Gunman kills 21 on Virginia Tech campus. As someone who spends the majority of my day on a college campus, this really rattled me. Should I start worrying...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:00 PM • 36 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inner Ear Biology
I got an email from the head of this study, David F. Colvard, MD, of Raleigh, North Carolina. His team has shown that nasal irrigation can help solve a common problem for scuba divers: middle ear squeeze. This refers to...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:24 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 13, 2007
Category: Ecology
Good news! Florida is opening a public comment period from May 1-June 14, and the decision about whether to downgrade their status from endangered will be postponed until after that period. The final plan will be presented to commissioners...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:02 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
She climbed on the creme eggs and that was it. She thinks they're her eggs
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:55 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Birds
Just came across this interesting blog, CityParrots, which catalogs and reports on feral parrot populations in cities. Quite a lot of breadth, from parrot conservation, to stories on illegal trade, to Kakapos, to wild parakeets in Connecticut! Check it out!...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:12 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 12, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
What happens after a person receives a traumatic brain injury? Tissue damage and swelling often results in neural tissue being unable to receiving adequate levels of glucose which are required to "feed" the brain. This deprivation of energy can cause...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:35 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Demagogues
Kurt Vonnegut, long-time smoker author of "Slaughterhouse Five" and "Cats Cradle," died last night of brain injuries he suffered weeks ago during a fall. He was 84. "I will say anything to be funny, often in the most horrible situations,"...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:56 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 11, 2007
Category: Inner Ear Biology
Well ear plugs seem to be the answer to all our hearing-loss woes, according to this short new piece I came across on CNN. The author suggests wearing earplugs during incredibly noisy tasks as well as everyday ones, which is...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:53 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Ecology
I grew up in Florida, in central Florida to be exact. As a kid we went to Blue Springs and other manatee havens on field trips, to observe these gentle and curious animals. They are huge, and as they tend...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:11 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 10, 2007
Category: Pepper
I was just chuckling at PZ's lament about the sub-par potential of octopi to open a beer for you: I was thinking it would be so cool to have an octopus on your shoulder, and you hold up your beer...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:25 PM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Technology
Not a huge deal, but hey, its exciting to me to get a facade of legitimacy. ;)...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:44 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Podcasts
Wanna know the deep dark history of creationism, the intelligent design movement, and the Dover trial? Well Ed Brayton who blogs at Dispatches From the Culture Wars gave a talk a few weeks back at the Freethought Association in Grand...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:41 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Fun
Wow, why is this so relaxing? I think this slow-moving up-close-and-personal whale thingamajig could supplant bubble baths and candles as most relaxing thing ever. If they had added whale-song in the background I think we'd have the cure for...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:18 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 9, 2007
Category: Ecology
I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 4:36 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blatant Nerdery
The Matrix movies have a lot of religious undertones, from 'Neo' as a Christ-figure, the Nebuchadnezzar as their ship, Trinity as his side-kick, the name of the rebel city (Zion), and much more. Then, I suppose it was only...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:45 PM • 19 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: America's Dance With Mary Jane
Some guy was arrested this past Wednesday for trying to smuggle pot in an Easter Bunny. The stuffed bunny wabbit was stuffed with more than plush, it was also packing 16.6 grams of weed. The owner of said bunny...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:30 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 7, 2007
Category: Cooking
I've become a bit more interested in cooking lately, I suppose because of its similarity to performing an experiment. You have reagents (ingredients), follow a protocol (recipe), and have have both positive and negative outcomes (hopefully delicious!). The recent discovery...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:04 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 6, 2007
Category: Fun
.....that they are delicious as well as interesting! Experiments performed: Reaction to cold and heat. Soluability testing. Low pressure environments. Effects of smoking on Peeps' health. Seperation of conjoined Peep quintuplets. Peep fear response....
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:30 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Friday Grey Matters
Amazing video of Alex the grey parrot in action!
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:25 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 5, 2007
Category: Weird Science
SETI used to do it, too. That is, have a volunteer program to chip in your CPU's processing power to help solve some problem (in SETI's case, look for ET). Now your idle Sony PS3 can be put to a...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 5:28 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Creepy Crawlies
A parasite called Toxoplasma gondii has a unique mechanism to help it spread: "tricking" rats into delighting in the smell of its predator, cats. This is an important adaptation since this parasite can only sexually reproduce in the gut of...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:36 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 4, 2007
Category: Religion
Courtesy of CNN, an empty-headed opinion piece that adds no real dimension to the topic. As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 4:38 PM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Inner Ear Biology
Current state of hair cell regeneration research summarized.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:06 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Fun
My oh my. Browsing through ThinkGeek never ceases to astonish and delight. Just take a gander at the nerdelicious D20 Fuzzy Dice. Yes, thats right, big honkin' plushy nerd-dice. Now, back in the day (Shelley circa 1996), I had some...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 11:55 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 3, 2007
Category: Inner Ear Biology
This vaccine wasn't meant to prevent ear infections per se, but has had the welcome side effect of doing just that (for more on ear infections, go here). Pharmaceutical company Wyeth developed the vaccine PCV7 (marketed in the US under...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 6:00 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Disease
Who ever said there's no fortune and glory in science? I just got wind of several multi-million dollar prizes for scientists who tackle some tough questions: called X-Prizes. What is an X PRIZE? An X PRIZE is a multi-million dollar...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:01 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
April 2, 2007
Category: Inner Ear Biology
The first "smart" robotic micro-drill has been used on a handful of patients in the UK, with very positive outcomes. It was developed by Dr. Peter Brett from the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Aston Univ. and first...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:22 PM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
