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
July 31, 2007
Category: Blogging
Its been a while since I updated the Ye Olde Blogroll, and since I've gotten a few email requests for links (good ones, not links to essay writing services) I thought I'd declare open season on links. I'll be updating...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:00 AM • 31 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Things I Wish I Could Afford
PhDs are useful for all kinds of things. Some people become faculty, others go into industry, and some decide to market ridiculously nerdtastic neurologically-based gifts via the internet. Sure, the latter kind may be rare, but a good idea is...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:57 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 28, 2007
Category: Blatant Nerdery
Some books just don't belong in the science section. One biologist decided to take matters into his own hands.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:01 AM • 19 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 27, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), currently the most common childhood-onset behavioral disorder, is nothing if not controversial. Nearly every aspect of ADHD from diagnosis to prevalence to medication, and even its mere existence, is disputed by at least one...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:00 AM • 94 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 25, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
According to some recent research, a drug taken shortly after a traumatic event, or during the recall of traumatic memories, may act to 'erase' them from the brain. Does it work, and could it be a useful treatment?
Posted by Shelley Batts at 5:10 PM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 24, 2007
Category: Pop Science
Yesterday some Big News hit the internet: Diet Sodas Linked With Health Risks (this link courtesy of Reuters Health). Now according to the press release, diet sodas are linked with increased risk for heart disease and diabetes; specifically that adults...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:33 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 21, 2007
Category: Memes
John of Stranger Fruit tagged me in this meme, how could I resist? Your Score: SurpriseAdoption Cat 20% Affectionate, 57% Excitable, 20% Hungry Calloused. Heartless. Exuberant. You carry the heavy burden of informing children that they are adopted by jumping...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:21 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 20, 2007
Category: Science Cartoons
A different version of the ivory tower.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 11:47 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Law and Ethics
I attended a seminar on gene therapy not long ago, and while I never talked much about it at the time, something stuck in my mind as someone interested in the field: is gene therapy a soft form of eugenics?...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:31 AM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 19, 2007
Category: Chemistry
How does a firefly glow?
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:45 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 18, 2007
Category: LOLStuff
The epic saga of a bird and his bucket.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:22 AM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 17, 2007
Category: Fun
Tony Soprano got whacked in the last episode, you just didn't see it coming.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:00 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science Vault
While not inventing, Alexander Graham Bell was quite preoccupied with the number of nipples of his sheep.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:55 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 15, 2007
Category: Can't Spell "Funding" Without "Fun"
Newt Gingrich is a vocal advocate of increasing the budget of the NIH.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:55 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 13, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
A skin-patch (similar to the patches that deliver nicotine trans-dermally) has been approved to treat Alzheimer's disease. The drug in the patch, Exelon (rivastigmine), is already on the market in pill form, but in the form of a patch the...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:03 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 8, 2007
Category: LOLStuff
Ok, I tried to hold off, but this danged 'LOLCats' craze finally won me over to the Dark Side. It all happened when I *somehow* ended up at I Can Has Cheeseburger, the evil evil site that started it all...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:11 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: YouTube Obsessions
Classical music is *so* relaxing. Heh.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:56 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 7, 2007
Category: Science Vault
Penguins' poop is around the viscosity of olive oil. Didn't you need to know?
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:35 AM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 6, 2007
Category: Travel
I go to the Shanghai Museum and am wowed by sundry cultural relics then party the night away at an underground rave party on a boat in the Shanghai river.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:15 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 5, 2007
Category: Blather
I heard this morning that my grandfather died in his sleep last night. He had certainly lived a long life and had had the opportunity to travel across the country with my grandmother in their RV, for the past 15...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 1:40 PM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 4, 2007
Category: Inner Ear Biology
Happy 4th of July, however you'll be spending it. I'll be watching the hotdog-eating contest on TV, going to get a couple Coney dogs myself, and then fireworks of course! I gotta say that the hot dog eating contest just...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:24 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
July 3, 2007
Category: Travel
I hit up Century Park in Shanghai, the Science and Technology Museum, and dine atop the 5th tallest building in the world. Funny Chinglish signs galore!
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:23 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
