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
October 30, 2007
Category: Blather
Bush says "Congress worst in 20 years." All irony meters simultaneously explode. I just imagine Bush and Congress embroiled in a "No, you are!" "Noooo, you are!" "Nooooo you are times 10!" "You are times infinity!" - type battle of...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 6:00 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 29, 2007
Category: Blogging
So, what are the people who didn't win the scholarship contest saying about it? (Of course we know that the winner is very happy!) Stephanie at Poorer Than You: A lot of people have come to me about the "unfairness"...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 6:23 PM • 11 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Announcements
Just wanted to quickly announce that I placed 2nd in the Scholarship Contest, with about 6000 votes after the polls closed last night. Congrats to 1st place winner Kim Klein and 3rd place winner Jess Kim, as well as all...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:56 AM • 10 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
Dr. Vilayanur Ramachandran discusses how brain damaged patients illustrates neurological function in this talk given at the TED Conference.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:33 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 28, 2007
Category: Academia
The Saudi king is investing 12 billion in a liberal research institution.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 7:00 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 27, 2007
Category: Creepy Crawlies
Artwork using dead insects and clockwork parts.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:35 PM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 26, 2007
Category: Fun
Sea monkeys, fMRI, and roving minstrels. What is the neurological connection? A 2004 SFN poster explains it all.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:00 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 25, 2007
Category: Travel
Strikes, divorces, and green transportation has Paris buzzing.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 3:15 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 24, 2007
Category: Drugs and the Brain
I have heard a lot of stories about the aggressive behavior of people on angel dust, but this video is the first time that I have seen just how dramatic it can be. The guy is completely naked and smashes...
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 3:23 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 23, 2007
Category: Drugs and the Brain
Even though truth serums do not work, top ranking intelligence officials have considered using them for interrogation.
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 12:38 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 22, 2007
Category: Birds
According to the Indianapolis News a man and his son were awakened by their pet bird as their home caught fire. Their Amazon parrot, Peanut, began making a smoke detector noise while a real smoke detector was going off....
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 7:06 AM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 21, 2007
Category: Science Vault
A video of British soldiers on LSD during a military exercise.
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 8:25 PM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 20, 2007
Category: Blatant Nerdery
Video of the Brainiac cast dripping molten metal into liquid nitrogen.
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 7:56 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 19, 2007
Category: Drugs and the Brain
PopSci is has published explanations of five creepy sensations that are caused by neurological glitches.
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 12:01 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 18, 2007
Category: Inner Ear Biology
Since losing his hearing, Michael Chorost has volunteered himself as a guinea-pig for a number of experiments with the software that controls his cochlear implant. He has written extensively about those experiences. This week, I stumbled upon one of...
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 1:49 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Drugs and the Brain
In recent years, pharmacutical companies have re-released several of their blockbuster drugs with a new twist. By carefully controlling the spatial arrangement of each atom in the active ingredient, chemists can increase the effectiveness of medications and sometimes prevent...
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 12:39 AM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 15, 2007
Category: Blatant Nerdery
Does computer science evolve more quickly than laboratory disciplines thanks to greater communication between innovators?
Posted by Aaron Rowe at 8:23 PM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Announcements
Retrospectacle has a guest blogger! I'm on my way to Europe to give a talk, and I'm in second place in the blogging scholarship.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:15 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Demagogues
The elusive Shulgin is in my sights...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:26 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 14, 2007
Category: Snake Oil
Will Mountain Dew glow? Short answer, 'no', but the long answer is cooler.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:05 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 13, 2007
Category: Blatant Nerdery
Some say nothing quite says "I love you" like a diamond ring, but *I* say nothing quite says "I'm a huge geek" like these rings.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:59 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 12, 2007
Category: Truth and Beauty
The Fibonacci numbers form a sequence defined by this relation (don't be scared!): What this means, in English, is that it is a sequence of numbers whose relationship is this: after the first two numbers, each proceeding number is the...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:44 AM • 21 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Global Warming
Looks like speculations turned out to be true, and Al Gore was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize early this morning, "for their efforts to build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made climate change, and to lay the foundations for...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 6:17 AM • 7 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 11, 2007
Category: Fun
I had a Pirates Vs. Ninjas cake. "We'll miss you matey. Yarrrrrrr!"
Posted by Shelley Batts at 11:13 PM • 8 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Truth and Beauty
Beautiful original reader-submitted watercolor of a lion's skull plus what a lion's brain looks like.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:44 AM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 10, 2007
Category: Red Herrings
A thought experiment.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 2:46 PM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Repost
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 'concerned' group. And honestly, who could blame parents for being hesitant to medicate their young children, especially since medications come with risks? However, ADHD is a very real (and prevalent) disorder which has discrete neurochemical and, as more and more research is suggesting, genetic causes. It has been linked with one neurochemical in particular.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:57 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 9, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
None of the children ate their lunch until the drug wore off....
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:37 AM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 8, 2007
Category: Announcements
I need help! No, not that kind (well, ok, maybe...). I am one of 20 finalists for a $10,000 Student Blogging Scholarship, and the only thing standing between me and a scholarship I could use towards my PhD (and to...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 12:57 PM • 25 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 6, 2007
Category: YouTube Obsessions
Neat trick makes objects "float." Does weird things to your voice too.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:11 AM • 9 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 4, 2007
Category: LOLStuff
I had a mystical experience, and this is what came of it. (Pictures below the fold....)...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 7:09 PM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
It all began when a large piece of metal exploded through his brain.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:00 AM • 14 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 2, 2007
Category: Tastes Like Neuroscience
A somewhat respectable neuroscientist is still hanging on to neurological ideas that were crackpottish even in the 17th century without having written a lot of otherwise interesting philosophy to redeem themselves.
Posted by Shelley Batts at 8:30 AM • 26 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
October 1, 2007
Category: Announcements
This year I'm taking part in the the DonorsChoose fundraiser taking place at ScienceBlogs. DonorsChoose is a website where teachers can ask to have small teaching projects funded, and potential donors can peruse the proposals can fund ones that seemed...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 10:19 AM • 3 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: YouTube Obsessions
In undergrad, I used to study learning and memory in honeybees so always felt a sort of respect for the hard life of a bee. If you never felt a little sad to see a honeybee die after spending its...
Posted by Shelley Batts at 9:16 AM • 4 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
