On Mimicking Phosphotyrosine
Category: structural biology
Why glutamate is generally not a suitable mimic for phosphorylated tyrosine.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 0 Comments •
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Advancing Science through Conversations: Bridging the Gap between Blogs and the Academy
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A postdoc by day and a scientific activist by night, Nick Anthis isn't letting his research in protein structure and function get in the way of defending scientific and social progress.
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Recent Posts
- Rhodes Secretary: Wall Street Megabonuses Draining Our Young Talent
- On Mimicking Phosphotyrosine
- AMA Advocates Change in Marijuana Classification
- Two New Papers on Integrin Activation
- New Interactive 3D Molecular Images in Scientific Articles
- Health Care Reform: It's a Matter of Convenience
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Ribosome
- Bad Math at The Weather Channel
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Telomeres and Telomerase
- Scientific Diplomacy and the Universality of Science
Top Posts
Other Stuff
Life of Nick:
Two New Papers on Integrin Activation
Category: integrins
My first first-author paper and another that I contributed to shed light on the important biological process of integrin activation.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 1 Comments •
An Update from The Scientific Activist
Category: Life of Nick
As I indicated earlier this summer, the blogging would continue to be a bit slow as I entered the home stretch of grad school. Since then, I'm happy to report that I have submitted my thesis, successfully defended it, resubmitted...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:52 PM • 0 Comments •
Entering the Home Stretch....
Category: Life of Nick
I realize that blogging has been pretty slow here lately. But, I have good reasons, I promise! I spent most of the month of May back in the US for my girlfriend's graduation and then for a cross-country move/Great American...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:28 PM • 7 Comments •
The Scientific Activist Is on Twitter
Category: blogosphere
Although people who know me can attest that I made countless assurances that I would never do such a thing, I have once again succumbed to the relentless force of progress, and I'm now on Twitter. Check me out. I'm...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:15 AM • 0 Comments •
Fine-Tuning Cell Adhesiveness
Category: integrins
The cell adapts to constantly changing conditions by controlling the adhesiveness of the integrins.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:48 PM • 1 Comments •
Checking In
Category: Life of Nick
Since my earlier post was my first in over a month and a half, and since blogging was sporadic before then, I suppose I owe my readers an explanation. Basically, it boils down to the fact that like so many...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:26 PM • 1 Comments •
Check Me Out on Live TV This Friday
Category: Life of Nick
I'll be on Sky News at about 11:30 BST this Friday to talk about Barack Obama's visit to the UK and his support among Americans living abroad
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:45 PM • 3 Comments •
The Lives of Other London Science Bloggers
Category: blogosphere
Ben Goldacre, Jennifer Rohn, and Ed Yong on what makes them tick... and what makes them blog.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:02 PM • 4 Comments •
Just Like Old Times....
Category: Election 2008
I'm quoted in a story today in my alma mater's student paper on candidates using social networking sites.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:27 AM • 1 Comments •
New Photos on the About Page
Category: Life of Nick
Dare I be so presumptuous to suggest that you've checked out the About page on my blog in the last couple of days, you may have noticed a few new photos. The first one was taken last summer in front...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:45 PM • 6 Comments •
Integrin Phosphorylation as an Off Switch for Integrin Activation
Category: Life of Nick
A tiny modification can make a big difference in proteins involved in cell adhesion and migration.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:30 PM • 0 Comments •
From the Archives: My 9/11 Story
Category: Life of Nick
Last year, I recounted my personal experience on September 11, 2001, and I offered some commentary about what that day--and the events of the ensuing year--meant to me and to American politics in general. I've reposted my 9/11 story again...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:46 AM • 2 Comments •
The Emerging Role of Blogs in Democratic Politics
Category: Democratic Party
My remarks to the Texas Aggie Democrats on September 5, 2007.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 12:22 PM • 1 Comments •
My Upcoming Texas Aggie Democrats Talk on Blogs in Politics
Category: events
At Texas A&M University this Wednesday, 5 September, at 8:30 pm in Rudder 502.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:50 AM • 0 Comments •
Blasts Heard Across Oxford Tonight....
Category: Life of Nick
Awesomeness
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:32 PM • 5 Comments •
South Africa, Here I Come!
Category: Life of Nick
There won't be too much going on here at the blog for the next few weeks, as I'll be in South Africa through mid April. It'll be part travel and part community outreach (an educational project in conjunction with the...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:44 AM • 3 Comments •
Happy One Year Blogiversary to The Scientific Activist
Category: Life of Nick
One year ago today, I published my first post on The Scientific Activist
Posted by Nick Anthis at 12:43 PM • 1 Comments •
My Second Scientific Paper: Matrix Protease Activity in Tumor Cell Invasion
Category: Life of Nick
The second paper from my undergraduate work at Texas A&M University was recently published in Molecular Cancer. The abstract can be found here, and the pdf of the full paper here. Molecular Cancer is an open access journal, so a...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 3 Comments •
My First Scientific Paper: The Stabilization of Blood Vessels by Protease Inhibitors
Category: Life of Nick
My first appearance in the peer-reviewed scientific literature provides an opportunity to learn a little bit about blood vessel development.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:20 AM • 7 Comments •
So, So Busy
Category: Life of Nick
Since I've gone over a week without any blogging, I feel that I owe my readers an explanation. Basically, I've just been incredibly busy in the lab. I've had a lot of time on the NMR machines, and I've been...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:59 PM • 0 Comments •
My 9/11 Story
Category: Life of Nick
When I was a freshman in college, at Texas A&M University, on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I had two classes back-to-back in the same lecture hall. Because of a weird scheduling fluke, these classes were about 45 minutes apart, though....
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:46 AM • 5 Comments •
It's Alive! It's Alive!
Category: Life of Nick
...my internet connection, that is. So, it looks like, after a month-long saga involving many many many angry phone calls to BT, I finally have internet access in my home sweet home. Let the blogging resume in full force! Yay!...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:02 PM • 0 Comments •
Good News and Bad News
Category: Life of Nick
OK, bad news first. Although I was told I would have internet in my house today, I still don't, despite the militaristic tactics I've resorted to using with BT. However, BT tells me I should be online tomorrow. We'll see....
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:25 PM • 6 Comments •
Who is the Hottest Male Science Blogger?
Category: blogosphere
Click on the link to see the man himself....
Posted by Nick Anthis at 4:47 PM • 21 Comments •
On the Front Lines with BT
Category: Life of Nick
Lines were drawn in the sand, artillery stood armed and ready, and tensions ran high. Neither side was willing to budge, and despite the seemingly endless conflict having already tested the resolve of both sides, it looked like things were only just beginning to get rough. The whole scenario was regrettable--war always is--but it felt inevitable at the time.... Besides, how else was I going to get internet access in my house?
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:45 AM • 5 Comments •
Weekend Movies: Nacho Libre and A Scanner Darkly
Category: movies
I don't make it to the movies too often in the UK. To start with, they're prohibitively expensive, and I'm often seeing them months after my friends back home. When you then consider the fact that the popcorn here tastes...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:44 PM • 5 Comments •
I'm Official! (According to Oxford University, at least)
Category: Life of Nick
After enduring what was surely the longest transfer viva in the history of man (two and a half hours), I am now an official Oxford D.Phil. student.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 12:22 PM • 15 Comments • 1 TrackBacks
The Horror, the Horror...
Category: Life of Nick
...of not having internet access....
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:30 AM • 6 Comments •
Out of Town... Again
Category: travel
I know that I just got back from vacation, but I have family visiting this week, so I'll be out of town again until next week. Have no fear, though, because as usual you can expect plenty of posts from...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 12:55 PM • 0 Comments •
Sixth Annual CCPN Meeting in Ambleside, UK
Category: conferences
On the weekend of July 28th-30th, about 150 NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) scientists from the UK and Europe (and a few from the US) gathered in Ambleside for the Sixth Annual Collaborative Computing Project for NMR (CCPN) Meeting. The topic...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 1 Comments •
I'm Back... Sort of
Category: travel
After over two weeks on planes, trains, and automobiles (actually, more like planes, buses, and boats)--on a trip that involved a wild weekend in Newcastle, a relaxing week and a half on a small island in the Norwegian fjords, and...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:45 AM • 0 Comments •
On the Road Again
Category: travel
By the time you read this, I'll already be on a bus bound for Newcastle, where I'll spend the weekend before heading off to Bergen, Norway, for some much needed relaxation. I'm going to be gone for a couple of...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:45 AM • 0 Comments •
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Finding the Time to Blog
Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger
When I first started blogging in January, I had only recently started by Ph.D. in biochemistry, and it seemed like I was going to have quite a bit of free time on my hands. Now, fast-forward ahead five months, and things have changed quite a bit. I'm constantly in the lab on nights and weekends, generally working ten to twelve hours a day. So, where does the blogging fit into everything? Most of the time, it's a nightly routine.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:27 PM • 0 Comments •
Is Oxford Shortchanging Its Students Through Overspecialization?
Category: science education
When an Oxford professor blamed a lack of general knowledge in the graduate community on its makeup of "unexceptional students", I challenged him on whether the real cause was a degree structure that causes the overspecialization of Oxford students.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:21 PM • 6 Comments •
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Alternative Careers
Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger
Each week, Seed magazine poses a question to all of its ScienceBloggers. This week's question, from reader Jake Bryan, is: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:39 PM • 0 Comments •
