apalazzo

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March 22, 2006
Yes this video has been going around. But if you haven't seen it ... from the vaults of SubGenius .... here'sReproduction Cycle In Lower Life Forms Under the Rocks of Mars
March 21, 2006
I just read this interview with Allegra Goodman, author of the new book Intuition. What is the book about? From the NY Times: A postdoctoral student at the Philpott Institute in Cambridge, Mass., has an astonishing result: a virus he engineered seems to cure breast cancer in mice. Now the two lab…
March 21, 2006
I have been often asked what the differences are between the various subdisciplines of the biomedical (or "life") sciences. That's a tough question - but I'll give it a try ... Biochemist: Basically biochemists play with proteins. Usually this involves fancy machines that cost a ton of money.…
March 20, 2006
Although there is a trend in the life sciences towards big Biology, recently all the greatest insights have come from studies of single molecules. Some of the best work has come from Stephen Kowalczykowski's group. They have used single particle imaging to monitor how a single RecBCD complex unfold…
March 19, 2006
Well I finally posted photos from the last bookclub meeting, although some call it the food orgy club. Then someone alerted me that a new challenge was posted on the Socart blog. Paint and burn. Cool. Can't wait.
March 19, 2006
I'm not a big fan of March Madness (for non-Americans March Madness is the term used to describe the huge college basketball tournament held this time of year). Why? Perhaps because I'm Canadian. Perhaps because I don't think the lure of entertainment money and collegial athletic glory is good for…
March 18, 2006
OK a pet peeve of mine is how scientists are portrayed in the mass media (especially biologists aka those mad lab coat dressed, atheists who play god and create GMOs). Having said that, I just love Pinky and the Brain (although it's been about 5 years since I've seen an episode). But through the…
March 18, 2006
I got this email about the ribosome waltz, click here to listen to the mp3. And there's a lot more from where that came from, like this sweet song. These ditties were composed and performed by Greg Crowther from the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle and…
March 17, 2006
After posting some microtubule stuff, it's time for an entry about mRNA. RNA granules are very intriguing. They are thought to transport RNA in some cell types such as neurons or Oocytes, and store/degrade mRNA in other cell types. Recently the RNAi machinery is thought to localize to some of these…
March 17, 2006
From the archives, here's a micrograph of a fibroblast (connective tissue cell) adherring to fibronectin coated coverslip. The cell was immunostained for regular microtubules (red) and modified detyrosinated microtubules (green, although since these are only partialy modified red+green = yellow…
March 16, 2006
Early last year when the whole Larry Summers saga broke out, I posted some data on gender and science that was floating in the public sphere. Here I've reposted some of this data. THEN I'll tell you some recent data from Harvard ... From a NY Times article Feb 22nd, 2005Women in Physics Match Men…
March 16, 2006
(From a previous entry on my old blog) After having written about the worst, why not write about the best things about science? Here goes: 1 - Discovery. One of the greatest feelings I've ever had as a researcher was peering down at the microscope and seeing something that I know has never been…
March 15, 2006
The lack of posts in the past 3 days was caused by our departmental retreat, that takes place on the cape (i.e. Cape Cod) in March ... we usually aim to have the retreat during a blizzard, however this year we only had mild rain. All the talking and drinking with my peers in the Cell Biology…
March 15, 2006
My brother posted some videos of the autonomous sumo wrestling competition he holds every year at Concordia University in Montreal. To see the videoclips from the 2006 (and previous) competition(s) visit robowars.ca.
March 14, 2006
Ever wanted to see a minimally-invasive thoracic aortic aneurysm repair? Visit OR-Live, tomorrow starting at 4:00pm EST to see the whole operation live. Yes live. Not only can you watch them slice through the tissues but you can actuyally email the surgeon any questions you may have.
March 12, 2006
Fatty acid synthesis consists of tethering an an acetyl group (2 carbons) to ACP (Acyl Carrier protein) that then bounces around to 5 different enzymes to add 2 carbons to the end of the acetyl group. This process is repeated, each cycle resulting in the addition of two extra carbons. Eventually…
March 11, 2006
I was way too busy to go to Jared Diamonds three talks, however I know someone who attended two of them. To read about "Master Diamond's" lectures, visit Tulula's Blog.
March 10, 2006
BC has a new video (it took me a whole freakin week to notice!) Check it out at the Bartholomew Cubbins on RNA blog.
March 10, 2006
Last night, my wife and I had dinner with a friend of ours from the Szostak Lab (yes at Buddha's Delight - I had the "beef" taro stirfry). There we discussed Capote (we just saw the movie) and the existence of ribose in a pre-biotic earth. Apparently it is unlikely that sugars, such as ribose,…
March 10, 2006
My first retrospective! OK, here is a collection of interviews I conducted over the past couple of months over Instant Messenger. No animals were harmed in this production (this statement was inspired by last night's dinner at Buddhas' Delight). Have fun ... Interview with Bil (aka The life of a…
March 9, 2006
Ok time for a corny entry, Some cuttlefish are red Some octopods are blue But PZ, on your B-Day, This squid's for you!
March 8, 2006
You can clearly divide scientists into two categories, those who build new models and those who prove old models. The explorers and the crusaders. Usually the former are seeking the truth, or something close to it, while the latter are trying to confirm their own theories as if the idea was more…
March 7, 2006
Want to study lava? From the NY Times ... Fudge, corn syrup, and whiskey will do. And I love this quote about science conferences: The poster session, which resembled a science fair for professional scientists, was dedicated to innovative lecture demonstrations. New study out in PLoS on the spread…
March 6, 2006
Well in a previous entry I wrote: Generally, prokaryotes are devoid of membrane-bound organelles (including the nucleus, mitochondria, the endoplasmic reticulum), and their cytoskeletal systems are quite simple. And I got a comment about magnetosomes, small membrane bound organelles found in…
March 5, 2006
For those of you in the Boston area, the author of Guns Germs and Steel, and Collapse is giving 3 talks at Harvard this week. Wednsday, March 8 Continental differences in human history Jared Diamond, University of California, Los Angeles 8:00 PM Hall B, The Science Center, Harvard University 1…
March 5, 2006
This topic is discussed in a recent article in Science. And why would postdocs want to Unionize? Here's a survey of postdoctoral fellows done by the Sigma Xi Society (and my summary). And from my "Worst Things about Science" (also see Part II). Why do we tolerate the low pay, the long hours, the…
March 4, 2006
Well I am trying to decide whether to attend this year's RNA Society Conference. As I'm a neophyte to the field (my PhD thesis was on microtubules in migrating cells), I learned quite a bit at last year's meeting. But it's going to be a hectic spring and summer for me. What to do? As I'm flipping…
March 3, 2006
Well some discoveries are flashier than others. And to get the media's interest make sure your finding can be summarized with some catchy slogan and/or pun. From a post on my old blog: So my blog's been suffering from neglect. (I'm writing up a paper.) Hopefully it'll get in some journal, then I'…
March 2, 2006
I just read a fascinating "hypothesis" in the latest issue of Nature entitled Introns and the origin of nucleus cytosol compartmentalization. The greatest divide in the living world exists between prokaryotes and eukaryotes (yes I know, there are viruses ... but lets not get off topic!). Generally…
March 2, 2006
A brief history of my life as a blogger. I started about a year ago. Then being plagued by creationist ads, I moved my blog from Tripod to Blogspot. Everything was fine until (as one person later said) I was Degoogled. Finally after being invited to move to Scienceblogs, I ditched my old blog and…