vlicata | August 29, 2010The existence of the drug Latisse is clearly a harbinger of the end of modern civilization, in more ways than one, but it is also intensely fascinating and creepy. When I first heard of it, about a year ago, I really thought it was some sort of satirical article about the current status of big pharma and their slow but steady drift towards more (and more profitable) "lifestyle" medications. But no...it's frickin' real! Its original use was (is) to control glaucoma, but it was noticed that a side effect of such treatment was long and luxurious eyelashes. So, since about the beginning of…
vlicata | August 15, 2010Part 1 of "Do You Like the Big Bang Theory?", addressed whether one emotionally "likes" the scientific theories one works on - and how or if that should impact one's work. Here I'd like to talk about the television show.
"The Big Bang Theory" has been highly touted and praised as being the best science-in-fiction on regular television, but it has also been criticized for being its rather demeaning portrayal of science grad students. I think the show is extremely funny - and I mostly enjoy watching it for that reason. Other than "2.5 Men", it's probably the funniest show on regular tv (and…
vlicata | August 7, 2010Our lab has a new paper coming out this week in the Journal of Molecular Biology (JMB):
The Glutamate Effect on DNA Binding by Pol I DNA Polymerases: Osmotic Stress and the Effective Reversal of Salt Linkage
I'm going to talk about a few highlights here, but if you actually want the full article, say so in the comments or email me directly and I'll send you a reprint, because unless you or your university has a subscription to the Journal of Molecular Biology, you'll only be able to see the abstract.
The paper comes primarily from the Ph.D. dissertation of Daniel Deredge and osmotic stress…
worldsfair | August 3, 2010
(Lifted, 2009, 40"x30", acrylic on panel)
You can see more at this link. Let me know if you find yourself both quietly mesmorized and disturbed as you take in his images.
From his "about" page:
Biography
Josh Keyes was born in Tacoma, Washington. He received a BFA in 1992 from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in 1998 from Yale. Eighteenth-century aesthetics and philosophies, particularly those of the Neoclassical and Romantic movements, shape his work. Keyes is drawn to the clinical and often cold vocabulary of scientific textbook illustrations, which express the…
vlicata | July 31, 2010There is one month to go to submit to the 2010 "Dance Your Ph.D" Contest! Entries are due by September 1st. My lab previously won in the Professor category, so I get to be one of the judges for the 2010 contest. This is our dance from the 2009 contest:
And what we won was: a real dance! Jenn Liang Chaboud, a real choreographer in Chicago, created a dance based on one of our lab's publications in JBC, here is the dance she created:
This is Science: Jenn Liang Chaboud from Red Velvet Swing on Vimeo.
The two muscular guys are Klenow and Klentaq DNA polymerases, the women are all DNA.
THIS…
worldsfair | July 29, 2010Great illustration for children, even though it may not be anatomically correct.
By Peter Slight - Larger version can be found here.
Seeing piece like this makes me think a wonderful art project would be to create a whole new design driven anatomy book - one that may even be as comprehensive as Gray's Anatomy (the book not the TV series).
worldsfair | July 28, 2010
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This video of a talk I gave at Northern Voice got completed whilst I was away. Anyway, if I remember (I'm one of those people who can't stand seeing themselves on video or hearing themselves on audio!), it's a pretty decent overview of what the Phylo project is all about, as well as general thoughts on things of that nature worth pursuing. Here's the byline that was given with my speaker profile:
David Ng describes Phylo, a cool trading card game to teach biodiversity. A study showed that children could easily identify and describe a large number of Pokemon characters…
vlicata | July 27, 2010As much as I abhor war, the way that the military handles soldier deaths is (usually) quite admirable (although the same might not hold for its handling of post-service medical problems). When a soldier is killed in service, the family gets a personal visit and often one or more personal phone calls from higher officers, congressmen, or even the President.
Earlier today I heard an interview on our local NPR interview show with the father of an engineer who was killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion. He said that BP had not spoken to him nor contacted him or his family in any way since…
worldsfair | July 27, 2010O.K. It's been a while since I last posted, but I do have a good excuse. I've been on the road with my family for the past 5 weeks, and have just settled in London. I'm here because I am about to start a half year sabbatical, and to give you a sense of where I'm working, here are a few picture hints (note that it's not, as my Son thought for a while, Hogwarts).
Here's the "foyer" (img link):
Here are a few of my "office" buddies, just down the hall (well, several halls actually). (img link)
And it's also a place where I can have a chat with Charles Darwin himself (he's in the white chair…
vlicata | July 11, 2010BP has released the first slug of oil-spill hush money to LSU: $2 million for research on the Effects of the Oil Spill and it's Cleanup. Sounds like a lot of research money, until you realize that LSU does about $200 million dollars of research a year. So, it's kind of like if your next door neighbor (the one who knocked down his house and opened a strip mine) came over to your house and crapped in your refrigerator on $200 worth of groceries you just bought, then gave you two dollars so you could look into what effect his actions had on your food (and so you would feel good about him again…
vlicata | June 30, 2010This just in from the upcoming edition of The Journal of Zombie Studies. A must have experimental checklist for any Faculty Senate Subcommittee on Monitoring of Upper Administrative Activities.
Experiment: Administrator A was asked why he/she is paid such a high salary, even though he/she has not: 1) published a scholarly work in many years; 2) presented work at an academic or scientific conference in many years; or 3) taught a course in many years. Administrator A made a low groaning noise and then answered: "I contribute a lot to this university." Conclusion: Possible zombieism.…
vlicata | June 29, 2010By some estimates, more than 40% of the birds that seasonally migrate in North America do so via the Mississippi Flyway. Large numbers of both land and water birds use this route, including ducks, geese, blackbirds, sparrows, and numerous shorebirds, along with the rare white pelicans that migrate right through Baton Rouge each year. Most of the birds on the flyway cut right across the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi Flyway is what has given the Gulf Barrier Islands some of the richest bird species diversity in the world. Won't those silly birds be surprised at the burning slick of death…
worldsfair | June 23, 2010(Well, actually 6 since the first ad below is just a bit of fun...)
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JOB POSTING: "IT'S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME"
This is a call for outstanding candidates to apply for a tenure track assistant professor position within the context of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. The successful applicant is expected to work in areas of interest to current faculty members, to interact with related groups within our network and to have demonstrated ability in producing research material of excellent quality and interest.
Due to the competitive nature of this process,…
worldsfair | June 10, 2010
Speaking of robots: you might be interested in the types of "deep thoughts" they have.
vlicata | June 4, 2010I've started to write a few different posts in the past few weeks, but their different topics just don't seem to matter in the face of the death of the Gulf of Mexico, especially the affectionately named Redneck Riviera - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida Panhandle - these areas are most assuredly dead. Field researchers from LSU who have been on the coast in the past few weeks say that these shorelines will be dead for decades, no question, and that we still don't know how much longer it will go on, and consequently how much farther it will extend.
There numerous excellent…
worldsfair | June 2, 2010
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Most people know that Google's informal tagline is "Don't be evil." In fact, that phrase comes with a little background, nicely described at Wikipedia:
"Don't be evil" is the informal corporate motto (or slogan) of Google,[1] originally suggested by Google employees Paul Buchheit and Amit Patel at a meeting. Buchheit, the creator of Gmail, said he "wanted something that, once you put it in there, would be hard to take out," adding that the slogan was "also a bit of a jab at a lot of the other companies, especially our competitors, who at the time, in our opinion, were…
worldsfair | May 31, 2010
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A while back, I was trying to think of phrases that "sound pleasant but are actually maybe bad" and I remember one of the silly ones I thought of was:
Hummer coming through.
Get it? "Hummer," as in a person who hums (yes, I know - kind of lame). Just for the record, this post is about the car not people who make sounds with their mouths closed.
Anyway, this subject came up because recently I read that the Hummer will be discontinued, and also I was surprised at how seeing a Hummer (the car) on the road really kind of bothered me. In fact, I could not help but assume…
worldsfair | May 22, 2010
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Happy Biodiversity Day!
Well, it's been about 5 weeks, and the Phylo project is close to 100 cards, all ready for free printing. As well, a set of rules is now available that is polished enough to go through some beta testing.
Today, we even have an "Oil Spill" card, and I'd like to invite people to leave comments on what text should go on this particular card. Is it too lenient right now, or too harsh? We're really hoping that as the project progresses, the comments on the site will ultimately guide what needs to go on (or off) the cards.
In fact, while I'm making…
worldsfair | May 21, 2010... You should go outside. Seriously.
And if, for today, you've forgotten how graceful our planet can be, I'd invite you to take a mental break, put some headphones on, and watch these three lovely videos.
Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.
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worldsfair | May 21, 2010
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Yesterday I noticed that the web was a buzzing over two things in particular. One being the news of Craig Venter's work on a proof of principle example of producing a synthetic organism, and the other being the unveiling of London's 2012 Olympic mascots.
Venter's work certainly is an achievement - particularly in the technical realm. The accomplishment of synthesizing a piece of DNA that big (nevermind that the code was derived from digital infomation) and then putting it inside a DNA-less cell, in manner where all appears well is actually quite the kudos. Add to that…