Theatre is science, science is theatre...
...in my humble opinion#congenitaloptimist (Source: Across the Bilayer)
Source: Across the Bilayer - January 26, 2016 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Repost: Characterization of the infant noggin channel, Oral1
Conclusion: These data have substantially enhanced our understanding of the Oral1 selectivity filter, although in the absence of a successful attempt to crystallize Oral1, a precise structure of the channel pore is not yet available for us to draw more informative conclusions regarding the relationship between structure and function for this channel. Regardless, on the basis of the evidence presented in this paper, it is reasonable to predict that things are going to get progressively messier in the coming months.[Originally posted 4th Jan 2009] (Source: Across the Bilayer)
Source: Across the Bilayer - January 17, 2016 Category: Research Tags: Parentage Source Type: blogs
#DistractinglySexy
Women in the laboratory claim yet another innocent victim (Source: Across the Bilayer)
Source: Across the Bilayer - June 15, 2015 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
You remember that time ...?
... when candidates could simply provide a list of potential referees and contact details along with their CV/resume?We need to get back to that time. Because, once again, I find myself seriously lamenting the current trend of requiring initial applications to include recommendation letters up front. Students should lament this, also, as the quality of their references can only be undermined by a trend that makes it immensely onerous for faculty to supply substantive and tailored letters without a significant sacrifice of time. Letters that, in a substantial number of cases, will never be read because the application is tr...
Source: Across the Bilayer - April 23, 2015 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Normalizing productivity and impact to lab size...
The following relates to some recent posts over at DM's blog with regard to an essay penned by Andrew D. Hollenbach in ASBMBTODAY. Dr. Hollenbach makes a point in his essay of running a small laboratory, and this got me thinking about productivity as a function of lab size. It's not my intent here to venture an opinion on the pros and cons of productivity metrics &c, but I'd like to post some preliminary figures I rustled up in which I've attempted to graphically present the two main metrics of productivity as a function of laboratory size for a number of heavy hitting labs in neuroscience and cancer (this is a sm...
Source: Across the Bilayer - April 15, 2015 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Life on the Rusty Edge of Pharmacology II...
Well, dang, we ended up getting a pretty good handle on what The Other is, and how it relates to This and That after all!So that's nice. (Source: Across the Bilayer)
Source: Across the Bilayer - March 28, 2015 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Branching out...
Researcher with a background in basic neuro steps into the cancer arena (of the not remotely neuro-related sort). Just submitted the first paper. Nothing earth shattering*, but I haven't felt this uncomfortable about a submission since the first one back in grad school. It's not the prospect of rejection, of course - that's almost expected in some form or other first time around - but the prospect of looking like an idiot. This clip rather aptly encapsulates my essential feelings about this foray beyond my comfort zone: * absolute best case scenario, it might be my ticket into the prestigious and hallowed Hall of Fame...
Source: Across the Bilayer - December 18, 2014 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Reza Aslan on Islam, civil rights and violence
(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Post by Media Matters for America.This is an excellent take down from Reza Aslan on the topic of Islam and civil rights. His response to the pernicious and lazy association between genital mutilation and Islam is particularly welcome, although he is arguably guilty of generalizing himself in referring to it broadly as an "African problem" (we all, myself ...
Source: Across the Bilayer - December 17, 2014 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Life on the Rusty Edge of Pharmacology...
So, my working hypothesis was that This happened because of That.So I applied a drug reported to inhibit That with the prediction that it would consequently inhibit This.The drug meant to inhibit That actually ended up causing more of This, suggesting that This probably isn't strictly about That after all, and that the That-inhibiting drug is likely doing a little of The Other...... which opens up a new and exciting avenue of investigation as we move forward to unravel the nature of The Other and its relationship to This and That*.* Nah, I'm kidding, nobody is going to fund that study. That data is probably going to be bur...
Source: Across the Bilayer - October 31, 2014 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Worth the wait...
Apparently this set is pretty popular - which is encouraging in its way - so it was on backorder for a fair while. Of course, the progressive vibe was rocked a little by the fact that the first thing my daughter asked while rummaging through the pieces was why the dark-haired scientist looked so angry. I said it was probably a frown of concentration, but figured it was also worth telling her about Lisa Meitner and Rosalind Franklin, by way of possible explanation for the lack of smiley-facedness in these particular characters. But I don't think she grasped the gravity of the information, and her 6 yr old mind certainly cou...
Source: Across the Bilayer - September 29, 2014 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
Impulse purchase...
For Wee-Une, because Everything Is Awesome about it. (Source: Across the Bilayer)
Source: Across the Bilayer - August 4, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Source Type: blogs
Lab blues and other humbug...
Teaching pharmacology: where one talks about selective drugs with specific effects that tell lovely, tidy stories about how this phenomenon is caused by that mechanism leading to the effective treatment of such-and-such a condition.Doing pharmacology: where one uses drugs that have multiple cellular targets - many of which are as yet ill-defined/unidentified - with completely different downstream effects depending on the cell type, species, protein expression levels and localization, temperature, stage in the lunar cycle, the NASDAQ index and a few other things besides, and that rarely have a remotely sensible chain of cau...
Source: Across the Bilayer - July 15, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Source Type: blogs
Snap shots: Elite male faculty in the life sciences employ fewer women, J. M. Sheltzer and J. C. Smith, 2014
"For instance, Moss-Racusin et al. (15) sent science faculty identical resumes for a laboratory manager position in which only the name and gender of the applicant were changed. The applicant with the male name was judged to be more competent and hirable and offered a larger starting salary than the female applicant."From Sheltzer and Smith, PNAS, 2014 (Source: Across the Bilayer)
Source: Across the Bilayer - July 2, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Source Type: blogs
$4.5 Billion Braindoggle Initiative
"Now, after more than a year of meetings and deliberations, an NIH-convened working group has fleshed out some the goals and aspirations of BRAIN and tried to offer a more realistic appraisal of the funding needed: $4.5 billion over the course of a decade, or roughly quadruple the project’s currently planned budget."A mere bagatelle... Although, one wonders what one would expect to hear from a panel largely composed of neuroscientists on the subject of how much public lucre should get funneled into... erm... neuroscience."Neuroscientist Cornelia Bargmann, of Rockefeller University in New York City, who led the ...
Source: Across the Bilayer - June 9, 2014 Category: Medical Scientists Source Type: blogs
Linkage: " The Larry Summers question: What's up with chicks in science? "
< a href= " http://scientopia.org/blogs/drugmonkey/2014/04/22/these-forces-are-real-and-i-had-to-survive-them/ " > h/t Drugmonkey < /a > < br / > < br / > < div class= " separator " style= " clear: both; text-align: center; " > < object class= " BLOGGER-youtube-video " classid= " clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000 " codebase= " http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0 " data-thumbnail-src= " https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/KEeBPSvcNZQ/0.jpg " height= " 266 " width= " 320 " > < param name= " movie " value= " https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/KEeBPSvcNZQ & sour...
Source: Across the Bilayer - April 24, 2014 Category: Research Source Type: blogs
