Science - Beer = Publications?

Sciencey beer.

A study has come out from Thomas Grim, an ornithologist at Palacky University, Czech Republic, stating that the more beer a scientist drinks, the less publications they will publish.

I am not a big fan of this study.

The New York Times also published an article about this study and I think that Dr. Mike Webster, an ornithologist from the Washington State University has it right. He says,

“Maybe those with poor publication records are drowning their sorrows.”

I hope this is the case.

There also appears to be a correlation between IQ and drinking wine vs beer. A Danish study shows that wine drinkers have higher IQs than beer drinkers.

I am okay with this since I enjoy wine and beer. I wonder if that just means I have an average IQ?

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It's Called epMotion

I don't know why, but there has been an explosion of viral (yes, yes pun intended) videos from biotech companies promoting their new products. It started with BioRad's Scientists for Better PCR and now it has gone to Eppendorf International's It's Called epMotion.

Enjoy!

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When I was your age...

Stumbled onto this webcomic and thought it would be the kind of story I told as an old crotchety scientist some day. I can't wait to be an old crotchety scientist!

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drugs + science = this

i have to give Dharia (a fellow grad student) props for sending this my way. the following video shows what happens when you combine science and the early 70s. the video shows a dance depicting the process of protein synthesis.

the description on youtube says:

Directed in 1971 by Robert Alan Weiss for the Department of Chemistry of Stanford University and imprinted with the "free love" aura of the period, this short film continues to be shown in biology class today. It has since spawn a series of similar funny attempts at vulgarizing protein synthesis. Narrated by Paul Berg, 1980 Nobel prize for Chemistry.

please listen close to the soundtrack and the narration. it is priceless!



wow!

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i don't believe this...but it's funny

a buddy of mine sent me these science based jokes regarding women, which i found really funny, but probably will take a lot of crap for posting.

therefore i will now state the obvious for all the men out there:

these aren't funny no matter how hard you laugh and how true you find the pictures below, they are lies...propaganda and are not to be taken for the truth (hopefully that saves my ass).


a wonderful proof showing the relationship between women and problems...you can also substitute the root of all evil into equation for and prove that women equal evil.

The purpose of a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) is to inform industrial purchasers and users of hazardous chemicals of the reasonably foreseeable physical and chemical hazards that may arise from the use of those chemicals. Most materials packaged for consumer use are exempt from the requirements of the Hazard Communication Standard (HCS). The MSDS should include precautions for normal use, handling, storage, disposal, and spill cleanup.

i love how perfect that definition of a MSDS is and how it relates to women!

graphical proof of the man's inability to win an argument...we have all been there



this one had me rolling around...yep one switch for a guy and a lot of knobs for women...not so easy to use or understand.


an time study on how long a a woman stays in her natural habitat vs how long a man will venture into a woman's natural habitat.

i wish i had links back to the sites that these were originally on, but i don't...if you know drop me a comment so i can give appropriate links!

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science tats

i don't know why, but whenever i am sitting around with some of my fellow science grad students with beers, we always end up talking about science tattoos. it appears that we are not the only ones since i came across a post on the loom regarding the same topic and i found it amusing that some of the pictures posted are of the normal stuff we talked about, but it left me wanting more. due to my curiosity about what other sciency tattoos there are out there here are some i found with a little searching, plus the ones on the original post on the loom.




















so the question of the day is what would you get?

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ORDER OF THE SCIENCE SCOUTS OF EXEMPLARY REPUTE AND ABOVE AVERAGE PHYSIQUE

since i received the email accepting me into the order, i have been like a school girl who just got asked to the prom by the high school football team quarterback [yeah i know...poor analogy...i was excited, lets just leave it at that]

i mean this is my kind of group here is what the group is:

For the propagation of an ideal where science communicators can meet firstly, for drinks; secondly, for communicating; and ultimately, for networking.

and member's are:

- not opposed to alcohol.

- fond of IPCC reports (especially the pictures).

- mostly in agreement with the “truth.”

- into badges.

- grieving for the slow and miserable death of the Hubble Space Telescope.

- possibly possessed of supernatural powers.

- not in the business of total world domination

- committed to the constant and diligent presentation of science stories, be it to editors, producers, directors, educators, relatives and/or friends of various ilk, in an effort to lessen the gap that is this thing we call public scientific literacy.

seriously, come on, what isn't awesome about any of the above [nerd, yes i know]


but the best part of being in the order is the badges!

ORDER OF THE SCIENCE SCOUTS OF EXEMPLARY REPUTE AND ABOVE AVERAGE PHYSIQUE: the official badge

The “talking science” badge: if you know me you get this one

The “MacGyver” badge: i have used lab supplies more than once, for uses other than what they should be used for...mostly to escape from meetings with PIs

The “I blog about science” badge: um what they hell are you reading?

The “I’m pretty confident around an open flame” badge: don't question my bunsen burner competence

The “inappropriate nocturnal use of lab equipment in the name of alternative science experimentation / communication” badge: all i have to say is that when you are doing an experiment at 2am some things seem much cooler than they are

The “destroyer of quackery” badge: wanna to debate creationism?

The “sexing up science” badge: crossing and prokaryotic conjugation studies, i have done, but science is already sexy enough...isn't it? actually wait...don't answer that.

The “I can be a prick when it comes to science” badge: debate me regarding something i am passionate about...you'll see

The “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge (LEVEL I): yeah since i was 5

The “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge (LEVEL II): dry ice freezes stuff so much faster and all i have to say is sublimation

The “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge (LEVEL III): liquid nitrogen might be the reason i became a scientist...seriously...no really

The “I work with way too much radioactivity, and yet still no discernable superpowers yet” badge: radioactive uptake assay anyone?

The “I’ve done science with no conceivable practical application” badge: this one depends on your definition of practical, but i worked with humic acid...thats right you have no idea what that is!

The “I know what a tadpole is” badge: yes i do, plus it looks like sperm and i only know how to collect sperm from one other species [sea urchin] so i can get The “knows how to collect semen from more than one species” badge yet.

The “cloner” badge: i am a biochemist...nuh said.

The “totally digs highly exothermic reactions” badge: i like to blow things up...don't hold that against me

The “science has forced me to seek medical attention” badge: see above badge

The “statistical linear regression” badge: actually that looks like a gaussian distribution

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL I): fire is fun to play with

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL II): fire is fun to play with and there are rules to how it works [combustion principles]

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL III): fire is fun to play with and there are more rules to how it works [thermodynamic principles]

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL IV): see the exothermic reaction and medical attention badge

The “works with acids” badge: the easiest badge i achieved

The “has done science whilst under the influence” badge: normally late on fridays

The “what I do for science dictates my having to wash my hands before I use the toilet” badge: i am not touching my stuff with my hands after touching what i was just touching

so there it is...the badges that i am awarding myself!

so to everyone who has ever called me a geek or nerd...yeah i got nothing now...

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science the next big cult

so i saw this comic and could not stop laughing because as i am working my way through grad school, i am finding that i really am changing the way i think...i really am becoming a scientist.


i am really starting to wonder how everything works and think about how to figure it out. my rotations are really starting to get me to understand good experimental design and how to apply what i have learned in my classes to the lab. the literature is not as scary as it used to be (but it still is another language sometimes).

oh man i think i just came to the realization that i joined a cult...awesome.

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science is pretty

so one things i have learned in my first year of grad school is how beautiful science is. yeah, mushy i know, but i don't mean the fact the we, as scientists, make the world a better place (because we do), rather i mean science is really beautiful! For example check out this picture of a mouse neural network:

Image Link

if i hadn't told you that this was a picture of a neural network you would have thought i was just posting pictures of abstract art. What about this one?

Image Link

so it looks just like any flower right? what if i told you that it is about one thousandth of a piece of your hair?

I mean we are all made of proteins, but not many people know what a protein looks like:

Image Link

so you are probably thinking, "so what Kene why does this matter?" the answer is that it doesn't i just think it is interesting and an unknown facet of science that i wanted to share!

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