Communicating Science

Exciting news! I am going to be taking a course in the fall dedicating to 'Science Writing for Impact.' It is taught by a local freelance editor and journalist, and will focus on learning to express ideas and thoughts on science in a clear manner for the general public. Besides actual writing exercises and assignments, there are some guest speakers (local writers, etc) set to come throughout the quarter.

I'm really excited about this class; I've been looking for a formalized atmosphere to learn more about the world of science writing, which can be quite different than other types of writing. Living in the world of science research requires a knowledge of what is rightly seen as its own language. There are terms and words used in science that otherwise may not even exist or have very different meanings in other contexts. It is because of this-- the fact that much of scientific research is published in a highly academic and seemingly indecipherable manner-- that some important information often never reaches the people to whom it can be the most useful. In public health field, communicating the science that is being done and the results of such research is extremely important; the work we do is directly linked to the health of people, and understanding this information is necessary for people to protect themselves and their families.

At the very least, it will be a nice change of pace to break up the lab routine. It probably won't hurt for networking either. Otherwise, things are going ok. It's that time for the SOT abstract again, this year it's in San Francisco! Woot.

Yeast

It's good for this:

Not good for neurons and cell cultures, which end up looking like this:

Yeast contamination: Biotechniques.com

Gah!

DP01_Day 11-- Baby Data to Date

The long awaited arrival of Baby Girl has finally come (appx. 11 days ago)-- August 9th, 2011 = a little bundle of awesomeness.

Day 0

Day 5

I've been out of the lab for 2 weeks enjoying and adjusting to parent life and the new slave driver's  baby's schedule. It's been great and exhausting. She sleeps in about 2-3 hour intervals on a 24-hr schedule. It's like a continuous time-course experiment; I collect diapers instead of cells and treat with milk instead of pesticides. It's tough during the nighttime. I have some trepidation about starting work again next week because I feel it will be tough to actually get up to go to work when what I really will need/want is at least another 2 hrs of sleep. Unlike a true time-course, however, at least I'm not sleeping on the (disgusting) couch in Roo. [Ask me in a week if I have been napping there during the day.]

Overall, though, things are going well. She's just so damn cute that it's hard to hold anything against her, even at 3am. For awhile we were charting her every move (diaper changes, soiled diapers, feedings, you name it). This made me feel useful and productive, hitting all the right lab-notebook-esque spots for me to chart the experiment's..er.. baby's progress. As expected, she's doing wonderfully-- gaining weight, eating well, and being super cute. C is also feeling well, better and more mobile every day.

Future directions for this project:

• Continue to feed and change baby at regular intervals
• Watch baby grow
• Squeeze baby for being cute and observe response

Rants, Raves, and Babes

Firstly, I'm hating Seattle today. This weather is crap. Yeah yeah, I know most of the country is suffering from an unbearable heat wave, but really, 60 degrees and raining is NOT ok. Nor is it acceptable to be called "Summer." It's shit, and I'm frankly tired of wearing the same clothes from November of last year. Someone please tell the rest of the country to share their weather and we'll gladly give you some of our cooler winds.

Thanks, Wordpress.

Now that that's out of the way.. the baby is coming oh so soon! August 8th marks the long-awaited arrival of little Lady Peanut. I'm excited and nervous, but mostly just ready to try to tackle this parenting thing instead of simply anticipating it and driving myself a little batty in the process. I've always been much better at handling a situation rather than the anxiety that comes with thinking about it.

Onesie decorated at the Baby Shower. Awesomeness.

News from the lab is in the theme of 'mediocre on the verge of greatness.' Some experiments have been working out rather well these days, yielding results that I expected to see and in a lovely, clear fashion. Yay! +1 Other experiments, of the Western blot persuasion, not so much. It's kind of a mixed bag with Westerns. It's amazing how you can do the same exact thing, with the same exact antibodies, on two different days and come out with two different results. I'm not even talking different trends in your results (although, that is worthy of throwing things out of frustration). I'm talking about having absolutely nothing show up on your blot. Nothing? Why? Are the proteins shy that day? Do they not want to get out of bed? Where the f*ck did they go? Ah, the reliability of Science.

Savage Love

Last night, while eating pizza at Big Mario's (surprisingly good and the closest to NY pizza I've found out here), I saw Dan Savage. I gave him some grated cheese for his pizza that he was looking for. He said "Oh, thanks." That was all. I didn't geek out and say hi or something dumb like "hey you're Dan Savage" (I'm pretty sure he knows who he is). But, to me, he is somewhat of a celebrity, so it was exciting.

Yay Seattle! Also, please check out the It Gets Better Project, created by Savage, contributed to by many, appreciated by so many more.

Animal Crackers

I really love animal crackers. They are delicious. They also have a surprising amount of protein (4g/box) and calcium (20% DV/box). Just to be clear, I'm talking about the REAL animal crackers, the ones in the little red box with the string (the Barnum's Animal Crackers, not the other ghetto crap you buy in a giant tub).

Fig. 1. The real deal (not to be confused with a box of real animals).

I also have very fond memories attached to animal crackers. And I don't mean something like when I was 5 and my grandparents always had animal crackers for me, nothing lame like that. One time in high school (not band camp), my good friend and I wandered into a CVS late one night and decided to buy all of what was left of the animal crackers in the store. It was the first and only time I've ever bought everything of anything in a store. And believe you me, we ate them all. ....Ok, maybe still lame, but it was exciting at the time.

I have noticed, however, that many of these crackers are in the shape of animals that really don't belong in the circus. Barnum is famous for his circuses and the box leads you to believe that this is what you're getting. But sheep in the circus? Really Barnum? I mean, I know it's been a long time since I've been to the circus, but how lame that would be to have sheep there. And what is a poor child to do now when they go to the circus expecting to see sheep. Camels? I guess they're debatable. Spitting animals could be entertaining for some. The elephants and bears make sense, even the gorillas, but I think you need some help on re-learning which animals actually make an appearance under the big top. On occasion, I'll also find this unidentifiable animal, one I used to refer to as "the shaggy dog," for lack of a better guess. Perhaps this is one of the carny's dogs that come along on the circus tour.

Maybe we can suggest some animal changes to Barnum. Any thoughts?

In other news, the lab is boring/frustrating/a black hole of misery these days. I'm hoping the lab gods remember our saluting them and they continue to bestow their blessings on me... maybe they are just on vacation or a vengeful streak.

Fig 2. GlaDos from Portal

Eat, Sleep, and Breathe

The other day I was walking home from my usual bus stop after a wonderfully long day of sitting in the little dark microscope box room and had to do a double-take at the graffiti on the floor. I immediately thought "oh, look, a neuron!" Regardless of  its multiple (beautiful) dendrites, it was, in fact, not a neuron. On second look, I don't think it was even an intentional graffiti, merely a splatter of spray paint next to some inane tag.
This is not the first time this has happened. I see neurons on bumper stickers and glial cells in art work in restaurants. (Actually, I'm still pretty convinced that last one really was an abstract version of neural networks, but who knows). Am I obsessed? Maybe I'm more haunted by my work rather than obsessed. Perhaps, it's a nice unhealthy mixture of both. I suppose all good scientists are somewhat consumed by their work, that they see cell types in cloud formations, or mechanisms in their dreams.

Nevertheless, it reminds me how hopelessly geeky I am. But, never fear, little scientists, we are not alone. Tthe ever amusing author Mary Roach (author of 'Bonk,' 'Spook,' and 'Stiff' to name a few) speaks to this quite nicely in her intro to 'Bonk:'

"I am obsessed with my research, not by nature but serially: book by book and regardless of topic. All good research-- whether for science or for a book-- is a form of obsession. And obsession can be awkward. It can be downright embarrassing."