apalazzo
Posts by this author
June 23, 2006
Wow, what a tournament. A day after the US loss and I'm flabbergasted by the attention that the US team is getting. Soccer mania is spreading in the US, and I'm happy for it. It might be that unlike other areas (the Olympics, military might, world economic supremacy) soccer is hard. It's the…
June 22, 2006
For those of you not in the biomedical sciences, you may not be aware of the coming crises. Right now aspiring postdocs and new independent investigators are involved in a war of attrition when it comes to funding.
How did this happen?
Well as the NIH budget grew in the 1990s, PIs simply used the…
June 21, 2006
Flipping through the latest issue of Cell:
Ujwal Sheth from Roy Parker's lab details the molecular mechanism that targets RNAs with premature stop codons to processing-bodies (or p-bodies) via the non-sense mediated decay (NMD) pathway. P-bodies are dense cytoplasmic granule-like structures that…
June 21, 2006
Over the last month, many things have been happening in the world of scientific publishing. Nature is trying something new, and they are having a public debate about how to alter the review process. PLoS is pushing ahead with a new type of publishing platform, PLoS ONE. And they are blogging about…
June 19, 2006
I got this email from AAAS, and I thought I'd pass it along:
Dear Colleague,
We're now taking you behind the scenes of Science , presenting the authors of life science research papers in Science Online Seminars -- our compelling new online audio/slideshow feature.
Now Showing on a Computer Near…
June 19, 2006
Time for another Map That Campus.
And here is today's campus:
Click here to view a larger version
And the hint:
DNA, DNA
[A]=[T], [C]=[G]
Add some lipids
And slip it into cells
So what is the mystery campus?
Previously: Map that Campus I
June 18, 2006
As you can tell I'm taking a World Cup induced vacation from writing about science. Not that I don't love science, but it's too hot, I don't have time to work+blog+read science+watch the World Cup.
What to write about? Immigration, Guantanamo, Father's Day, the Italian soccer team, war?
Hmm ...…
June 17, 2006
Well if some Americans say soccer is boring, it's because they clearly weren't watch today's games.
This group which was called by some the group of death (I guess all disputes about this title are resolved after today's games).
So here the wrap up:
Ghana vs. Czech Rep.
The Czechs (rank #2 by FIFA…
June 17, 2006
OK I know, I'm usually good about keeping my blog focused on Science, Biology etc...
There has been quite an interesting debate going on at several blogs/sites about peer review and challenges to the conventional methods of publishing.
But for those Soccer Maniacs (or Futbolistas) here's my take…
June 15, 2006
(Inspired by the now abandoned Scavengeroogle)
I've been so busy with work and the World Cup, I just can't perform any intensive intellectual activity, so instead I'll let you do the work ... so here it is ... Map that Campus.
How does this work?
I'll show you a satellite photo (courtesy of Google…
June 14, 2006
(via The Scientific Activist, Evolving Thoughts)
First came PLoS, then PLoS ONE, now PLoS blogs
A blog? Here's their mission:
... to give an insider's view of the latest developments at PLoS. To keep it simple, we've divided the content into two tracks:
Publishing
Enter a discussion of our…
June 14, 2006
Part of the problem with Science is the verification process. From the outside looking in, you may guess that there is a quick and easy solution ... data should be reproduced by others. In the end scientists should be concerned with the facts.
Alejandro Rivero comments on my entry on being scooped…
June 13, 2006
OK time for an irreverent answer to Scienceblog's question of the week.
If I had infinite time and money I would like to figure out HOW TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF HOURS IN A DAY.
Between work, the World Cup, eating and sleeping I have simply have no time to read the literature (scientific and non-…
June 11, 2006
OK still fiddling away with the banners.
Here are the two latest ones:
I've distributed the banners among the various sections (Latest Post, Individual Entries ...) I've also been advised that if I choose to have multiple banners, I should "stick to a single font". Courier New seems appropriate (…
June 11, 2006
I'm here at the lab. Watching the World Cup. Digesting DNA. Subclonning. And splicing in some new banners.
Here are a couple of models:
What do you think?
June 10, 2006
With regards to the World Cup, the Dutch Bank ABN AMRO has asked the question, "which team is our 'economic favourite', that is, the country which should become world champion in order to maximise the impact on the world economy."
Say what?
Yes they released a report on this very important issue.…
June 9, 2006
Back in the fall of 2004, I submitted a prediction to TimeLine+25, a web based "cultural experiment" where random individuals were asked to predict near future events.
Here was my entry for the year 2025:
Plastic eating bacteria
Novel forms of bacteria which subsist solely on various forms of…
June 8, 2006
Brain drain, brain sucking ... whatever. Here is my take on this:
Right now you are better off in the US than abroad. Even with the terrible visa policies here in the US. (For your info, I'm Canadian.)
Anyway ... all I know is that there are many non-Americans around our department and this week…
June 8, 2006
I was alerted to the fact that strange things are happening at Nature Magazine.
From the Nature website:
Peer review is the bedrock of scientific publication (for Nature's position on peer review, see our Guide to Authors). It is widely considered essential for improving submitted papers and…
June 7, 2006
Last night we were invited to celebrate the launching of Nature Publishing Group's Network Boston at the Museum of Science here in Boston.
What, you may ask, is Network Boston? It was described as a new digital community center for scientists in the Boston/Cambridge area. Another description would…
June 6, 2006
OK here is a myth that I'd like to explode (or at least be provocative about). Technology is NOT inevitable.
Say what?
We humans think that technology increases steadily. With every space shuttle and iPod, humanity advances by one small step. Sort of like that image of the ape walking more and more…
June 5, 2006
There's a giant crater underneath Antartica! The collision that caused it may have also precipitated the Permian-Triassic extinction ... or perhaps not.
Can't get to the overloaded Knox homepage to read the Colbert Commencement speech? Well then click here.
MIT Cosmologist vs. Mus musculus. From…
June 2, 2006
I just got this email from the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Editorial Cartoon Contest Will Draw Attention to the Misuse and Abuse of Science
Top Cartoonists Will Judge Amateur, Professional Talent in "Science Idol"
WASHINGTON, DC - Teaming up with leading editorial and strip cartoonists, the…
June 2, 2006
Summers and the Allston expansion. Latest stats on gender and higher education. And free books! Ladies and Gentlemen start your hard drives. (all quotes+links below the fold)
From today's Boston Globe:
As Harvard University searches for a new leader, questions loom over its last president's most…
June 2, 2006
Well I've been engrossed in reading books on happiness, now apparently Bob McDonald from CBC's Quirks & Quarks interviews leading researchers in the field, including Dan Gilbert. (from Daily Zeitgeist)
Previously:Last happiness entry.NY Times review of Stumbling On Happiness.Dan Gilbert on…
June 1, 2006
Recently I've written a couple of entries on Journals and open access. In the latest WIRED, there's a good article on Harold Varmus, and his quest to shake up the biomedical journals.
From the article:
Varmus is the most visible character in the movement to free the scientific world of its…
May 31, 2006
This week:
Since they're funded by taxpayer dollars (through the NIH, NSF, and so on), should scientists have to justify their research agendas to the public, rather than just grant-making bodies?
Yes, yes, and yes.
But if the public does not agree? Then the blame rests on our scientific leaders.…
May 31, 2006
The nuclear membrane separates the nuclear space from the cytoplasm. This barrier is comprised of two membranes (Inner and Outer Nuclear Membrane) that are continuous with the endoplasmic reticulum. To cross the double membrane, molecules traverse the nuclear pore complex (NPC), a giant…
May 30, 2006
I haven't been blogging that much recently ... well to be honest I've had too much work to do.
But as time goes on my ability to cope with the rich experience of daily lab life requires me to rant every so often. So here is today's rant.
There are two approaches to small biology, studying…