Throughout history, humans have always tried to improve the tools they use. Animals were bred to be larger, means of locomotion engineered to become more powerful, etc. Until recently, bigger was thought to be better. However, today it seems the opposite is true: Every day we experience pressure for buying smaller cameras, computers, cell phones, and even cars. It is clear that size reduction is an important facet of our lives. Obviously, science is inherently involved in this move towards smaller devices. In fact, the word “nano” (a billionth of a standard size) is so hip right now, it seems…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From November, 2006
KADATH: A VISION INTO THE AGE OF NANITES
Many science fiction writers have developed tales regarding mankind’s attempts to surmount the forces of nature that separate man from God. These works often portray the human species as a newcomer to Earth and as a brash and shortsighted community working feverishly towards its own demise. The history of this story has its modern roots in the late 1800s with the Transcendentalism movement in New England. Writers such as Edgar Alan Poe and Herman Melville, as well as their counterparts in England such as Mary Shelley, began examining the human spirit’s desire to conquer nature in their literature and the…
THE NIGHT BEFORE AN ORGANIC CHEMISTRY EXAM
Last night I had a dream in which I very nearly died; All round me raged a gruesome hoard of mad nucleotides. The sugars and the bases put the phosphates into flight, And SN2 reactions were occurring left and right. Then BF4 came sweeping in with hydride ions grim. From then on, all carbonyl groups had chances very slim. The poor hydroxys all around me begged, alas, in vain, As all their sigma bonds with carbon friends were cut in twain. When lithium di-isopropyl amide entered in, It brutally removed all of the alpha hydrogens And left the alpha carbons…
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE LAB: THE “REVIVARIN” STORY, WITH FIGURES
(See here first) Click here for larger view of image Once upon a time, I was working in lab late into the night. Late I say. So late that I was having trouble focusing both eyes in the same focal plane at the same time. Of course it also could have been from staring into the fluorescence microscope for 26 hours strait, and getting ready for the big conference that was coming up. The new drug I was studying, Revivarin, was not working consistently, and I was beginning to think that my presentation at the upcoming meeting would be a…
AN ENGINEER IN BIOLOGYLAND
“Biology? That’s unusual.” This is something I’ve been hearing a lot lately, usually from my friends when I tell them about the courses I’m taking this term. I’m in the home stretch of my Engineering Physics degree, which is the point where I’m supposed to choose some technical electives and become a specialist. Most Engineering Physics students take traditional electives, like fluid flow, power transmission, or aerodynamics. But there is a growing group of students, like myself, who are looking to apply their engineering knowledge to less-traditional areas, and biology is perhaps one of the most popular. But how exactly…
A FABRICATED PAPER: DORIAN GRAY MICE – ON IMMORTAL MICE
(This paper was presented as an April Fools Joke in Nature, 1993) TITLE: Dorian Gray Mice (by Robin A. Weiss) FIRST PARAGRAPH Newly generated transgenic mice appear to be able to grow indefinitely without ageing, yet with programmed death. This dramatic developmet is the work of several groups, and has been accomplished in three stages… (download pdf of paper here)
SHOULD I TAKE TYLENOL, ADVIL OR ASPIRIN?
When I work as a pharmacist in a retail pharmacy, I get a lot of questions from customers on which painkiller is best for them. Unfortunately, the answer is usually not black and white: it really depends on their medical conditions. That’s why pharmacists are here to recommend products using their professional judgment. Thank god the BC provincial bylaw states that a retail pharmacy must not be open for business unless a pharmacist is in the pharmacy. Consumers can take advantage of having a pharmacist to recommend painkillers for them. However, some non-prescription painkillers, such as Tylenol, Advil and Aspirin…
HOT SCIENCE-Y GUY OF THE MONTH – JAMES DYSON
This month’s Hot Science-y Guy really sucks. Okay, James Dyson doesn’t suck, but his inventions sure as heck do. Just ask my friend, Bob, who recently purchased the Dyson Animal Model No. I-Don’t-Know−Exactly-but-It’s-a-Lovely-Shade-of-Purple. Oooh… a purple vacuum… And boy-oh-boy! I sure would like one of these bad boys for myself. And this time, when I say “bad boy”, I don’t mean that in my usual way (see previous “Sparky” references). I mean I really want one of Mr. Dyson’s vacuums! Vacuuming is something I really like doing in the way of household chores. There’s a lot of bang-for-your-buck with vacuuming.…
HAIKU (AGAIN)
We have been getting some lovely haikus for our phylogeny project, and hope to continue getting more (need a good large data set to make this phylohaiku tree impressive looking). Anyway, here are some that work: THE NAIADS bottom of a row- boat, in a pool of rainwater, the mayflies orgy ~Nathan Smith BABY PENGUIN Warmed against the wind by the sky-grey coat of fur later shed and smoothed ~Robert Isenberg See insectica Seven Lepidopterae Spotted Danaidae ~Nan Spiers SPIDER Eight legs pirouette Spinning a muted music: Arachnid ballet. ~George Motisher A raucous gray wedge, Purposeful, splits the pale sky.…