– FROM THE ARCHIVES – Imagine you’re at Starbucks. You’re halfway through a co-worker’s order (“half sweet, no foam, saffron-scented, opium-spritzed, …”) when two men wearing coveralls come in. You hear them talking about a car they’re fixing. Their garb has grease on it, various stains of indeterminate origin. They saunter up to the till, place their orders, and get their drinks before you because the trainee taking care of your order is running to the Starbucks across the street to find more panda blood for your co-worker’s beverage. Tapping your foot impatiently, you notice that the two guys in…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From December, 2006
POLIO: A VIRUS’ STRUGGLE
– FROM THE ARCHIVE – Download the pdf (14pages, ~2.7Mb)
THE HOLIDAYS ARE NOT REALLY ABOUT SCIENCE
CHRISTMAS 1970. by Spike Milligan A little girl called Sile Javotte Said ‘Look at the lovely presents I’ve got’ While a little girl in Biafra said ‘Oh what a lovely slice of bread’. – – – – – The SCQ wishes you a Happy Holidays, and invites you to please enjoy (or re-enjoy) some of our holiday flavoured pieces. Some older favourites will begin running again on December 27th, and the new? … Well, the new will return in the New Year on January 8th. It’s a Wonderful Lab (by Vince LiCata) T’was the Night ‘Fore the Conference (A Visit…
A BIO-CHRISTMAS CAROL
– FROM THE ARCHIVES – Characters: Dr. Scrooge Young Scrooge Teen Scrooge Scrooge’s mother Dr. Jacob Marley Graduate Student Bob Cratchett Bob Cratchett’s wife Tiny Tina The Spirit of Christmas Past, a Developmental Biologist The Spirit of Christmas Present, a Biochemist The Spirit of Christmas Future, an Evolutionary Biologist Faculty member #1 Faculty member #2 A boy (14 characters if singly cast. Several parts could be double cast. Scrooge can be either male or female. The Spirits and Faculty Members can also be either gender). – – – – – Scene 1. “Scrooge’s Office” Scrooge and Cratchett are sitting working…
IS THERE A SANTA?
– FROM THE ARCHIVES – Being a scientific investigation of a cultural conundrum Soon it will be Christmas Eve, and once more children will be divided into distinct factions. Here, Cyr [1] described younger children (<7 years) who believe in Santa Claus, and older children (>12 years) who have ditched this ‘childish’ belief. But he fails, by excluding from his questionnaire, to describe a third group who aren’t really sure – the undecided voters if you like. And as the eldest child, I have spent a large part of my life in this group. Moreover, being scientifically minded even at…
IT’S A WONDERFUL LAB
A 15 minute play, in 7 scenes. Characters Dr. Georgina Bailey Clarence (an angel) Jethro (a graduate student) ZuZu (another graduate student) Faculty member #1 Faculty member #2 Chairman of the Department Willie the bartender Car driver Angel #1/Child #1 Angel #2/Child #2 The set consists of four main areas: The lab: a small table, upstage, center The faculty meeting room: A set of chairs downstage right. The bar: stage left The street in front of the bar: center stage. SCENE 1: WHEREIN GEORGINA BEMOANS THE SITUATION IN HER LAB. GEORGINA: (enters her lab, there is no one there) Hello?…
T’WAS THE NIGHT ‘FORE THE CONFERENCE (A VISIT FROM SAINT AQUINAS)
With apologies to Clement Clarke Moore ’Twas the night ’fore the conference and all through the inn All the PIs were up with their laptops and pens, Making graphs and new slides for their talks the next day, In hopes that they’d have something brilliant to say. At the social, the party was raising good cheer; All us grads were up drinking cheap wine and bad beer, Fondly dreaming of prizes that were to be won, With talks practiced and ready and PowerPoints done, When down from the lobby arose such a clatter, I put down my drink to see…
RANT FROM A GLACIER – CONCERNED, BITTER, AND SOMEWHERE NEAR THE NORTH POLE
– FROM THE ARCHIVES – Dear humans everywhere: People. I’m melting. I’m actually melting. Are you not paying attention to what’s going on here? Are you not following the news? Are you just out and out disregarding the collected and heated but (get this) generally agreed upon advise from a whole bunch of experts? Is it because you don’t trust them? Because please don’t tell me that you’d rather trust the advice of something like the current U.S. administration – an administration that (by the way) sounds sort of actually o.k. with the idea of the Earth and everything else…
TO ROXANNE AND CYRAN06
spied you thrU my sitemeether lense bi nary bi noculars measure, for measure the traffic at my door all the way from Arroyo Grande C A looking for words you were to make her see fireworks in the sky of your fly on the Fourth of July jenny, jenny I’ve got your (ISP) number 24.180.3.105 no area code necessary these digits do the trick you sought the Gee-Wiz! for “poems to make her wet” followed the yellowed—–stitched seams & found yourself a home inside her \back pocket/ fingers spiral round the circumference of denim clad spheres eschewing independence that bright night…