(HeLa refers to this, JLo to this) HeLa: Cancer. JLo: Not cancer. Advantage: JLo. HeLa: Supreme longevity. JLo: Not so supreme longevity. Advantage: HeLa. HeLa: Interesting model system. JLo: Interesting model. Advantage: JLo. HeLa: Adherent. JLo: “Clingy” Advantage: HeLa. HeLa: No flim credits to date. JLo: Co-starred in underrated movie with George Clooney. Advantage: JLo. HeLa: $349/vial. JLo: $15 million/film. Advantage: HeLa. HeLa: Doesn’t sing. JLo: Sings (sort of). Advantage: HeLa. HeLa: From Henrietta Lacks (not known by her family until much later). JLo: From the block (still knows where she came from). Advantage: JLo. HeLa: Name sounds kinda like…
The Science Creative Quarterly
By timonian
Timon Buys is currently a graduate student at the BC Cancer Research Centre. His PhD work has thus far involved attempts to identify genomic signatures of drug resistance in lung tumours. A product of Vancouver Island, he cannot understand why his wife hates Birkenstocks so much. Timon highly recommends that readers visit www.bedroomstudio.cc, a place with tunes that the kids will enjoy. Ian Wilson enjoys climbing and “the group thing”. Ask him about his DNA tattoo.
OVERHEARD AT A POSTER SESSION AT A RECENT RESEARCH CONFERENCE
“I heard there’s free booze in concourse A from 6:00 to 6:15!” * * * “Yes, I agree that your work casts doubt on the validity of my methods, but I think you’re missing the point…” * * * “There’s nothing worthwhile this afternoon, I’m going to the bar” “But the whole session is based on your thesis topic!” “Meh.” * * * “Uh-huh… Right… Look: I just took a job at [name of giant pharmaceutical company removed]. I really don’t care any more.” * * * “Yes, this is the same suit as yesterday. When a guy pulls down…
METRICS: THE RICHTER SCALE
Measures: Earthquake magnitude. This is a logarithmic scale, plotting greatest displacement from 0 on seismometer after event occurs. Range: 0 to 10+ Reference measurements: 0 – 3.4 This is normal. The first step in assessing earthquake severity is determining whether other people are noticing the Earth move as well. If only you seem to be experiencing the Earth moving, you are likely drunk or having an orgasm or both. 3.5 Not usually felt, but will be recorded. Earthquakes of this magnitude are often the result of office horseplay occurring too close to the seismometer (“Dude – careful!”). 3.6 – 4.5…
METRICS: THE CELCIUS
Metric: Celsius Measures: Primarily the vibrational and rotational kinetic energy of atoms (you know, hotness). Range: -273.15oC. This is known as absolute zero, a temperature at which nothing could be colder. Some Irishman named Kelvin came up with a scale that started 0 from this value, but basically had the same increments as the Celsius scale. He then substituted “degrees Celsius” with “Kelvins”.** -40oC. Where the Celsius scale intersects with the Fahrenheit temperature metric (i.e. -40oC = -40oF). This temperature is as frosty as Canada/U.S. relations. -20oC. Witch’s teat territory. 0oC. On a day where the freezing mark is reached,…
pH – A SCIENCE CREATIVE QUARTERLY PIN UP (NO. 2)
(CLICK HERE FOR PIN-UP POSTER – pdf file ~140k) – We suggest photocopying at 129% – LTR to 11×17 – Metric: pH Range: 0-14 (no units) Measures: Degree of acidity or alkalinity. It is a logarithmic scale expressing the concentration of Hydrogen ions in solution. pH = -log10 [H+] A solution is “acidic” if pH is less than 7 (Hydrogen ion concentration is greater than 10−7 M), “neutral” if pH equals 7 (Hydrogen ion concentration equals 10−7 M), and “alkaline” if pH greater than 7 (Hydrogen ion concentration is less than 10−7 M). As was pointed out here, pH measures…