“…rainy and a low of 2 …” kshhht “…climatologists meeting established a treaty that should further reduce CO2 exhausts by 20% over the next decade…” shh “…and here is their new song fresh from the producer…” kshhhh “…unprecedented flooding for this time of the year…” “Daaaa, could you please stop tweaking around on MY radio? And could you please drive a bit faster, I wanna bake something for ma before she returns.” She liked radios, something that none of her friends had. They tended to call them relics, which made her like them even more. With a smile the driver…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From March, 2006
SO WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL ABOUT BIRD FLU, ANYWAY?
When watching the news in recent weeks and months, you might think that the world has become inordinately fascinated with sick chickens. Our concern is not of potential Thanksgiving turkey shortages, but instead one of human health. Although many people have died from avian influenza, these deaths are not in and of themselves responsible for the widespread fear and international attention. Rather, we fear that these deaths are the harbingers of the world-wide influenza pandemic that is apparently long overdue. Is this fear justified, or are scientists just crying wolf? Is there actually fire behind the pandemic smoke? Does the…
SORRY, BUT I’M BUSY TONIGHT: I HAVE TO GOOGLE “EVIL INTERNET”
(This marks the first of five pieces to be presented this week, all written by the UBC Let’s Talk Science Partnership Program) Let’s start with a confession. I am 29 years old and I don’t own a cell phone, a TV or a car. I do not have a subscription to a broadband Internet service! Gasp! This is by choice! GASP! For these reasons my mum regularly refers to me as a “Luddite” on phone calls from my home town Dublin, Ireland. The Republic of Ireland has one of the largest mobile phone ownership in the world. Market penetration has…
SIZE MATTERS: THE IMPENDING DEATH OF THE Y CHROMOSOME
“And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Genesis 2:21-23) Biblical tradition tells the story of creation with man as the first sex, and woman the second, fashioned from Adam’s rib.…
IN THE NAME OF FAIR GAME…
Doping to enhance athletic performance happens at every level of the game; lately, we have heard about it in professional baseball, at the Olympics, at other international competitions and even at our local gyms. Performance pressure is ever increasing, especially considering the financial endorsements and sponsorships associated with success. As a consequence, some athletes continue their attempt to better themselves through extensive training, drive and motivation, while others look for a little help from organic chemistry. International and national sports organizations, in conjunction with laboratories around the world are trying very hard to “crack” down on drug abuse in sports.…
2,501,985 B.C.
An evolutionary pop song, to the tune of 1985, with apologies to “Bowling for Soup.” (includes audio) Australopithecus Looked a bit like us Had a smaller skull Was relatively dull Its life was day to day Just tryin’ to make its way We’d call it ape-man It had no way to plan It was gonna be successful It was gonna change and grow It was gonna send its kids To populate the globe Its novel upright stance Gave rise to speech and dance It had an average life But so much Has been So right since A species in slo-mo…
BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS DOES REPLICATION
To begin with, we’ll start with a chicken scratch drawing of a DNA molecule, which you know is double stranded. My poor pathetic attempt at illustration is therefore going to look like this: You also know that each strand of DNA is composed of building blocks called nucleotides, and that these nucleotides are always interacting in a complementary manner. For example, A’s are always with T’s, C’s are always with G’s, Beavis is always with Butthead, etc etc etc. Let’s draw them in like so: What you haven’t been told at this point is that chemically speaking, the two strands…
BIOCHEMISTRY LOVES HAIKUS
Adenine-Thymine In a helical tryst with Guanine-Cytosine Protein-RNA Catalyst of translation Wrapped in their embrace Cellular membranes You hold me together with Hydrophobic states Oh Allostery You convert my R to T Perfect synergy My dear Meiosis Broken strands are a delight Lets recombinate
SELECTED EXAMPLES OF WHAT YOU WILL LEARN AT THE BLACK HOLE HUMOR WORKSHOP
Black holes are a captivating subject for any audience. At the Advanced Physics Laboratory’s Black Hole Humor Workshop, you will absorb high level content and assimilate effective strategies for incorporating black hole humor into any social or professional situation. With an effective repertoire of scintillating black hole humor, you will become the gravitational center of any room. Here are just a few examples from our two day workshop: – – – 1) Riddles: How do you flatter a black hole? Tell it that it sucks. What did the macho black hole say to the less macho black hole? “My hole…