(Two pieces written on April 26th, 2010. Everyone in the class had a chance to explore the microbial world with microscopes.) – – – “TRY HARD” It was a rainy day at the marsh and a new difflugia microbe just formed. It looked like a piece of candy – the sound it made was a “crunch” and it smelled very bitter and dusty. Its goal was to build a big strong shell. The marsh it lived in was very muddy so it didn’t really have room to work on its shell. All of a sudden, it sees a rock floating…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From archive
THE WISHING WELL
Tales of Wonder from the Land of Lab: Fairy Tales and Bedtime Stories for Scientists – – – Once upon a time in a Lab far far away, Princess Jane was a second year graduate student trying to clone a gene from maize. It was a bold and difficult Task set by her Supervisor. Jane toiled day and night optimizing her reactions, but to no avail. The Task was incomplete and the deadline fast approaching. “If I don’t finish this part of the project soon, then my thesis will be incomplete,” she thought sadly. One evening, as Princess Jane was…
HIRING SEVEN NEW FACULTY!
(Well, actually 6 since the first ad is not real…) – – – JOB POSTING: “IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME” This is a call for outstanding candidates to apply for a tenure track assistant professor position within the context of the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia. The successful applicant is expected to work in areas of interest to current faculty members, to interact with related groups within our network and to have demonstrated ability in producing research material of excellent quality and interest. Due to the competitive nature of this process, we ask that all…
COLLABORATIVE CREATIVITY POEM
(Written on January 18th, 2010. Everyone in the class defined either “science” or “writing”. We then compiled them to define creativity.) – – – Creativity is exploring and discovering things unknown to man, the study of life and the literature of learning, discovering new and old things. It is putting your mind on a piece of paper. Creativity is mixing chemicals and trying experiments. It is poetry and books. Without it, the world would not be complete. It’s a way to express yourself in a poem or a song, to make explosions. Creativity is an idea that comes from your…
DEEP THOUGHTS OF A ROBOT 2
(Deep Thoughts of a Robot 1 can be found here) – – –
GENOMIC DNA EXTRACTION IS ABOUT THE PLAYING
We are grand father-grand son duo emotionally intertwined like the two complementary strands of a DNA duplex. Unlike the weak H bonds in the biomolecule, our attachment is due to divine bonds strengthened by a friendship extraordinaire. Farzaan, eight-year old grandson of the senior author, is a regular viewer of ‘Backyard Science’ shows on television. Some months ago he dared his grand father, a university teacher of plant cytogenetics to coach him perform molecular biology experiments in their home in Kolkata, India. The kid had jeered at his friend-grandpa: “You bore me incessantly with your books and bla bla about…
DEEP THOUGHTS OF A ROBOT 1
(Introducing a new series by Ralph Gamelli) – – –
GRAD WARS
During my commute home a few weeks ago, I came across an old classmate from high school. After our initial exchange of typical greetings, we customarily inquired each other about our current endeavors. I quickly learned that he obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and is currently working for a small company. When asked about my work/school status, I answered with my instinctive “I’m doing grad school” response. This wasn’t the first time someone met my answer with an empty stare followed by a pseudo-empathetic nod. He obviously wasn’t satisfied with my simple reply so he…
OUR DREAM AND OTHER PIECES OF MICROBIAL (VERY SMALL) FICTION
Part of our Science Creative Literary Symposia. – – – MY DREAM Hi, my name is Difflugia, and I live by the marshes. My dream is to become a world class swimmer in the microbe Summer Olympics. My older brother says I look like a tadpole because of my sleek body. I am superb at swimming, especially in races. One time, I won first place in the junior microbe swimming tournament! Although I have a bad temper, which makes me prone to smashing objects when I’m angry, people say I am generous because I help microbes that don’t have a…