Scientists have been homing in on the genes that define our sense of humour. In a follow-up to the research which brought us British Humour Linked to Genetics, the latest report claims they have come up with some “funny results”. It does not specify whether said results are funny ha-ha or funny peculiar. Humanity has over 20,500 genes, which the official gene naming board (HUGO) has been working hard to differentiate based not only on their strains of humour but also according to country of prevalence and associated effects. Brit wit The original humour-gene research, conducted by Dr Rod Martin,…
The Science Creative Quarterly
From archive
SUPER-BRANDING HITS MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
1. Mass Spectrometry, now with an iDock! 2. X-ray crystallography, now with a Sears automatic ice-maker! 3. SDS-Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, now with Tide! 4. Differential Scanning Calorimetry, now with a Starbucks espresso maker! 5. UV/Vis Spectrophotometry, now with Coppertone sunblock! 6. Automated DNA Sequencing, now with 200 free anytime minutes a month from Verizon! 7. Ultracentrifugation, now with a Cuisinart fruit smoothie accessory! 8. PCR, now with Velveeta cheese! 9. NMR, now with MRI and CGI from IBM! 10. Radioactivity, now with fluorescence!
ANOTHER BOOK TO WIN: THIS ONE IS CALLED “FOLLOW THE LINE AROUND THE WORLD.”
The SCQ is pleased to announce that the winner of the last book was Alex Roger’s “Astro I Reference Notes.” To keep things rolling a little bit, we would like to present the next book up for grabs. This one is called “Follow the Line Around the World” by Laura Ljungkvist. We think every reader should submit just for the possibility of owning a book who has an author with such a marvelous last name. Anyway, like before any kind of submission will do, and please send on your good material to tscq@interchange.ubc.ca (deadline is October 15th).
ASTRO I REFERENCE NOTES
The amount of energy required by gravity to hold the Earth together is called “Gravitational Binding Energy. If we were to build a device capable of generating an amount of energy equal to the paltry sum of 1 GBE we could easily destroy this measly planet, unless of course the UN sees things my way and agrees to pay a delicate sum for their precious world. The Earth’s topography is unique in the solar system, constantly changing thanks to tectonic plates that shift over a arm, magma-like mantle. If enough freeze energy were supplied by ice nanites burrowing deep beyond…
FROM THE COLLECTION NO IRON RING (THIRD)
the bridge is singular it asserts its beauty as verisimilitude of form its presence is a provocation a displacement of the natural strung like a witness over incremental depths the tenants of this occupation suppose the iron ordinance of stasis a beauty that refuses to be held entirely bridging precipice to precipice a band of light over that which lies beneath (first | second)
FROM THE COLLECTION NO IRON RING (SECOND)
notions of hydrography piers from the channel the object imbued with conditional phrases contextual meaning a hydrostatic balance if you will, are, of, but not consumed by the Kitsap peninsula 5979 feet minus 40 reciprocal inductions during the rise and fall of several feet in 4-5 seconds a balletic guise 47˚16’00” N coordinates once negating the placement of this perfect mechanism over a narrow but deep pathology (first)
FROM THE COLLECTION NO IRON RING (FIRST)
This poem (and two others to be published in the coming days) are part of a growing sequence that is titled “No Iron Ring” and is making an analogous object out of the construction, edifice and ultimate destruction of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The ring functions as a symbol of engineering pride, fellowship and a constant reminder of the implications that engineers must encase human concerns into each of their designs. “No Iron Ring” is indicative of the author’s failure as an engineer, and henceforth my move into literature as a field of study. This poem along with others consists…
WHAT KIND OF ENGINEER IS GOD? (A NEW SPIN OF AN OLD JOKE)
One very fine day, a group of professorial-types of differing backgrounds happened at random to collude at the same table in the University cafeteria. Their conversation evolved from small talk into more substantive topics, and eventually the Professor of Civil Engineering, with a mischievous grin, posed the question, “What kind of a Scientist is god?” “God,” in this case, being a reference to the natural world, similar to Einstein’s use of the word, synonymous with nature and cosmos, and although such a conversation might seem highly unlikely for a bunch of secularists, the law of really big numbers dictates that…
SCIENCE IS GOING TO KILL US ALL
The world is going to end on December 21st 2012. How do I know this? Because the Mayans said so and the Mayans pretty much knew it all; these are people that calculated the length of a year to a thousandth decimal place, predicted all future lunar and solar eclipses and invented gravity*. They were also a people that took their calendars very very seriously; calendars which end abruptly on the aforementioned date. Worrisome. The Mayans, probably because they didn’t think we would be able to handle our own demise in a mature fashion, were silent on how, exactly, time…