Is it acceptable for mothers to die of preventable causes during pregnancy because they are poor? Sadly, this is the pattern revealed by the United Nations (UN) statistics which show that dying of preventable causes is still a reality for half a million women every year [1]. These women live in the world’s poorest countries and surprisingly, the numbers of preventable maternal deaths in these regions have not improved significantly over the last decade [1,2,3]. But the picture is much different for women in developed nations where maternal deaths are 400 times less frequent [2]. Addressing these inequalities should be…
The Science Creative Quarterly
The Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ) is not a quarterly, but instead publishes new material at a non-linear rate. Currently, it is sleeping and in a sort of stasis (turpor?) It used to seek science writing of any genre, and your contribution would have involved checking out our submissions guidelines.
The Science Creative Quarterly (SCQ) has a single print edition so far (half SCQ pieces, and half fake science journal – see here for more details). Also, badges?
Stay safe everyone!
TYRANNOSAURUS REX JUST WANTS TO BE LOVED
People look at me, and all they see is the most powerful set of carnivorous jaws in the animal kingdom. But there’s more to me than that. I’ve also got a big heart, a heart that weighs close to two hundred pounds. And it’s broken. Caleb dumped me last week. He said that if I want to have someone in my life, I can’t get all territorial about him poaching from the Iguanodon herds down by the river bend. He said I need to figure out what it is I want. He said that being together wasn’t worth the stress,…
NEW MICROBIAL CREATIONS
(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 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) – – –