It is sad but true that the latest news has not been promising for wild tiger populations. In September, an article published in PLoS Biology (1) estimated that the best hope of saving the wild tiger population would be to shift focus to source sites, which are “…at spatially well-defined priority sites, supported by proven best practices of law enforcement, wildlife management, and scientific monitoring.” The authors estimate the cost to save these sites at $82 million (U.S). At the time of publication, $47 million had been committed by governments and other groups. It isn’t difficult math to figure out there is a deficit.
Continue reading “The Latest On: When Five Hundred Tigers Are Not Enough”The Lighter Side of Science
Top 10 Things to Do When You (or Your Kids) Have Too Much Halloween Candy
10. Set a daily limit. (An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.) Allow X number of pieces of candy per day, then put the bag away, under lock and key.
9. Parental help (good for the child, not so good for the parent). In my childhood, though it was not apparent at the time, Dad was helping by eating some of the candy. Many Promega parents engage in this practice with their children now.
8. Burn more energy. Go for a run or walk or outside to play. For every X pieces of candy, a walk or bike ride around the block. Continue reading “Top 10 Things to Do When You (or Your Kids) Have Too Much Halloween Candy”
The Chemistry of Autumn Colors
Here in Wisconsin, the leaves are starting to turn the characteristic reds, oranges and yellows of autumn. This is one of my favorite times of the year (not only because of Mother Nature’s impressive displays but also because we are nearing that magical time between the last lawn mowing and the first snow shoveling). This is the time of year that I try to take in as much color as I can before everything is covered in a blanket of white.
As I stroll around, enjoying the view, I think about the chemical changes within the leaves that cause such vibrant colors. I can’t help myself; I am a scientist.
There’s an Evil Hand Afoot and Other Ways to Spice Up Your Technical Literature
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels. Dennis Pearce, the runner up in the 2010 Detective story category, penned the following words:
As Holmes, who had a nose for danger, quietly fingered the bloody knife and eyed the various body parts strewn along the dark, deserted highway, he placed his ear to the ground and, with his heart in his throat, silently mouthed to his companion, “Arm yourself, Watson, there is an evil hand afoot ahead.”
Pondering this particularly good piece of bad writing, I found myself wondering what would happen if we used this over-the-top style in tehnical literature including scientific articles and protocols. Could it help to draw attention to important details and entertain the reader at the same time? But since the goal of instructional materials is to be clear, concise and to the point, there’s not usually much room for just-for-fun content.
Or is there?
Continue reading “There’s an Evil Hand Afoot and Other Ways to Spice Up Your Technical Literature”An Interview with Ed Himelblau, Scientist and Promega Cartoonist
Many visitors to the Promega Web site enjoy the Cartoon Lab, the repository of the creative illustrations of Ed Himelblau updated several times a year. Recently, I had a chance to gain some insight about the man behind the cartoons.
Sara Klink: Could you give some background information about yourself?
Ed Himelblau: I was born in Chicago but grew up in San Diego. I went to UCSD [University of California at San Diego] and majored in biology and minored in art. I liked molecular biology and working in labs so I decided to go to grad school. I went to the University of Wisconsin at Madison to get a Ph.D. in the Cell and Molecular Biology program. My first academic job was teaching biology at Southampton College in New York. After several years on Long Island, I moved to my current job teaching and doing research in the Biological Sciences Department at Cal Poly [California Polytechnic State University] in San Luis Obispo, CA.
S.K.: Why did you decide to become a scientist?
E.H.: Playing in tidepools as a kid had something to do with it. As an undergraduate I thought working in a lab sounded cool. When I started working in a lab, I thought the work was interesting and the people were a lot of fun to be around. Then I started to appreciate what it really meant to do experiments and learn about how plants grow and develop.
Antibody Art
There are many levels on which science can be a beautiful thing. Some of these are quite abstract, like the experimental result that exactly proves the theory, the perfect order revealed in a mathematical equation, or the exquisite sensitivity seen in regulation of a signaling pathway. On another level the output of an experiment itself can have a physical beauty of its own. For example, immunofluorescence and immunocytochemistry technologies can generate results that not only reveal information about the subject of the experiment, but also can be quite spectacularly beautiful. Here are a few favorites of mine:
Getting Our Hands Into Some Good Ol’ Home Science
For many, this time of year brings with it the opportunity to enjoy a bit of holiday fun with kids. In fact just recently I had the chance to spend a day doing several home science activities with my four- and seven-year old boys. All were simple to set up using commonly found household items in a way that was both instructive and rewarding. Continue reading “Getting Our Hands Into Some Good Ol’ Home Science”
