![\"CSI.jpg\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ue19877e8\/CSI.jpg\")
<\/span><\/p>\n\nAnd that’s when I noticed the cops – half a dozen Metropolitan police in full regalia, buttons and brass glinting in the sun as they staked out the cordoned area. And the handful of men and women in white disposable suits, pawing through the rain-soaked dirt one clod at a time. As I watched, one of the CSIs pulled out a deflated black balloon – no doubt debris from yesterday’s lackluster anti-budget-cut demonstration – and examined it briefly before throwing it over his shoulder. In no time at all, a few heavies had erected a square green tent to hide whatever ever it was they were exhuming.<\/p>\n
\nOr whomever.<\/p>\n
\nThe rumors had already hit my department by the time I got there: human remains, it was said – nobody knew how old. Maybe they’d discovered some stray bits of Jeremy Bentham that hadn’t made it into the Box<\/a>? Fodder for your next novel, a few people quipped: you could call it Death on the Quad<\/em>.<\/p>\n \nMurder turned out to be the day’s theme. A few hours later, one of our PhD students was giving his viva talk, and my boss launched his introduction like this: <\/p>\n \n“He had a very unusual career path into Biology. In addition to doing a Bsc in Physics and a Master’s in computer science, he spent a couple of years working for the Ministry of Defense. So not only does he look<\/em> like he can kill you, but he actually can<\/em>.”<\/p>\n \nWhich is certainly one way of intimidating a thesis committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On my way into the lab yesterday, I noticed major construction works going on in the main university quad. I was struck by how small and dainty the bulldozer was – only about the size of a bicycle – and … Continue reading