Category Archives: research

An age-old question

Let me start out by saying “!#%%$#@!!–I’ve been scooped!” It’s bad enough that it happens in science, but for a blog? Having watched a good deal of news on the idiot box recently–something that happens every 3-4 years in our … Continue reading

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Is science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) the big winner of the US elections?!

Let me start off by offering my utmost congratulations to the statistician-bloggers who predicted the outcomes of the US elections with startling accuracy. The methodical and scientific approaches of using poll aggregates with statistical variables introduced in a wholly scientific … Continue reading

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And for those serial denials, there’s always science…

A short time ago, I wasted some time watching excerpts from an interview of the Iranian president by Piers Morgan on CNN. Even the pause in answer due to the translations couldn’t mask the embarrassment that I felt watching the … Continue reading

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Keeping up appearances: I’ve been boto(x)-shopped!

It’s remarkable how hard it can be to keep up with the technology needed for success in science. It seems that almost weekly I am being forced to change software programs for manipulating DNA, proteins and so on. Part of … Continue reading

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Are you speaking?

Another hectic month of academic juggling, teaching, grant reviews, grant writing, manuscript reviews and handling, manuscript writing and submission, handling the affairs of the departmental graduate committee and concerns of incoming students, college wide graduate council (in which I was … Continue reading

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On common denominators between scientists and journalists: integrity in dealing with complex matters

Since my recent experience in posting a first blog entitled “Academic Boycotts, Science and Hypocrisy“ on Occam’s Corner at The Guardian’s science blogsite, I have spent a good deal of time thinking about the parallels between good scientists and good … Continue reading

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In defense of journal hierarchy

Plagued with an unbelievably busy schedule, I have been a mostly passive follower of the excellent dialog that has resulted from several outstanding blogs on the peer review system, many of them “high impact blogs” by my esteemed colleague, Dr. … Continue reading

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Deja vu

Science is all about repetition, but this kind of repetition, ad nauseum, I can do without. My name is Steve Caplan, I work on protein trafficking and ENDOCYTIC recycling. I have NOTHING to do with environmental recycling of waste, at … Continue reading

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The cairn as a symbol of mentorship

In the spirit of my previous blog on self-promotion, I forge on. Sometime this spring, I was nominated for a national award known as the Thomas Maciag Award, a National Institutes of Health sponsored award for a scientist who embodies … Continue reading

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Should I buy a lottery ticket?

I’m not a gambler, but every once in a while a weird coincidence strikes–sometimes so weird that I wonder about my “luck,” and with such a rare and unusual event unfolding, whether it would be more likely for me to … Continue reading

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