Category Archives: science

Ph.D. survival: is a jack of all trades a master of none?

Posted on May 5, 2011 by Steve Caplan

Over the years science has changed a great deal. In just the last 50 years or so we’ve seen a major revolution in scientific research, due primarily to our understanding of DNA and ultimately how it codes for protein. But … Continue reading →

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Good Mentorship, Passover and “Let my people go!”

Posted on April 28, 2011 by Steve Caplan

Several days ago I had scheduled a lab lunch with my group, where I was supposed to treat everyone to Sushi in honor of a paper that one of my students recently had accepted. However, someone was sick, and we … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, research, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

“Anne Frank and Me”, Science and Humanity

Posted on April 23, 2011 by Steve Caplan

I cried. Not just a lone tear running down my cheek, but a wet stream that went on and on, long after the actors took their final bows, and my daughter came down from the stage. The scene was the … Continue reading →

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NIH and my moral compass

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Steve Caplan

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland for the first time in 7.5 years since I completed my postdoctoral research there in 2003. I will always remember … Continue reading →

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Parental Science Geeks, Beware-2

Posted on April 12, 2011 by Steve Caplan

Are YOU a science geek? Have you ever wondered what impact this might on your family? It’s another scene of revenge from the “Children of Science Geeks”! Beware! Comic provided courtesy of M.C.

Posted in Education, humor, research, science, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Occam’s Thermometer

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Steve Caplan

Way back when I was an Occam’s Typewriter Irregular—that is to say, before Henry supplied me with his magic evolution-enhanced pellets—I wrote a blog about critical thinking and children. Now as a Regular—thanks to the Gee pellets—I would like to … Continue reading →

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An image that’s hard to shake

Posted on April 1, 2011 by Steve Caplan

Reading (King) Richard’s blog “Silence is Golden” that addresses his very interesting short story published on LabLit.com, I couldn’t help thinking about an issue that has been bothering me these past couple weeks. Richard’s story occurs in a “lablit” setting—but … Continue reading →

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A sense of entitlement

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Steve Caplan

Some years ago when I was looking for a job, I had an interview at a university on the East Coast of the US. One of the search committee members picked me up, and on the way we had a … Continue reading →

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Justice and spring birds

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Steve Caplan

A few short weeks ago I posted a blog entitled “I’d rather be blasting homeopathy“, and provided two letters that I had written. One was addressed to my local Nebraska congressman, and asked that he be considerate of science and … Continue reading →

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Parental Science Geeks, Beware!

Posted on March 16, 2011 by Steve Caplan

For many of us career scientists, our work–our profession–is really a way of life more than a job. So it is doubly so–perhaps exponentially so–when in a family both parents are science geeks scientists. Scientists have long been portrayed as … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, humor, research, science | Tagged , , , , , , , | 40 Comments