Author Archives: Cath@VWXYNot?

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010

More questions than answers

Posted on June 25, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Some people like to go to church on Sundays, presumably to ponder some of the universe’s Big Questions. I do not go to church, and instead I’m spending the afternoon being distracted from what I’m supposed to be doing by … Continue reading →

Posted in English language, personal, silliness, Vancouver | 1 Comment

Reasons Not to Believe – Part 2

Posted on June 22, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I am not alone!Paul Gardner has also had a couple of papers misrepresented by Reasons to Believe.

Posted in bad people, creationism, Reasons not to believe in lies, science | 4 Comments

Endogenous retroviruses and the evidence for evolution

Posted on June 21, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Here is my description of the part of my research that has been misrepresented by the Reasons to Believe website. See this post for an explanation.My paper concerns the regulation of a human gene by DNA derived from an endogenous … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, original research, science, virology | 31 Comments

Reasons Not to Believe – Part 1

Posted on June 20, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I had an interesting email a few years ago from a collaborator who had recently co-authored the first paper to come out of my postdoctoral research. He had Googled himself, and our paper had cropped up in some unexpected places. … Continue reading →

Posted in bad people, creationism, rants, Reasons not to believe in lies, science | 6 Comments

Vulcans! In Vancouver!

Posted on June 15, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Sorry, couldn’t resist. I don’t have access to The Lancet – does anyone have a subscription? Were there photos in the original paper? _____________________________________________ Update: no photos. How disappointing. Thanks anyway Factician for sending the paper!

Posted in freakishness, medicine, Vancouver | Comments Off on Vulcans! In Vancouver!

Why I got out of research

Posted on June 14, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

My last post explained how I got into research. This post concerns why I got out*. I loved many aspects of bench research. I think that performing original research is a privilege that few people are lucky enough to experience. … Continue reading →

Posted in career, personal, rants, science | 10 Comments

Why I got into science

Posted on June 13, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I don’t usually believe in fate, but I do believe that I was meant to be a scientist. Whether it’s innate curiosity and logic, or a mixture of other traits, I seem to be very well suited to biology in … Continue reading →

Posted in career, education, personal, science | 2 Comments

I’m a specialised generalist

Posted on June 10, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Another month, another conference. This is June, so it must be clinical immunology in San Diego. As a postdoctoral researcher I used to go to one major meeting per year, usually the American Society of Human Genetics. That was when … Continue reading →

Posted in career, conferences, science | 1 Comment

On the Origin of Tumours by Means of Natural Selection

Posted on June 8, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I had an interesting conversation with a medical doctor this week. Granted, I’d much rather he’d chosen not to discuss cancer stem cells while removing a suspicious mole from my arm, but these things often seem to happen to me … Continue reading →

Posted in evolution, medicine, science | 2 Comments

Beach-front office, here I come!

Posted on June 2, 2007 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I came across a very cool use of Google Maps via a comments thread on Pharyngula today. Flood Maps lets you see how rising sea levels are projected to alter the coastline around the world. My house looks like it … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate change, Vancouver | 2 Comments