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

Excellent juxtapositions make me feel good

Posted on February 18, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The placebo effect is truly fascinating – the top article of this pair describes how it can trigger the release of dopamine in people with Parkinson’s, or opioids in people expecting a painkiller. I hope we can find a way … Continue reading →

Posted in medicine, science, screenshots, silliness | Comments Off on Excellent juxtapositions make me feel good

Note to self: keep notes to self private

Posted on February 1, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Two recent conversations sparked by cryptic notes I scribbled on post-its: At home Mr E Man: “Cath, what’s an e-Pig?” Me: “What?” Mr E Man: “On this post-it, look. ‘e-Pig meeting’” Me: “OH! That’s my short-hand for epigenetics” Mr E … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, fun with language, science, silliness | 3 Comments

Quora: productive procrastination

Posted on January 26, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve recently started to spend some time on the question and answer site Quora, and I’m finding it be quite an effective science communication medium as well as excellent writing practice. I can’t quite remember how I first came to … Continue reading →

Posted in cancer research, career, communication, evolution, fun with language, grant wrangling, science, television, the media | 6 Comments

Graphzilla

Posted on January 16, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I looked at one of my progress tracking graphs for one of my projects right after telling my colleague that Mr E Man had worked on the new Godzilla movie, and what I saw can not be unseen.   Eep.

Posted in silliness | 8 Comments

Destroying the last shreds of Mr E Man’s anonymity for the sake of a good pun

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Me: “Have you seen my bookmark?” Him: “It’s in your hand” Me: “…” Me: “No, not ‘have you seen my book, Mark?’. I meant ‘have you seen my bookmark, Mark?’” (Mark will continue to be referred to as Mr E … Continue reading →

Posted in fun with language, silliness | 9 Comments

Where in the world was Cath in November?

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Photo quiz time! Can you name the cities in the photos below? Some of these are easier than others (I’ve tried to put the hardest ones first), so extra points if you can also name the building(s) in the photos! I’ll … Continue reading →

Posted in photos, travel | 14 Comments

Rearranging the desk chairs

Posted on November 9, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Once a fortnight, we have a team meeting in the boardroom of our main research building. It’s a room that’s much in demand, so we often have to wait a few minutes past the hour before we can get in … Continue reading →

Posted in photos, science, silliness | 1 Comment

Happy Hallowe’en!

Posted on October 31, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

From a Teenage Mutant Incompetent Ninja Turtle, and dead-Goose-from-Top-Gun Yes, that’s a saw blade through my belly – like I said, incompetent ninja. I also had a backpack on under the t-shirt to make a shell, but it didn’t come … Continue reading →

Posted in photos, silliness | 2 Comments

Untangling the wrangling angle

Posted on October 29, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I’ll wait for the 5.5 year retrospective post to see just how much grant writing you *didn’t* get involved in…  Thus spake the prophet Wintle in the year 2012, … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, career, grant wrangling, science | 3 Comments

Science and society – Vancouver Change Camp 2013

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I have a new post up at Occam’s Corner on the Guardian website today, about how non-scientists can (try to) influence the course of scientific research. As I mentioned over there, the ideas in the post originated and evolved from … Continue reading →

Posted in activism, communication, conferences, education, environment, personal, politics, science, Vancouver | 7 Comments