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

6 word autobiography meme

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Another day, another meme! This one is from ScienceGirl, and here are the instructions: 1. Write your own six word memoir 2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like 3. Link to the person … Continue reading →

Posted in career, meme, personal, photos, silliness, sport | 11 Comments

Foolish dreams

Posted on April 1, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

So I had this crazy hilarious dream last week, but decided to keep it for April Fool’s day. In my dream, I was round at my friends’ house when an alien spaceship crash-landed in their garden. We called it in … Continue reading →

Posted in personal, silliness | 9 Comments

Ashtrays and Atheists

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The province of British Columbia introduced some new anti-smoking laws today. The city of Vancouver is taking things to an extreme – cue reporters on the morning news measuring exactly how far you have to be from a doorway before … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 34 Comments

Archive meme

Posted on March 31, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Oh dear, I’ve fallen a long way behind on my memes. Apologies to people who’ve tagged me, I haven’t forgotten! The Archive meme came from Mad Hatter and ScienceGirl. Here are the instructions: Go back through your archives and post … Continue reading →

Posted in meme, personal | 1 Comment

Guest post (not for the squeamish)

Posted on March 29, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

My friend Kyrsten has supplied me with a couple of interesting blog post subjects in the past, and I’m going to let her tell this current story in her own words. (What this essentially means is that I’m going to … Continue reading →

Posted in freakishness, medicine, nature, photos | 11 Comments

Not hardly that one, Volkswagen XY NOT

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Here is a serial translation of my “About Me” text, brought to you by Lost in Translation via Brian Clegg at Popsci on the Nature Network. This version dragged the text on a tour of Europe, translating it into French, … Continue reading →

Posted in English language, meta, silliness | 10 Comments

Endogenous retroviruses and evolution: redux

Posted on March 28, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

While chatting with Propter Doc last week, I realised that most of my current readers weren’t around to witness this blog’s finest hour. Way back in June 2007, I posted an explanation of why a paper of mine that had … Continue reading →

Posted in creationism, evolution, meta, original research, science, virology | 11 Comments

The lament of the classical guitarist

Posted on March 26, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Mr E Man and I visited his mother on BC’s Sunshine Coast at the weekend. As usual, the days were filled with good food, wine, reading, crosswords, Scrabble, and the occasional short hike (the weather was not living up to … Continue reading →

Posted in music, personal | 14 Comments

Lab larks and April antics

Posted on March 25, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

In plenty of time for April Fools Day, may I present a thread on good practical jokes to play in labs? . Dry ice exploding out of snap-cap tubes is old hat. The snatching away of our secondary school chemistry … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 18 Comments

Leaving labs and losing labmates

Posted on March 22, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I’ve been giving a lot of thought recently to the effects of a peripatetic scientific lifestyle on friendships. I spent my undergrad, postgrad and postdoctoral years in different countries, and in each place there was a constant reshuffling of my … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments