Category Archives: communication

NIH cracks down on “the dog ate my email” excuses

Posted on January 21, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I received a rather bizarre email from the US National Institutes of Health today. Their missives are usually rather mundane notifications of scheduled site down-time and the like, but this one was much more entertaining. The title – “NIH eRA … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, furry friends, grant wrangling | 12 Comments

Nascent tweet sequences visualise peer review at LOLcat resolution

Posted on January 19, 2011 by Cath@VWXYNot?

There’s never a dull moment. Earlier today, I read a paper from Nature titled “Nascent transcript sequencing visualizes transcription at nucleotide resolution*”. The paper describes a very cool new technique that allows you to see gene transcript sequences as they … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, furry friends, original research, publishing, science, silliness, technology | 56 Comments

Not your average cell signalling talk

Posted on December 9, 2010 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Welcome, welcome, Old friends and new. I’m happy to be here, I hope you are too! (That started off as a normal sentence, but then I noticed that it would (kinda) work as a verse, too! Woohoo, I’m a poet … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, meta, photos, science, silliness | 22 Comments

Nuclear fiction

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Conversation last night: Mr E Man: “I was really enjoying that show I was watching before we went out” Me: “Oh, it was a show? I thought it was a movie” Mr E Man: “Yeah, it was a movie” Me: … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, science | 12 Comments

Derailed

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Cath@VWXYNot?

My biweekly, half-hour progress update meetings have been running for about a year now, and are proving their usefulness yet again as I work towards Friday’s progress report deadline.The cast is never the same for two performances in a row; … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, science, silliness | 7 Comments

Days of hours of minutes

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Cath@VWXYNot?

A blog buddy (who may or may not wish to identify themselves in the comments) posted a wee ditty on their Facebook page recently that rang very true indeed: just received something from a fellow sufferer that will only be … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, English language, food glorious food, medicine, science, silliness, travel | 7 Comments

TMA: Too Many Acronyms

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Cath@VWXYNot?

My Computer files and email inbox are awash, overflowing, drowning in the acronyms used by various funding agencies, academic institutes, media outlets, and assorted other organisations. I’m sure many of my readers have the same issue. However, my problem is … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, career, communication, English language, grant wrangling, science, silliness, travel, UK | 21 Comments

Defeating perfect enemies

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Here is the single most useful piece of writing advice I’ve ever heard, and I apologise for not thinking of posting it sooner. It came from my PhD supervisor, lo these many years ago, and it really helped me to … Continue reading →

Posted in career, communication, meta | 14 Comments

Book Reviews: the good science, the bad science, and the ugly

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Inspired by Science Bear’s epic book review post, here are three very overdue book reviews of my own! The Good Science Dry Store Room No.1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum, by Richard Fortey. I first visited the … Continue reading →

Posted in bad people, book review, communication, medicine, nature, pseudoscience, science, the media | 4 Comments

Another blogger meet-up!

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This was the first meet-up to which I brought a chaperone. After all, that ScientistMother is scary. KIDDING! We were actually at a Cafe Scientifique event about the “convenience” barriers that prevent people from choosing more sustainable options (e.g. remembering to bring … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, communication, environment | 8 Comments