Category Archives: science

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

Pros and cons of an itinerant lifestyle

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

ON TUESDAY I went for farewell drinks with a grad student friend who’s leaving Vancouver for an overseas postdoc position. It’s been a bad year for friends leaving town. This aspect of the academic lifestyle affects me more now that … Continue reading →

Posted in career, science, travel | 10 Comments

Pop quiz

Posted on April 10, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The person who patched this piece of road is: a) a musicianb) a cell cycle biologistc) a St Louis Blues fand) oblivious to the above connections that his/her handiwork forges in the brain of passing geeks cyclists (Sorry about the … Continue reading →

Posted in music, photos, science, silliness, sport | 5 Comments

You say you want a revolution…

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

…well, you know, we all wanna change the world Act IA group of young(ish) female colleagues gathers in a pub on a Friday evening for a refreshing beverage or two. Grad students, postdocs, technicians, junior faculty, and grant writers are … Continue reading →

Posted in career, drunkenness, science, silliness | 21 Comments

So, I guess I don’t need to ask what you’re up to right now…

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I just ran into my former PI’s grad student, who I supervised during his first year in the lab. His loud and hearty greeting was as follows: “Hey, CA Dunn et al, 2003, how are you?” Yup, the thesis writing … Continue reading →

Posted in science, silliness | 5 Comments

It’s blogging, Jim, but not as we know it

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Grant deadline week!!!!!!!! To be followed by ski trip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, I’m pretty busy. So instead of a proper post, here are a couple of snippets from the web. Look who wants to be the next Canadian Prime Minister! This was … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, grant wrangling, politics, science, silliness | 6 Comments

The Five Question Interview

Posted on January 31, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Crystal from “Chances Are I’m Going To Hell For This” was recently interviewed by her friend – and posted the results on her blog. She also chose to perpetuate the meme by asking for willing interview victims subjects in the … Continue reading →

Posted in blog buddies, camping, drunkenness, education, embarrassing fan girl, family, kayaking, meme, nature, personal, science | 21 Comments

Retreat Part I: Speaking out – creakily.

Posted on January 27, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

As regular readers may remember, I work with a group of scientists and clinicians from various departments of my institute. Their research encompasses everything from cell culture to clinical trials, and unless I’ve worked with them on a specific grant … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, career, nature, personal, photos, science | 15 Comments

2009 is looking up

Posted on January 20, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

“For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act – not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. … Continue reading →

Posted in education, environment, medicine, politics, science, technology | 11 Comments

Science is full of surprises

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The good: I sat down on the sofa this morning with my oatmeal and big cup of tea, and switched on the local TV news. The first thing I saw was one of my colleagues, nervously pipetting culture medium into … Continue reading →

Posted in publishing, science, silliness | 15 Comments