Category Archives: science

5 Things Meme

Posted on November 18, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Tagged by Dr. A 5 things I was doing 10 years ago: 1. Kicking off my PhD in Glasgow by learning l33t plasmid cloning skillz from Obiwan Kenobi my awesome PI. (Seriously. I’m good. Or rather, I was).2. Going drinking … Continue reading →

Posted in career, drunkenness, food glorious food, furry friends, meme, personal, science, silliness, technology | 17 Comments

Book Review: Coils of the Serpent

Posted on November 1, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I came across this book through a rather unusual channel – the author, Raymond Clark Lutz, emailed me after reading one of my blog posts and deciding that I reminded him of one of the characters in his new novel. … Continue reading →

Posted in blog roll, book review, creationism, evolution, publishing, science | 2 Comments

Self preservation or paranoia? You decide…

Posted on October 23, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

(Long Post Warning). Here’s the text of an email I sent to a brand new (and very bright) graduate student recently. The student had asked me to “have a quick look at” a one page proposal for a small internal … Continue reading →

Posted in career, English language, grant wrangling, science | 14 Comments

They have got to be doing this on purpose

Posted on October 15, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

To set the scene, imagine the following: Two major Canadian grant application deadlines, exactly one month apart. One project, submitted to both competitions. One manuscript, absolutely pivotal to said project. ————————————————– The manuscript was accepted exactly one day after the … Continue reading →

Posted in grant wrangling, publishing, science | 9 Comments

Apparently my country needs me

Posted on September 16, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I may need to head home to sort out these British creationists. Some of the comments on that article are really something: “I’d rather be the product of a creationary God than an evolutionary accident, and so embrace Christianity. I … Continue reading →

Posted in creationism, evolution, rants, science | 7 Comments

There’s more to this grant business than I ever imagined

Posted on September 12, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

One of the most interesting things about coming back to work in my postdoctoral institute is the different perspective I’ve gained on the inner workings of the organisation. Students, postdocs and other lowly lab rats just don’t get a chance … Continue reading →

Posted in career, furry friends, grant wrangling, science, silliness | 5 Comments

Google getting into the spirit of things

Posted on September 10, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Cool logo! And congratulations to all at CERN. No black holes or visitors from the future have been reported – so far. Can’t wait for the actual experiments to start!

Posted in science | 5 Comments

Well done, beautiful boy

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This is Alexandre Despatie. Isn’t he beautiful? Photo credit He also just won a silver medal for Canada in the 3 metre springboard. Go Alex! I developed a sudden interest in diving when I saw Despatie, aged just 19, at … Continue reading →

Posted in personal, photos, science, silliness, sport | 13 Comments

Blog roll…

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Mad Hatter’s new brain child, The Alternative Scientist, is now up and running! The blog will focus on alternative (i.e. non-traditional, non-tenure track) careers for scientists. You may spot a familiar name or two in the contributing authors list… While … Continue reading →

Posted in blog roll, career, science | 3 Comments

The margins of scientific understanding

Posted on April 29, 2008 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Apparently I’m feeling bloggier now. It is not a good sign when you write “aaarrgghh” in the margins of a paper you’re trying to understand. I never knew that my lack of training in pathology nomenclature would become such a … Continue reading →

Posted in grant wrangling, science, silliness | 2 Comments