Category Archives: science

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

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

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

Red Flags in the Dragons’ Den

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It’s a well-known fact that watching certain films and TV shows with a scientist is no fun at all – in fact, it’s almost as bad as trying to watch ER with three medical student flatmates, as I did every … Continue reading →

Posted in bad people, genomics, idiocy, rants, science, television, videos | 6 Comments

Tuesday pet peeve: people who don’t know what agnostic means

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The increasing frequency with which I hear scientists misuse the word “agnostic” is starting to annoy me. It’s usually used to mean “I don’t have a strong preference”: for example, “I’m agnostic as to protocol – I could go either … Continue reading →

Posted in English language, plagues, science | 16 Comments

ehCloud: why Canada (and every other country) needs its own cloud computing tools

Posted on June 1, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I recently helped one of our scientists put together an application for an industry-partnered bioinformatics grant. I understand the company in question to be more or less universally recognised as the leader in its field and therefore the obvious partner … Continue reading →

Posted in Canada, communication, genomics, grant wrangling, science, technology, the wonders of technology | 15 Comments

The medium is the message

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Cath@VWXYNot?

I saw the most amazing TED talk the other day, about Nikola Tesla. Now, we all know that Tesla was a fascinating, awesome dude (especially as played by David Bowie IMHO), but in the case of this video it was the … Continue reading →

Posted in communication, embarrassing fan girl, science, technology, the wonders of technology, videos | 2 Comments