The ease of publishing does not reflect the realities of science
Almost every day I am besieged through email to either join editorial boards of new ‘up-and-coming’ journals or submit manuscripts to them. Neither is a trivial matter for me. A submitted manuscript...
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What makes a dog tick? No pun intended…
Having adopted Ginger as a 4 year old Vizsla-Labrador retriever mix less than a year ago from an animal rescue organization in Nebraska, I cannot even remember what life used to be like pre-arrival of...
View ArticleOMICS, in your face…
Before you can say “endocytic recycling,” there it is, OMICS strikes again with its ridiculous ‘in-your-face‘ attempts to hoodwink researchers into submitting manuscripts (and money). I am glad to be...
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Life in the Middle West
I’m watching the storm predictors on the news, with tornado reports and wall clouds about 30 miles to the southwest, and bemoaning our decision to miss our daughter’s Carmina Burana performance with...
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Reading into a major lifetime change?
Last Sunday, I celebrated the publication of “A Degree of Betrayal” by doing a book signing at Omaha’s best book store, “The Bookworm.” My son baked brownies, my editor prepared a short passage for me...
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100 years of…. biochemistry!
No, not 100 Years of Solitude – Biochemistry! Last week was a very special occasion in our department – the celebration of 100 years of existence of our department, the Dept. of Biochemistry and...
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Ring the bell for tea, Kitty!
My family and I are big fans of Jane Austen. We particularly like the mid-1990s BBC version of Pride and Prejudice featuring Jennifer Ehle and a rather youthful-looking Colin Firth. Having seen the...
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A breath of fresh (scientific) air
As I sat yesterday in a student career development workshop, and listened to the fears and anxieties surrounding the prospects of a career in academia – or in any scientific field, for that matter – I...
View ArticleScientists: the same old villains and nerds
Villains and nerds – that’s what scientists are, if you believe the media. At least the “big screen.” Finding myself in a state of near exhaustion this past month, I’ve taken the opportunity to watch a...
View ArticleCultural and academic boycotts: why the BDS movement is an embarrassment and...
Recently, Pink Floyd founder and (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) BDS supporter Roger Waters publicly called on musician Neil Young not to perform in Tel Aviv, Israel. In his letter to Young, Waters...
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That’s the way science works
There have been a lot of articles published in newspapers around the world discussing a recent PLoS ONE paper published on July 23 by Harris and Provoust entitled “Jealousy in Dogs.” Ginger, in a...
View ArticleIt’s time to take responsibility – why the editor of The Lancet should resign
There are a lot of people, governments, and organizations who need to step up and take responsibility. But in this piece about taking responsibility, I call on Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of The...
View ArticleI sense a problem with undergraduate education
A lot has been said about job prospects of biomedical graduate students and the ever-declining percentage of Ph.D. graduates who are ultimately able to find academic faculty positions. Indeed, the...
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Unacceptable (science) education
For some time now I have been a proponent of including researchers – for example, those with a Ph.D. – in teaching science to high school students. While I have no doubt that the inclusion of a...
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Icons, cell biology and comfort zones
I recently returned from a week in Paris in which I attended a great meeting hosted by the French Society for Cell Biology (SBCF) called “Building the Cell,” at the Pasteur Institute and from another...
View ArticleOn Columbus’ Origins
Having celebrated this week what is known here in the US as Columbus Day, a federal holiday, I thought it might be interesting to share (rather than review) a novel that I just finished reading —...
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“Dogged Science”
No, this is not posed or photoshopped. But it is apparent that Ginger is somewhat less enthusiastic about calculations in single molecule imaging than I am.
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Unconscious gender bias? What do I picture when I think of a scientist?
Recent years have seen a lot of discussion on the blogosphere on gender bias in science. There is no question that awareness is always the first step in heading for a solution. Do I have an unconscious...
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“The Whipping Man”–don’t miss it!
Over two years ago, I blogged in this space about “A Secular Passover” and discussed, among other issues, American Jews of the confederate south around the time of the civil war. Caleb (Andy Prescott),...
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