retrospectacle
Posts by this author
June 18, 2006
A recent post by Stranger Fruit about the rare rhinos in Borneo reminded me of what a special, unique place Borneo is, in terms of beauty and diversity of life. I have been to the island of Borneo twice, both times to the state of Sabah. Sabah is one of 13 states in Malaysia, and one of two on the…
June 17, 2006
Energy drinks are ubiquitous these days. They have become a multi-billion dollar industry....even Nelly has a drink called "Pimp Juice" and Lil John has "Crunk" energy drink. Advertised to improve stamina, energy, and mental power....what's not to love? By far the most popular of these drinks is…
June 17, 2006
This week's question comes at a quite ironic time for me. It goes...
How is it that all the PIs (Tara, PZ, Orac et al.), various grad students, post-docs, etc. find time to fulfill their primary objectives (day jobs) and blog so prolifically?
I'll take it that I fall under the "various grad…
June 16, 2006
Hat tip to Abel Pharmboy for this fascinating story! A recent US government study has found that:
a) Black adults hear better than white adults
b) Women hear better than men
c) Average hearing thresholds are the same in the US as they were 35 years ago (despite the much-maligned iPod and Walkman…
June 15, 2006
So, my esteemed ScienceBloggers Grrrscientist and PZ Myers have weighed in on Stephen Hawking's recent comments regarding the state of the planet and what we're suppost to do about it. To paraphrase, he believes that humans should be actively cultivating colonies on the Moon or beyond, in the…
June 15, 2006
People dying of terminal illnesses now have the right to take experimental drugs that are not yet approved by the the FDA, a federal court of appeals ruled last month (as reported in June's Nature Medicine). While on the one hand, these drugs may bring some hope to those whose illness has been…
June 14, 2006
So, both myself and Cognitive Daily have highlighted the recent news story that high school students have hit upon a ringtone that teachers can't hear. CognitiveDaily instituted a poll over in one of their posts with a supposed 17kHz sound clip (hey, who would have doubted the New York Times?), but…
June 14, 2006
In the latest effort by the Southern Baptist Convention to challenge evolution (and homosexuality), a motion was brought before the leaders to form a strategy to remove children from the public school system. This "exit strategy" was proposed by Roger Moran of MO and pro-intelligent design author…
June 13, 2006
I did always think it was weird that the snooty Starbucks baristas had bachelors degrees (albeit English, History, or Gen Studies). Now I know why: we are an over-educated people here in Ann Arbor (I do love that about it!) . According to a study in Bizjournals.com, Ann Arbor has the highest…
June 13, 2006
Here's the continuation of some tips to get into (and be happy in) graduate school for the sciences. These tips may help you focus yourself during interviews and the admission process, or at least give you something to think about.
11. Good scientists don't always make good mentors.
When you read…
June 12, 2006
Kudos to some clever students who have discovered an interesting little trick about human hearing and manipulated it to their advantage. According to this Yahoo blurb and NY Times story, kids are downloading an extremely high-frequency ringtone which often exceeds the hearing range of adult…
June 12, 2006
Adventures in Science and Ethics suggested a getting to know you meme that looks fun, so here goes.
3 reasons you blog about science
1. To break up the lab day but still look busy
2. To better inform myself about interesting developments in science, and then relay that
3. To interact with other…
June 12, 2006
A common question I am asked, on my blog and in real life, is what is the "trick" to getting into a good graduate program (for the sciences). The trick is that there is no trick, but there are a few preparatory steps that *do* make all the difference in the application process. And no, it isn't all…
June 12, 2006
As a newly-minted ScienceBlogger, now I get to chime-in on all the fun "Ask A ScienceBlogger" questions. This week's question is:
"Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you most like to explore? Why?"
As an undergrad…
June 10, 2006
If you read the 'About' page, or anything about me, you probably noticed that I work on hair cell regeneration in the cochlea. But, perhaps, some readers are not familiar with the machinations of the inner ear. So, I'll make a quick post with some relavent info to help in understanding future…
June 9, 2006
Cocaine abuse is a major public health issue, with estimations of as high as 1% of the US population over 12 as abusers. Addiction to cocaine, and most substances for that matter, results in physical modifications in your brain which are persistant, and detrimental to many mental fuctions like…
June 9, 2006
Welcome, readers old and new alike, to my new abode here at ScienceBlogs. My name is Shelley, and I can't tell you how excited I am to be a part of such a distinguished cohort. I'm still tweaking the way this page looks and feels, so don't be surprised if it looks a little different down the road…
June 6, 2006
Sometimes by serendipity, we have the ability to meet people who have paved the way for us. Today, I was able to briefly meet Gerry Fox, a concerned citizen and lobbyist who was primarily responsible for the inception of the NIDCD (who funds us).
There are many division of the National Institute of…
June 6, 2006
As I live in the isolated, educated, and overly-pampered environs of Ann Arbor, sometimes I forget that such a place as Detroit lurks only 30 minutes away.
But then, I have the Detroit News to remind me, with chilling stories such as this. Over 30 people in Detroit have died in the last week of…