There are some posts that punch you in the gut a little. Lately, for me, those posts have been about life in academia. About ‘the system’. Whether or not it failed people. This post was one of them. It hit me hard. But it made me think, too. The post, “The afternoon I decided to […]
A lot of people outside academia don’t realize how slow the gears grind. Projects have to be conceived, funded, performed, written up. Submitted, rejected, submitted again, rejected with revisions, resubmitted, and then, finally, published. In an ideal world, the process takes months. In reality…it can take years. I’m out of academia. But I am not free […]
This is the post about Bora. And the “community” that I thought was there. There’s been other stuff going on as well. But this one is about Bora. I warn you all that this post is very hard for me. Normally what you see here, even the longer ranting or opinion pieces on academic […]
When it comes to parenting, some animals will go the extra mile. Possums, for example, have their young clinging on as they trundle around. Kangaroos give birth to immature young that they keep in a pouch until it’s bursting at the seams. Humans let 30 year old offspring move back in. And fish? Do mouth […]
*sings* There was a young student who swallowed a shrew. Didn’t even chew, just swallowed a shrew. It’s what scientists do. Sci is still over at SciAm covering this year’s IgNobel prizes! Today it’s the Archeology prize, for the pair that swallowed a shrew, and then analyzed what came out the other end. For science. […]
Do you ever wish that you were more like a dolphin? More playful, carefree? More, you know, spontaneous? I guess that depends on what you mean by “spontaneous”. Aside from the many interesting habits of dolphins (spoiler, dolphins can be raging jerks, and they, and their good looks are the primary reason Lisa Frank […]
It’s starting to come up yearly, or so. Maybe a little less often. It’s like a weather pattern, the blogging El Nino, briefly stirring up, and then going away, somewhat predictable, but just rare enough that you forget. But here it is again, someone telling the world that they don’t understand why people use pseuds. […]
(One of the oldest memes on the internet. And, in my opinion, one of the best) We all worry about stress for lots of reasons: weight gain, depression, headaches, insomnia. But have you ever worried about what stress…is doing to your ‘nads? Well, if you are the common starling, perhaps you should. McGuire et al. […]
Day 6: The WALL! (Yes. I am standing on a 2000 year old UNESCO World Heritage Site. What did YOU do today?) After a fortifying breakfast (it was make your own, which I really liked, and I have MASTERED the full English breakfast! With beans! Good for hiking fuel, beans) we set off. 15 miles […]
Ok, we’re not to Hadrian’s Wall yet. Patience. Patience. Day 3: Edinburgh, part the third. Did you know that bagpipe renditions of Coldplay exist? I could have gone my entire life without knowing that. Sadly, it was blasting from a souvenir shop. Which means, of course…I had to find it and share it with you. […]