It’s been a while, dear readers. And how I’ve missed you*. I’ve bought a house, been terrifying myself learning to ride offroad motorcycles on ‘the monster’ (my new bike), got involved in some veeery interesting new projects, and there’s still that damn day job :P Not good excuses, mind, but at least reasons. But! I’ve […]
Posts by aimee
Journals and personalities
Today, one of my favourite science (t)witterers, @enniscath, posed an intriguing question: Is it normal to assign personalities to scientific journals? e.g. Curr Biol is an enthusiastic extrovert; Nucl Acid Res is dull but worthy — Cath Ennis (@enniscath) February 19, 2013 I think it’s a marvellous idea :) I instantly proposed a thought… @enniscath […]
Marvellous MRI music vid
Hooray for CNET! not only do I use them whenever I’m looking at new tech to buy, but they’ve also pointed me at an extraordinary music video. British musician Sivu (James Page) spent 2-3 hours holed up in an MRI machine at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital in London for his new single, ‘Better Man Than He’. […]
Competition for Wellington infographics makers
This post is aimed at those of you who make infographics, or are interested in them, or know someone who does/is. Think of it as a spreading of the word… On Feb 16th, Contribeauty (‘turning data into design’) and Pledgeme.co.nz (NZ’s own version of Kickstartr) are going to be holding an infographics competition. The second […]
What a thought looks like
Ever wondered what a thought might look like, in real life, as it flashes across the various neurons and synapses we call ‘the brain’? Yes, sure, there are numerous digitally-animated artist’s renditions out there, but what about reality? Now, for the first time, a thought has been filmed as it forms and flashes across a […]
Beer’s bitterness and your health
Yay, more beer-related science! This time, it’s around the chemistry involved in that lovely bitterness in beer. As it turns out, this bitterness is provided by a class of chemicals* called alpha acids, which are to be found in the resin of mature hops. For those living in New Zealand and enjoying the local craft […]
Overly honest scientists
Ahhhh, scientists. As I’ve mentioned before, they can, indeed, actually be amusing. Shock, horror, etc… /waits for people to get back onto their chairs Right, so, just quickly, two amusing topics from the last few days, both on the subject of being, well, overly honest. overly honest cover letter ‘Tis a busy time of […]
A very kitchenesque CT scanner
From awesomely-educational website Hack A Day comes a particularly wonderful, if oddly gruesome, piece of science/tech hacking. Mad chap Ben Krasnow has built a ‘build something mad on your kitchen table’-type version of a CT scanner. CT scanners, as you will remember, take X-rays of an object and then put them all together to […]
How will the End of the World affect clinical trials?
Yes, sure, my first response was also ‘not well - dead patients are often difficult test subjects on which to continue clinical trials’. Thankfully, however, the Canadian Medical Association Journal has looked more deeply into this most pressing of issues. In fact, as the paper’s introduction states: There is a great deal of speculation concerning […]
More microscope pr0n winners announced
I’ve posted before about the Nikon Small World’s microscopy/photography competition. Today, however, focuses on another Maker of Excellent Photographic Equipment - Olympus. For the last 10 years (says the website), Olympus has been sponsoring an international microscopy (i.e.photographing things with a microscope) competition - The Olympus BioScapes Digital Imaging Competition - and this year’s winners have […]