Random things I learned at my new job

1.0 Toward is American English, Towards is British English.
2.0 The grant review processes for research dollars is not exactly what one would call "objective."
3.0 There is more jargon is the world than my mind can possibly process.
3.1 Social determinants of health
3.2 Endpoint
3.3 MUA/P
3.4 Overweight as noun, as in "to decrease overweight and obesity."
3.5 Endless alphabet soup: NIH; CLABSI; Rx, Dx, Tx; M&M; BRCA1; MMTV-neu mouse; etc...
4.0 U.S.News & World Report always, always, always looks like a typo.
5.0 Doctors don't hold elevators - even in the parking garage - after work.
5.1 Nurses always look angry. Now I understand why.
6.0 The Shoreway is the best commuter route in Northeast Ohio.
6.1 We have the best sunrises and sunsets in October.
6.2 There are always kite fliers at Edgewater - even at 7 am.
6.3 I still haven't seen the surfers, but I'm optimistic.
7.0 Dansko clogs are not considered work-appropriate attire.
7.2 But cowboy boots go unmentioned.
8.0 The money really does go to patient care.
8.1 Because we're still working with an early 90s donor database that reminds me of the Flying Toaster screensaver.
9.0 Despite warnings that it would, my printer does not actually jam when I re-use paper.
9.1 It's called recycling.
9.2 Deal with it.
10.0 If things that cured cancer in mice could cure cancer in humans, we'd have that checked off the To Do list by now.

cool and weird

I can't believe that it's 2008 and ovulation has JUST been captured on film.

It's jewel-colored and surreal and beautiful in a fairly graphic way.

Ick factor: HIGH

An exhibit at MoMA is exploring the intersections of art and science - one of the exhibits - a "living" and growing collection of mouse stem cells fashioned into a teeny coat - was growing too quickly and had begun clogging the incubator.

The curator decided to pull the plug - NYT article here.

I don't know how I feel about this, but if art is meant to provoke thought and reaction - they have certainly succeeded.

What's uncomfortable for me regarding this and with other similar projects (Alba the glow in the dark bunny) is the intent.
And I wonder if that's really a logical thought process.
Because my mind immediately did this when I read the article:

Experimental processes + life forms ------> Scientific breakthrough = Good
Experimental process + life forms --------> Artistic statement = Questionable

Does that mean that I think a negative outcome caused by experimental processes is less heinous if it was in the name of science than in the name of art - because I think that's what creating the high ick factor for me - the potential negative outcome.

So do I think that scientific innovation is more worthwhile than artistic innovation...? Do I think artistic innovation is for sport as opposed to true learning...?

Hmmm....

by the many arms of vishnu

Where have I been?

For a number of years, I worked at University Circle, and came to have a varied and full series of day-dreams regarding the "Center for Structural Biology." I can't find a decent photo of it, but it was a repurposed furniture building, painted red with abstract metal shapes on the sides.

You could never see what it was they were doing in there, other than cultivating an air of mystery.
I never knew anyone who worked there, but I often fantasized that they had to be brilliant and were in all ways more evolved and fascinating than the average person.

At one point, I decided my future my somehow was intimately connected to that building and those within it (and there is no logical reason for me to think that, by the way) so imagine my sadness and chagrin when I saw it had been razed!

I've called a number of friends who work at Case, and they weren't sure what I even talking about (!)

I was REALLY upset - like some prophecy gone unrealized or potential wasted.
And everytime I drive by, I get a rush of sadness and confusion.

But I'm happy to report that have a new building (ok, so they got it in 2005, like the title says, Where has I been?)

It's newer, and I'm sure they can do a lot more structural biology, but I just can't tap my fantasy life into it - It was truly bound up in the old building.

*sigh*

progress...

Alba the bunny, et al

Click here for a slide show of artists combining scientific processes with art. I saw Kac (the guy who created Alba) give a talk 2 years ago at the Cinematheque - it was interesting, what he was doing with text and DNA... and he was truly lost without his Alba-bunny.

I'm still not sure how I feel about creating life for the sake of art... there's a range of ethical dilemmas that I'm not up to exploring this morning, but it's something to think about.