Brains and beauty

What do Hedy Lamarr and Werner von Braun

vs

have in common apart from near-Alpian ancestry?

They were both rocket scientists.

Did you know that Natalie Portman, winner of this year's Oscars for Best Actress, was a straight A student who competed in the Intel Science Talent Search and has a degree in neuroscience? There is a long history of women who made it big (or even modestly impressive) in Hollywood who are also brainy thinkers and does work in the fields of mathematics, engineering and science.

Here's to beautiful and intelligent women the world over!

Valentine's Revenge

Valentine's Day is not just about lovers reconnecting with one another. It could also provide an excuse for the lovelorn to drive down to the love shack to get some.

But one should also be careful to protect oneself to avoid the fate that inspired this song.



Also, if you are a gentleman trapped in a mine with a few dozen another men (or any on a seafaring vessel, or an oilrig, WHATEVER), try not to share the inflated doll that is made available. It is safer to stick to sudoku.

Love killer

Keep striking out with potential love interest?

No clue why?

It could be your apalling musical taste that keeps love out of your forlorn grasp. If you are a avid fan of Garth Brooks or Dixie Chicks or other country and western acts, it could be the deciding factor why the boy/girl of your dreams dumps your sorry ass.

It's scientifically documented, yo.

When your body hates you

Fever, runny nose, extreme fatigue and burning eyes.

Sounds pretty normal when spring fever hits or you are laid low by the 'flu, yes?
 
But what if this is because a guy is allergic to his own sperm?

That's right. Those baby-making drops can make a guy sick, even if it is his own ejaculate. Marcel Waldinger and his colleagues of Utrecht University reported of men who developed 'flu-like symptoms after ejaculating/orgasm. Luckily enough, it is a rare illness and can be treated by injecting themselves with their own semen (diluted, natch) over a period of time.

That's right. The only way for these men to keep from having to blow their nose after blowing their load is to inject their own little swimmers into their vein. I doubt they get much of a high from that, but hey, whatever works, right?

Mad scientists in the kitchen, yo

Julia Child preparing the primordial soup, I kid you not. Granted some of the assumptions of that day has now changed, thanks to more recent findings, but this is still soooo cool. I love that she didn't even bother with a balance; relying only on her trusty measuring spoon to measure the ingredients. I know of some scientists who does the same in the lab *grin* but only when not in view of impressionable young padawan scientists.



At the end of the day, all cooks are scientists, but not all scientists are cooks.

The small slam syndrome

If you want to know what it means, read this paper. It's one of the reasons why I am grateful I am not a male.

And guys, if you have an urge to do manly home improvement stuff, dispose of the flammable stuff properly before snuffing out your cigarettes. Your buttcheeks will thank you.

The inedible jam

Yesterday morning, I was caught in an explicable jam along a 1 km stretch long enough to read at least 80 pages of my novel. If you saw a female person who was absorbedly reading while bopping her head absently to whatever was on the speaker while driving in Petaling Jaya, it is likely it was me.

I am sure that many of us, when caught in a traffic snarl, often wishes we were on the other lane. The magical lane next to ours are often moving at a miraculously speedier clip than our own sluggish ooze. But somehow, once you changed lane into said magical lane (after suitably indicating with the car signal, naturally), the magic disappears and the lane you vacated appear to be moving faster than when you were queueing along in it.

Why does this happen? Is it Murphy's Law? Is it God's wrath?

Mathematically, this is the explanation.



In other words: You can never win in a traffic jam.

:p

Why Superman's outfit never tears

Is it because it was made from his baby blanket from Krypton?

No.

It is science. His suit is pretty darn close to Kevlar, in terms of bullet-stopping capacity.

Read about how you can make your T-shirt as powerful as the Superman suit here.

Not the Superman you want. :p

Flamboyance is another name for ...?

It now makes perfect sense. The sartorial choices of the Mad Hatter hid a deeper meaning.

It is okay, Mad Hatter. You can come out of the closet now. It has been shown that mercury poisoning may be responsible for homosexuality (at least in the white ibises); the mad hatter's disease having a heretofore unknown and an unexpected facet.

Hmm ... wonder if Jeremy Piven will make an announcement soon.

Shake that bon bons!

Gentlemen, if you want to score with the ladies, you better consider some dancing lessons. If you take your lady (lad) love out for a night of dancing, flopping around on the dance floor as though you were Taser-ed is insufficient to show to them that you are evolutionarily desirable.

Facebook is hazardous to asthmatics?

Apparently, a young Italian gentlemen has had his asthma exacerbated by Facebook.

 

Or is it because he should stop stalking his ex-girlfriend?

Ah, l'amore.

Sometimes love just ain't enough

Really. Especially when you have diverging ideologies.

Trolls are everywhere ...

Trolling is commonly decried as a negative social activity redolent with malicious intent and provocation. However, an accomplished troll does not necessarily require a 4chan account; those who enjoy doing it in real-life do not get the benefit of a sockpuppet.

Reading the list below made me realise that I have been an inadvertent real-life troll in said situation. Oops.


Top 5 annoying questions at scientific meetings.

5. Question: “You know, our group has been working on this for a long time, and we found that…”
Really means: “How come you got invited to talk about this and not I?”

4. Question:  “Have you tried using Y instead of X?”
Really means: “We are doing the same thing using Y, since we can’t afford to use X on our budget. But we haven’t had results in the past two years, and you totally scooped us. Is there any way we can actually get results using Y?”

3. Question: “So where do you think this work is going?”
Really means: “I was just scratching my head, and the microphone runner thought I was raising my hand and handed me the mike.  Now that I actually have the mike, I might as well ask something”.

2. Question:  “You know, I was just talking about this recently with Bigshot1 and Bigshot2, and they said that…”
Really means:  “Hey, look at me!  I’m important enough to have engaged both Bigshot1 and Bigshot2 together in a conference. (They couldn’t get away because it was the conference dinner with free booze).”

1. Question:  “It seems that this whole field of…. is filled with very exciting prospects. We have been looking into…. and Bigshot3 has recently published in Science….(3-4 minutes more in the same vein)  so my question is: what are your thoughts?”
Really means: “Muahahaha. By hijacking Q&A time, I got to present at this conference even though I was not invited to. Sucks to the Program Committee.”

From here.

Arthropod abuse with trebuchet

Not many of us like the leggy creepy crawlies. If you want to see them get what's coming to them, mediaevel geek-style, take a look at this video.



Ganked from Improbable Research.

Cookies for egg heads

Cute and edible!

All from Ms Humble.Some are her artwork while others are done by other contributors who share their scientific artwork.

Gel electrophoresis cookies. Looks very close to the real thing what with the drum-stick appearance of the bands and the colour! Just like it was being viewed under ultraviolet light! ♥

Petri dish cookies inspired by Escherichia coli streaked on a nutrient agar. No complaining of the streaking technique; icing is a lot harder to work with than broth-and-inoculating loop.

Exploding brain + popped out eyes FTW!

Gingerbread men in aqua containment / clean room suits are so adorable. They look paranoid, though.

Zebrafish makes for an awesome haematopoiesis model because they are practically transparent during the juvenile stage (or so I'm told). Edible glitter simulates the translucence beautifully.

Atomic cookie + nucleus (proton + neutron+ electron represented yo!). Gorgeous and delicious.

Gingerbread scientists are so adorable and edible!

What's a laboratory without beakers, test tubes & Erlenmeyer flasks?

Drosophila melanogaster, the humble household fruit fly, has been the workhorse of genetics for decades.

Who says that scientific people are boring and not creative?

We salute women who kick ass & take names

Step aside Dr Brady Barr. Your chiseled features may make you a darling on the National Geographic Channel, but there's another herpetologist who kicks ass harder than you.

Why do I say that Dr Kate Jackson is more hardcore than Brady Barr?

That's because she's doing near the same thing he does, without the benefit of a television show funding, while half crippled by transverse myelitis.

Hats off to you, Dr Jackson.


Kate Jackson SNAKES from Rose on Vimeo.

The cowboy movies and story books got it right ...

Whiskey does kill the pain. And according to this guy, it is a viable alternative to morphine for chronic pain.


Does that mean bottoms up? IDEK.

Better living through chemistry

Interested in coming up with your own personal psychedelic cocktail? There are books that will teach you how to whip up your own concoction in the comfort of your home. Written by the godfather of Ecstasy.

Results will vary and any prison/death/lifelong embarrassment -related outcome may ensue.

While on the topic of ingestible material, there are some food that should also be categorised as dangerous/controlled substance. If you are what you eat, why would you eat these?

*shudder*

It's okay, I don't need to prove mine is bigger than yours.

However, if consuming questionable materials/chemical/food in the chase of that adrenaline rush doesn't do it for you, why not try blowing things up to exercise your creativity? Marvelously, there are books that will teach you how to create your own IED without stepping out of your house. For the aspiring Unabombers out there, check out this page in Amazon.com.

The vagaries of science

Whoa ... the guy who won the IgNobel prize for levitating a frog using electromagnet has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Congratulations, Dr Geim!

Science is so cool ...

Next time you get into a bar brawl, don't drink up all the beer first before smashing the bottle over your opponent's head. An empty bottle takes more energy to break. The damage: Not so different.

Also, if you work in the healthcare industry and feel the need to let fly some swear words, feel free to do so. It helps reduce your desire to maim the offending party.

Tequila is a girl's best friend. Not only can you get deliciously smashed from drinking it, you can also make diamonds from it. No kidding.