Category Archives: Science

Career, Science

“Ready, Set, Hire” in Nature

For junior faculty members and staff, hiring other researchers is an important way to boost career success. But without management training, it’s a guessing game.

For young scientists, hiring the first postdoc or lab tech is critical but daunting. In an article entitled “Ready, Set, Hire” in this week’s edition of Nature, I explore some of the issues around hiring, proven ways to deal with them, strategies to manage a research team. There are also links to free training in scientific management.

Career, Health, News, Science

Interview with Frankie Trull, Animal Welfarist

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I recently had the opportunity to interview Frankie Trull, a long time animal welfarist and President of the Foundation for Biomedical Research. The interview appears in the February 2008 edition of Nature Medicine.

Ms. Trull explained to me the difference between animal rights and animal welfare: Animal rights activists tend to think that no animals should be used in scientific experiments; whereas, animal welfare activists tend to think that there is a role for animals in science, but that those animals should be treated humanely and used only when absolutely necessary.

WIRED Magazine also interviewed Frankie Trull in May 2007. Here is a link to that interview: “Frankie Trull”.

An opposing view is expressed at www.awionline.org.

Family, Holidays, Lifestyle, Random, Science

The Real Valentine’s Day

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Today, Friday, February 1, 2008, is the real Valentine’s Day. This is according to a dear friend and professional astrologer, Kelly Davidson, who specializes in universal timing. At 3AM PST, Venus and Jupiter met for their annual make-out session–a romantic conjunction that obscured both of them from earthly view. The afterglow of their rendez-vous makes the rest of today all about love.

Love is a mystery that some would say is neatly solved by the phrase “yes, dear” and a box of chocolates. I am not such a cynic, and quite frankly, entertain other possibilities. Serious attempts at explaining what love is have been made throughout human history by scientists, philosophers, politicians, monks, sages, prophets, poets and especially marketers. Understanding the mysteries of the universe–why things happen and when–seems fair game to all, including astrologers.

So while I don’t advocate that astrology has all the answers or is anything more than another possible explanation, I do appreciate the value of good timing and it’s positive impact on creating love. Take, for example, Susan Miller, who is a very successful astrologer and author the website astrologyzone.com. She writes monthly forecasts and offers a wealth of advice on how to use astrology to improve your love life. You can use her “Matchmaker By Sign” to figure out which signs are most and least compatible with yours. Once you have found a potential mate, you can then use her “Gift Guide by Sign” to figure out what would be the best present to give your beloved on Valentine’s Day. Apparently, not everyone loves chocolate–yet another mystery of the universe–but Susan guides us through it.

So if Valentine’s Day seems more like an annual romantic curse, celebrating on the true Valentine’s Day may change the outcome. At least for today, love is in the air. And if you find a compatible partner, shower them with gifts they’ll appreciate (for some signs, that means nothing material at all). However it works out, happy true Valentine’s Day.

An astute reader of this entry pointed out that the author of badastronomy.com, Phil Plait — scientist, writer, skeptic and friend — published about the Venus/Jupiter conjunction today on his blog . Thanks for mentioning it!