As a lady scientist of color, I have felt like the impostor in the room many many times. Here are two specific things that made me want to switch out of the hard sciences when I was in college. I want to mention them because I suspect they play a part in the lack-of-women-and-minorities-in-STEM-fields issue:
#1 - Being met with incredulity when I said I didn’t know something in a science class. Nothing made me doubt my own abilities more than this. I was so shocked by this behavior when I first started taking math and science courses in college that I straight-up stopped asking questions for about two years. Ask me how much that set me back.
#2 - Asking someone about their class or their research, and they explained it in jargon that was obviously not part of my lexicon. This always made me feel like I just didn’t have the brains or background necessary to pursue the higher-level science classes that I wanted to. Also, it’s a dick move. Also also, there is no slicker way to bore someone, so just don’t do it. My advisor at Stanford, who was totally brilliant, always argued that it takes a really really smart scientist to communicate science in a way that is understandable to nonscientists. That guy publishes like it’s his job (disclaimer: it is), so take heed friends!
The real point here is that most girls are less likely to do the
thing, or the
act. So when I first heard people talking like this about classes I was interested in, it was new and scary and made me feel like I was not cut out for science or math.
It wasn’t until many years later that it hit me that everyone has to learn something for the first time at some point, and asking ridiculous questions usually aids and abets this learning process.
However, I’m not one to rant about a problem without proffering a possible solution, so here is my recommendation:
Gentlemen (and ladies too!) in STEM fields, please, check your rhetorical behaviors, before you wreck the excitement and eagerness of women entering the field. Additionally, people will like talking to you better if you dispense with the jargon. I like you better already!
(also shout-out to jtotheizzoe for posting this comic. Love yr blog dude.)
(via jtotheizzoe)
“For the first eight years of our marriage, [Michelle and I] were paying more in student loans than what we were paying for our mortgage. So we know what this is about.
And we were lucky to land good jobs with a steady income. But we only finished paying off our student loans—check this out, all right, I’m the President of the United States—we only finished paying off our student loans about eight years ago.”
—
—President Obama in North Carolina today on why Congress has to act to prevent interest rates on student loans from doubling (via barackobama)
Shout-out to all the long-term students following this blog.
There was a cup of crayons at breakfast yesterday and I drew a robinson annulation because, hell, I don’t know how to draw anything else. If you ever decide you need a diagram of steroid synthesis to place over your mantle, call me.Breakfast
![A Flower That Smells Like Poop and Resembles Vagina Dentata.
#1 - Is it possible to get these flowers delivered? If so, Valentine’s Day can’t come soon enough.
#2 - The author, Cyriaque Lamar, uses this line:
When the beetle eventually emerges[from the flower], it is sated, drenched in genetic material, and living proof that natural selection is sometimes guided by a cosmic unknowable middle school student. Somewhere, a Penis-Fart kelp plant lies waiting to be discovered.
(via A flower that smells like poop and resembles vagina dentata)](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ot6qUKoC1qmqe9lo1_500.jpg)
A Flower That Smells Like Poop and Resembles Vagina Dentata.
#1 - Is it possible to get these flowers delivered? If so, Valentine’s Day can’t come soon enough.
#2 - The author, Cyriaque Lamar, uses this line:
When the beetle eventually emerges[from the flower], it is sated, drenched in genetic material, and living proof that natural selection is sometimes guided by a cosmic unknowable middle school student. Somewhere, a Penis-Fart kelp plant lies waiting to be discovered.
(via A flower that smells like poop and resembles vagina dentata)
[video]
Food and Aging
Anna Tendler, who is not only a makeup blogger but a total peach of a human, recently posted about her skin care routine, and mentioned that she eats lots of vegetables and drinks plenty of water. Well, Anna, I am happy to tell you that there is a lot of exciting biochem behind that skin advice.
What does diet have to do with skin?
There are these molecules called Advanced Glycation End-products (AGE). They’re basically a fat or protein molecule that’s had a piece of sugar stuck to it. Anyway, they are super destructive and can wreck the natural order of long chains of proteins. You are made of long chains of proteins, so this has implications for pretty much every disease, from Diabetes to Atherosclerosis to neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. In terms of skin care, however, a molecule that is capable of reacting with long protein chains would not be great for maintaining the collagen fibers that keep skin wrinkle-free.
But what about AGEs and clear skin?
Additionally, these AGEs fit into RAGE receptors on your cells (did not make these up), and cause cells to release a bunch of inflammatory products. Inflammation involves the release of chemicals that can destroy your cells and cause swelling. Like the interference with protein chains, chronic inflammation is also implicated in pretty much every disease you can think of, including acne.
So where are these AGEs coming from?
Some your body just makes, but you can also eat them. If you cook meat or fat with sugar in the absence of water (think browning meat) you’ll make loads of AGEs that won’t be incredibly forgiving once they’re in your body.
Bottom line?
For hard-core orgo nerds: here is a great study that I pulled a lot of info from. It describes the mechanism behind AGE interactions with proteins in much more detail!
Can you turn orange from eating too many carrots?
Yep. That beta-carotene can pigment your skin just like it does your carrot cake.
How many carrots would I need to eat?
Partially depends on how bioavailable the carrots are.
As in, are you eating them raw? (more carrots needed)
juiced? (fewer carrots needed).
Also, since beta-carotene, aka vitamin A, is fat-soluble, the less body fat you have the more likely you are to store this orange-molecule in your skin.
Benefits of eating carrots to the point of turning orange?
Sweet tan bro!
Disadvantages of eating carrots to the point of turning orange?
You probably have an eating disorder and should talk to a doctor. Best of luck :(
Cool, 10,000 followers! Thanks for following guys!! It’s been hecka fun to write so far (like, so fun.)
Also, heads up on the tabs: If school is a bust I’m going into the business of quark-flavored ice cream. It will be strange, and it will becharming.
A Quantum Theory of Mitt Romney - NYTimes.com -
New York Times did a piece using quantum theory (yes!) to explain Mitt Romney’s campaign. If you are like me and need science analogies to understand politics, homeboy has got you covered in this article.
The basic concepts behind this model are:
Complementarity. In much the same way that light is both a particle and a wave, Mitt Romney is both a moderate and a conservative, depending on the situation (Fig. 1). It isnot that he is one or the other; it is not that he is one and then the other. He is both at the same time.
Probability. Mitt Romney’s political viewpoints can be expressed only in terms oflikelihood, not certainty. While some views are obviously far less likely than others, no view can be thought of as absolutely impossible. Thus, for instance, there is at any given moment a nonzero chance that Mitt Romney supports child slavery.
Uncertainty. Frustrating as it may be, the rules of quantum campaigning dictate that no human being can ever simultaneously know both what Mitt Romney’s current position is and where that position will be at some future date. This is known as the “principle uncertainty principle.”
RoboBonobo project hits Kickstarter.
The project at the Bonobo Hope Great Ape Trust Sanctuary wants to see the apes given personal, internet connected keyboards they can carry around with them to better communicate with people and other apes.
As well as letting the apes communicate with humans, it is hoped the software can be developed to work the other way:
It is also useful for humans if they can just speak the sentences and have the app translate them automatically to visual lexigram sequences.
And the creepy robot pictured above? That’s the next step in the project, which would allow the apes to control a robotic ape:
Finally, we would like the bonobos to use the Bonobo Chat app to control their environment using simple lexigram commands - to operate vending machines, open doors, watch movies and, hopefully, to control robots. We believe that controlling robots might be a good way for the bonobos to interact with guests and visitors outside their caged areas. They could play chase games or squirt guests with an an on board watergun. They could operate the robot out of site by navigating using an on board camera.
Damn. Now here are people thinking just outside the box enough while still making use of available, emerging tech.
I’m really curious as to where this will - and could - go.
p.s. The photo just cracks me up… and kinda freaks me out!
And you can access the kickstarter campaign here. They need 17K more, and if you pony up $500 you get to skype with a bonobo!!!
