We can all tell when someone ate a piece of garlic bread, or just brushed their teeth, or should have brushed their teeth, but it turns out there is far more to learn from a person’s exhalation than what they ate for dinner last night. Indeed our breath exhibits an individuality that is almost on a par with our fingerprints.
Dirty Mouth? Clean It Up with Cancer Screening
by
Who Opened the Thiols? Oh- That’s Your Breath?!
by
Dear Dora,
A new postdoc in lab has the worst breath I’ve ever smelled, but nobody knows him well enough to tell him to do something about it. What to do? Help!
– Jaime, graduate student
Sensational Science: Army Origami to Space Infections
by
Another month, another list of sensational science headlines offenders. Below I’ve outlined a couple of other recent examples of how the headlines that the popular press shares with the public don’t always match up with what the scientific press actually reports. Or, as in most cases, how the report is twisted in such a way to make for a good “story”.
Leaving Graduate School Early: Get Outta Town or Hang Around?
by
Graduate school serves as a means to an end. It provides the training necessary to take the next step on our career development path- whether than means performing postdoctoral research or finding a job. But grad school is a long process and a lot can change over five or six years, which can significantly complicate the process of leaving graduate school.
How Google Sees Us: 23 Search Terms We Had to Share
by
The entire Google empire is built on a cold, hard algorithm- not on subjective guesses or opinions. When it decides to pull up a list of websites that it thinks will fulfill a user’s query, it’s for a reason. So looking into what search terms Google recommends your site for can be a bit like asking “do these pants make my butt look big?” You’re hoping for the best, but in the end, the data might reveal an answer you don’t want to hear.
Because in Space… It’s Always 5 O’Clock Somewhere
by
Yesterday, April 12th, marked the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight. During his 108-minute voyage, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin completed an entire orbit of Earth in Russia’s first Vostok mission. And to commemorate that flight, a new space beer is currently being perfected and tested in various zero gravity environments.
Changing Scientific Focus: Jack of All Trades, Master of None?
by
Some liken the selection of a graduate advisor to finding a spouse. Of course, a real spouse doesn’t pay us a monthly stipend and (hopefully) we’re not looking forward to finding a new one in five years. Yet the choice of the marriage analogy may be more appropriate for another aspect of our careers – the science.
Reviewing Papers from Your Past- Is It Legal?
by
Dear Dora,
Recently my PI asked me to review a paper from my graduate lab- is that allowed?
-EM, postdoc
Could You Be the Worst Labmate in the World?
by
The bad news: like any work environment, labs are not exempt from employing the occasional pain-in-the-a–. The good news: given the nature of the career path, even the worst of labmates will be moving on to annoy a new group of people in a few years. The great news: even if you’re that stick-in-the-mud in your lab, it’s never too late to change your ways.
Innovation: Concept to Commercialization
by
So you’ve had your eureka moment and you’ve done the rough math to figure out that your innovation is probably worth pursuing. Now what?
