This month’s issue of Seed looks at HIV/AIDS 25 years in, and you may have noticed that ScienceBlogs has an AIDS at 25 blog dedicated to covering the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto. So, it should come as no surprise that the current round of “Ask a ScienceBlogger” features a question about AIDS:
To what extent do you worry about AIDS, either with respect to yourself, your children, or the world at large?
Well, I can’t smell it from here on the Left Coast, but those of you in nose-shot of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden may soon get to partake of the wonder that is the Amorphophallus titanum, aka “corpse flower”.
The elder Free-Ride offspring had a bit of a meltdown after dinner. Witness the calming effects of science:
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: (To sobbing elder offspring) Taking some deep breaths might help you calm down.
Younger offspring: Do we breathe carbon dioxide?
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: No, we don’t. Plants breathe carbon dioxide.
Elder offspring: (Still crying) We breathe air.
Dr. Free-Ride’s better half: Yes. Do you know what it is in the air that we breathe? I think they mention its name in your Yoga Kids video.
Elder offspring: (Sniffling just a little) Oxygen?
Let’s say I was taking down a chalkboard and trying to mount a whiteboard in its place. (For the sake of argument, let’s assume I was doing this someplace where I have complete freedom to do such things all by myself, with no work order or “cooling off” period or anything like that.) That would be a quick and easy operation, right?
Ha.
Just this month, my department came into possession of five new faculty offices, owing to the fact that brand spanking new faculty offices were created in the old library building, and some of the faculty from other offices in this building are being moved into them.
Forget that our chair actually had to fight for these additional offices (armed with data on student-to-faculty ratios and such) with another department that still occupies much of this building. Forget that the offices we fought for are old, water-damaged, haven’t been seriously cleaned in years, and are painted in such 1970s colors as orange. Forget that the university looked like it was going to try to stick us with the costs associated with disposing of the broken furniture and piles of trash left by the faculty that vacated the offices (and that we will end up eating the costs of installing internet jacks in the offices that need them).
We have more space!!
Tonight in the kitchen, I have cultures to attend to. Since I won’t be on the road again for months, I brought out my jar of sourdough starter to revive with fresh water, flour, and some time at room temperature. And, I have some kefir culture from our friends in Santa Barbara that’ll be wanting more milk. In my mental list this morning, I tracked these as “Don’t forget to feed yeast and bacterium.”
But, it turns out, even if I only fed one of these two, I’d be nourishing yeast and bacterium.
Chad has an interesting post about the scientific job market, in which he notes that his own experience training for and finding a job in academic science has left him with an impression significantly rosier than some circulating through cyberspace. Chad’s discussion of the ways your field (and subfield) can influence what your prospects and experiences will be like is a must-read for anyone prepared to talk themselves out of pursuing science on the basis of the aerial view of science as a whole.
Chad’s assessment:
This is my first full day back post-BCCE (owing to a brief leisure-related detour through Santa Barbara). I am trying to dial down my coffee dependence (since I was getting my wireless where fine coffee was sold — so I maybe overdid it a little), and my body doesn’t really know what time zone it’s in — so this is probably as good a time as any for some reflections on the BCCE in particular, and on conferences in general.
Sometimes it’s OK to hang back on the “Ask a ScienceBlogger” questions to let others snap up the obvious answers. (Yeah, I meant to do that!) I love Real Genius and Buckeroo Banzai as much as the next geek, but there oare other films out there worth your time.
The question is:
What movie do you think does something admirable (though not necessarily accurate) regarding science? Bonus points for answering whether the chosen movie is any good generally.
Because I’m showing up near the end of the party, I’ll give you three:
Because some people are on record as questioning my ability to turn any conversation into a conversation about science:
“What do pirates have to do with science?”
What don’t pirates have to do with science?