Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Global Darkening

Sure, Canada lost its ice up North, some polar bears are starving, thousands of people are starving to death on the African continent, storms are increasingly violent... I could go on. But here is something I didn't know about "Global Warming" aka Climate Change - it's going to be really itchy. Why? Poison Ivy.






Not that kind. This kind:




Evidently, other scientists knew back in 2006 that Poison Ivy was going to be stronger, and more itchy, with increasing CO2 and increasing temperatures. (Remember, I was in grad school with my forhead in the corner, so I missed this, too.)

A woman scientist, Jacqueline E. Mohan, is studying this problem at the Marine Biological Labs:


http://www.mbl.edu/news/features/feature_ivy.html

Sure enough, this summer, in the middle of those 107F days, I got poison ivy. I did not touch it. It just hangs above my entire neighborhood, hovers where I park my car, and decorates the path to my friends' houses. It. Was. Itchy. There were creams, and pills, and steroids, and rashes, and sleeplessness from the misery. All balanced with nursing a baby. Hot. Itchy.

There are many people who deny that our planet is changing, or worse, claim that it's because of God. I thought John Stewart already proved Global Climate Change with the "Global Darkening" skit:




Sigh. Blame what you will, but if we don't change our ways, plan ahead, and come together on these issues, it will be a dark globe, and itching will seem silly when we are hungry and can no longer grow food. Just ask Africa. *scratch.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Lady Science Nails It

Sure, there are some pretty talented entertainers out there. I don't actually know who they are, since I don't watch movies, or TV, or listen to much modern music. But other people do and I heard on NPR that it's Grammy time. So, somebody must be entertaining to a lot of people. Instead of pop culture, I've spent 5 years of my life in grad school. The first year and a half I pretty much hit my head against a pink cinder block wall, wondering how I possibly got stuck with such a horrid project. I wasn't even sure how to express such a sentiment without looking like (a) a brat (b) ungrateful for my admission and TA position or (c) un-science worthy.

But, here it is. Nailed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fl4L4M8m4d0

Done by the Zheng Lab at BCM. They do real work on Alzheimer's Disease.

http://www.bcm.edu/labs/zheng/

Fortunately, some people have a sense of humor about their not-entertaining work. A good-natured attitude will go far in project (stress) management. Good for them!