madame scientist's not-so-mad musings

2011-12-24

John Lennon: Happy Christmas (War is Over)

http://youtu.be/z8Vfp48laS8

Via Konstantin Makov , who should be in your circles (if not already) for his creativity and uncanny ability to pair music, images and ideas.

“Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” was written by John Lennon and Yoko Ono and recorded in 1971, with the help of producer Phil Spector. It features heavily echoed vocals, and a chorus by children of the Harlem Community Choir. Although the song is a protest against the Vietnam war, it is interesting to note, that 30 years later, the Iraq war is finally over.

Enjoy!

“A very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Let’s hope it’s a good one

Without any fear

And so this is Christmas

And what have we done

Another year over

And a new one just begun

Ans so this is Christmas

I hope you have fun

The near and the dear one

The old and the young

A very merry Christmas

And a happy New Year

Let’s hope it’s a good one

Without any fear

War is over over

If you want it

War is over

Now…”

Originally shared by Bllazi Oficial

Deseje um FELIZ NATAL a todos, compartilhe esse post (:

Microbial Art: Hold the Lysol! Wouldn’t you like these contagious baubles hanging from your Christmas tree?

• Alexander Fleming not only discovered penicillin (for which he won the Nobel Prize), but was also one of the first to make bacterial art (Image #4).

• Creative advertising offered by CURB, uses glow-in-the-dark bacteria to write your message (Image #5).

• Einstein “photo” was created by projecting light onto genetically engineered bacterial “film” –infused with a sugar that turns black when digested. The bacteria in the dark parts of the Petri dish digested this sugar and so turned black, whereas in the illuminated areas, a light-activated gene prevented the bacteria from eating the sugar, and so these parts remained clear (Image #6).

More awesome art: http://www.newscientist.com/gallery/microbe-art/1

http://www.trendhunter.com/trends/curb-discofungi

2011-12-23

2011-12-23

2011-12-23

2011-12-23

A Christmas Crater from Mercury. NASA is getting into the holiday theme.

The large crater in this image is named Dickens, after Charles Dickens, the English novelist who lived from 1812 to 1870. (Why the dickens? I have no idea, do you?) Among Dickens’ famous works is A Christmas Carol , the story of Bob Cratchit, his family, and horrible boss Mr. Scrooge. According to NASA, scientists studying Mercury ought to consider the Mariner 10 mission to be Christmas Past, MESSENGER to be Christmas Present, and the European Bepi-Colombo mission to be Christmas Yet To Come. The MESSENGER spacecraft is the first ever to orbit the planet Mercury, and the spacecraft’s seven scientific instruments and radioscience investigation are unraveling the history and evolution of the Solar System’s innermost planet.

Release Date: December 21, 2011

Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Carnegie Institution of Washington

Thanks to Simon Skiles , for pointing me to this site with amazing NASA images (check out the first day of winter over the midwest US and winter solstice from space): www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/6553942187/in/photostream/

Publish or Perish! Scientists publish huge numbers of papers each year, as shown in the infographic taken from the latest issue of Nature magazine. Most must pass through trial by fire, more benevolently known as Peer Review.. one of those unpaid, thankless jobs that we scientists agree to take on, mostly out of guilt. This collection of reviewer comments compiled by the editors of Environmental Microbiology will lighten my holiday task. 🙂

• Season’s Greetings! I apologize for my slow response but a roast goose prevented me from answering emails for a few days.

• Reject – More holes than my grandad’s string vest!

• The writing and data presentation are so bad that I had to leave work and go home early and then spend time to wonder what life is about.

• I agreed to review this manuscript whilst answering e-mails in the golden glow of a balmy evening on the terrace of our holiday hotel on Lake Como. Back in the harsh light of reality in Belfast I realize that it’s just on the limit of my comfort zone and that it would probably have been better not to have volunteered.

• I started to review this but could not get much past the abstract.

• Merry X-mas! First, my recommendation was reject with new submission, because it is necessary to investigate further, but reading a well written manuscript before X-mas makes me feel like Santa Claus.

• Ken, I would suggest that EM is setting up a fund that pays for the red wine reviewers may need to digest manuscripts like this one. (Ed.:this excellent suggestion was duly proposed to the Publisher. However, given the logistical difficulties of problem-solving within narrow time frames,combined with the known deleterious effect of transport on good wine, a modification of the remedy was adopted, namely that Editors would act as proxies for reviewers with said digestive complaints.)

Cellular Christmas! Created by University of Pittsburgh biologist, Donna Stolz, this wreath contains images of many different types of mammalian cells taken from over 25 different experiments. This was her Christmas card last year and winner of the Nikon Small World photography contest of 2011.

For Nature magazine’s collection of more beautiful images: http://www.nature.com/news/365-days-images-of-the-year-1.9620