takchek (读书 )

Critiques of Arsenic-DNA paper published in Science

2011-05-31T17:32:00.005-05:00

Almost 6 months later from the publication of the original paper.Eight critiques!Another case of peer review out in the open.

When nasty peer review goes into the open...

2011-05-27T20:29:00.007-05:00

in the august journal Langmuir, over the concept of the Gibbs adsorption isotherm (GAI).It started with a paper (a group from Eindhoven) commenting on these 2 papers (by a group at Emory), and which then elicited a response from the Emory researchers.The opening salvo (as the paper abstract no less) from Eindhoven:Recently, some arguments were published that cast doubt on the validity of the

The Confucian way (and lack thereof)

2011-04-30T08:11:00.002-05:00

Confucius Statue Vanishes Near Tiananmen SquareUnrepentant Maoists celebrated the move on Friday. “The witch doctor who has been poisoning people for thousands of years with his slave-master spiritual narcotic has finally been kicked out of Tiananmen Square!” one writer, using the name Jiangxi Li Jianjun, wrote on the Web site Maoflag.net.For those who have been heartened by the government’s

What is "peer review"?

2011-04-22T12:25:00.002-05:00

Boingboing has an excellent write-up.

Yay

2011-04-13T10:02:00.009-05:00

:D I am now motivated to tie up my loose ends here as a postdoc and write my remaining papers. Then pack my bags, get onto a plane and start a new adventure (to be on the other side of the fence). The best quote ever (modified slightly):The biggest problem at this point is trying to fit my whole life into two suitcases and a backpack. Not a simple task, as it turns out. But there is something

Scientific research in 3 different countries

2011-04-08T16:11:00.009-05:00

Pick your choice of poison:China:For most scientists, publishing an article in a prestigious journal is likely to be recognized and rewarded with attention from one’s peers.In China, however, scientists are also rewarded with cash, and the more prestigious the journal, the larger the sum, according to a new paper published in the April issue of Learned Publishing.*The theory is simple and pure

Moving on, but where?

2011-04-03T02:21:00.011-05:00

My current postdoctoral grant will end in a few months' time. (In other words, I have to find a new job soon.) My advisor was unable to get my funding extended, in spite of the excellent results (5 research papers in high impact journals of my sub-field and 1 patent) that have come out of it. Seasoned readers of this blog can probably figure out the reasons. But that is not all. As a faculty

There is really a journal called Nature and Science

2011-03-16T12:23:00.003-05:00

And I leave it to you readers to judge its quality.Someone should start another journal called "Cell, Nature and Science". Talk about being a shameless ripoff.Hat tip: Retraction Watch.

Nature tua kee

2011-03-10T16:10:00.004-05:00

One of the neighboring lab's graduate students is defending her PhD thesis next week. Her advisor sent out the dissertation defense notification to the whole department with a pdf attachment of the student's Nature Nanotechnology paper. It seems to me that the student has just one publication to show for her PhD work. If that is really the case, then it isn't impressive at all frankly speaking (

Nevada Public Higher Ed Going Bust?

2011-03-04T14:11:00.004-05:00

I wonder how the whole situation is going to play out for UNLV-Singapore if the University of Nevada system is to declare bankruptcy.More details here and here.Faculty Senate President Cecilia Maldonado had prepared a statement to read. In it, she said she was sad and angry and sick.She said she was sick of political ideology. Sick of people who attack faculty salaries. Sick of hearing that

When Scientific Research and Higher Education become just Political Football

2011-02-28T13:03:00.007-05:00

A mere two years after the passage of the economic stimulus package by a Democratically-led Congress, the now Republican-controlled House of Representatives have started swinging their budget cutting axe at scientific research and higher education.One point stood out in the midst of all this "fiscal responsibility" talk:The House bill does not specify cuts to five of the Office of Science's six

Adieu to the Middle Class, and the Rise of Wee Shumin-ism in America

2011-02-21T18:03:00.011-05:00

My previous post talked about the protests by faculty and graduate students in Wisconsin over the dismantling of collective-bargaining rights by public worker unions (and of course the worsening academic job market despite soaring tuition and enrollment in US universities).What is at stake is more than just that, as Paul Krugman and George Lakoff had helpfully pointed out:For what’s happening in

March of the Teachers

2011-02-19T11:33:00.007-05:00

Protests in WisconsinVery appropriate for current faculty candidates. The (always awful) academic job market is getting worse, and many universities nationwide are either instituting hiring freezes or continuing more layoffs. (A proposed bill in Utah goes further - banning tenure.)

The brightest star burns out the fastest

2011-02-15T01:49:00.006-05:00

One of my undergraduates (let's call him D) sent me an email over the weekend announcing that he will be taking a leave of absence from the university starting this week for the rest of the academic year. Apparently he has trouble coping with the stress of school and the college had recommended that he take a break from campus. D is the best among the undergrads in my lab - meticulous in

Why read

2011-02-06T21:52:00.004-05:00

For the love of booksLetter from Preeti Athavle05:55 AM Feb 07, 2011TODAYonlineThe letter by Chng Hee Kok ("More help for less well-known schools?", Jan 26) was an eye-opener for me. For the first time, I realised how children from low-income families might not be able to visit libraries as their parents might be too busy to bring them.There are also other children who don't read much. Either

Alka Selzer: Acceptance Letter Ad

2011-01-09T02:35:00.002-05:00

Funny ad on TV. College is expensive, and tuition costs have been rising more than inflation.

Working with some nitrogen compounds

2010-12-24T12:27:00.010-05:00

I always laugh whenever I see a new paper (JACS or Angewandte Chemie notwithstanding) describing the synthesis of and/or new/novel nitrogen compounds that are either some kind of superfuel (read: large ∆G) or so rare that precious little previous literature can be found on them.There are reasons why you hardly read about them or why they are not in widespread use in industry already. The reason

Paper by SMA researchers gets retracted due to self-plagiarism

2010-12-16T13:40:00.007-05:00

First time I have seen this happen to the SMA folks.Of course it will not be reported on the SMA homepage, or will it?The above article, published in Applied Physics Letters, has originally reported the growth of ZnO nanorods on GaN using hydrothermal synthesis without any catalyst. Some initial results, including scanning electron microscopy, x-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and

Arsenic-based life forms: Fact or fiction?

2010-12-07T14:20:00.011-05:00

The biggest science news of the past week probably has to be NASA's press release claiming to have isolated a bacterium that substitutes arsenic for phosphorus on its macromolecules and metabolites. (Wolfe-Simon et al. 2010, A Bacterium That Can Grow by Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus.)As things stand, many scientists are openly skeptical of the claims made in the paper.That is

Want money? Wow your sponsors

2010-11-10T20:59:00.006-05:00

The main purpose of your application is to convince the Committee on Research Grants that supporting your proposal would be a good use of (their) funds. Your proposal will be read by panel members who are experienced professionals, but who are not necessarily experts in your particular field. Because they are evaluating proposals competing for limited funds, they must be critical and skeptical;

Waiting season

2010-10-28T23:29:00.005-05:00

I hate the competition. It's crazy and it's driving me nuts. Got this in my mailbox today (from one of my target schools, a Public Ivy):Dear takchek,Our faculty search committee is continuing to review applications, and I am pleased to let you know that you are one of our ‘semi-finalists’ for whom we have written references for letters of recommendation (about 30% of the total pool). It will

Hits and Misses

2010-10-27T17:43:00.013-05:00

The past 6 months has been a crazy one for me in my work. Supported by an army of serfs bright, motivated undergraduates, I collected enough *interesting* data to submit manuscripts to several different high-impact-factor peer reviewed journals. This is my most productive year so far. We got the first one accepted quickly after making the minor revisions requested by the anonymous reviewers. The

The video that all prospective PhDs should watch

2010-07-09T22:14:00.003-05:00

Self-explanatory.Mixing humor and heartbreak, Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist delves into the lab of charismatic professor Dr. Lawrence Shapiro, and follows three irrepressible graduate students on their determined pursuit of a PhD and scientific success. As if the pressure of scientific discovery isn’t enough, the students are also competing in a worldwide race to be the first to

Whistleblowers suffer from collateral damage too

2010-06-29T17:21:00.007-05:00

Science reported the case of Elizabeth Goodwin, a former UW-Madison associate professor of genetics who pleaded guilty to a charge of scientific misconduct for falsifying data in a grant application to the NIH.What is interesting (and sad!) though is not so much about sentence meted out to Goodwin (most likely just a fine and a ban from receipt of federal grants for 3 years), but the fate of her

NIH Grant Proposal Writing and Review

2010-06-27T10:06:00.007-05:00

The key to bread and butter for academics running research labs...Begging for money isn't that simple as you think it is just by holding out your hand, certainly not when there are so many other beggars scattered all around lusting after the same pot.For those of you further down the pecking ladder (and thus less painful to get out while you are still able to do so), it is best in your interest (