So. We haven't spoken in a while.
I've finally experienced a researcher's worst nightmare - finding out that someone else is doing the same thing you're doing, only better. Also, they are based in Hawaii. Hawaii.
It's not too bad. Science is ultimately an altruistic pastime, and if you go into it hoping for fame and wealth you are going to be severely disappointed. Your contribution as an individual means nothing compared to the contribution to the overall picture - and it doesn't particularly matter who makes that contribution.
It is a noble, harsh thing, to be a scientist.
But Hawaii, goshdarnit.
The "Dance Your PhD" competition has recently come to my attention. It has to be the single most bizarre method to be recognised by the Science magazine. (For those who have not been exposed to the cut-throat world of publications, getting published in Nature or Science is akin to an article about you being printed on the front page of your national newspaper, complete with full-colour photographs.) It probably would be quite challanging to express a PhD topic by dance.
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I want to do it.
What does everyone think of Google Instant? While potentially annoying to slower typists looking up obscure topics, I can see how it would be intuitive to the impatient among us. I actually didn't notice anything different for the first thirty minutes or so, until - "Hey, why is the page loading before I can hit the Enter key?"
I like how they put up an actual graph to prove that Google Instant is faster. A graph with no axes.
Look! Jurassic Park the Musical!
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