Author Archives: cicada

Should fictional narrators stop to explain basic science?

Posted on February 23, 2013 by cicada

Full disclosure: I like the New Yorker. I’m always up for vocabulary-stretching escapism, even if I have to wade through irrelevant front matter (newsflash: the Goings on About Town are mostly useless to readers in the flyover states) bordered by … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Book reviews, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

Murmurations are so hot right now

Posted on February 23, 2013 by cicada

Murmurations are so hot right now, they’re showing up in federal economic working papers. Which is probably more than you can say for steampunk. More links on the ever-fascinating murmuration phenomenon: Pop culture: How hot were murmurations in, say, 1936? … Continue reading →

Posted in Ephemera, Science, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

A Murmuration of Cheese Balls: when nature enters the Uncanny Valley

Posted on August 19, 2012 by cicada

Murmuration, in addition to being a perfectly lovely word, also captures one of the most wonderful phenomena one can encounter in nature. Behold, one of the loveliest viral videos of recent years: Did you get goosebumps? Thomas Jackson’s series “Emergent … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Ephemera, Film, Video & Music, Neuroscience, Science, Web 2.0, New Media, and Gadgets, Wonder Cabinets, Yikes! | Comments Off

BioE is so redundant right now

Posted on July 26, 2012 by cicada

Steam of Consciousness by Chris Conte (updated: look! I found a moving .gif on the artist’s website! It’s at the bottom of the post). It’s really amazing to me how mainstream anatomical art, steampunk, etc. has become in the past … Continue reading →

Posted in Artists & Art, Biology, Blogs and Blogging, Medical Illustration and History, Wonder Cabinets | Comments Off

To Mac users of MS Word

Posted on July 17, 2012 by cicada

Just posting this as a public service: if you are using Word on a Mac running Lion, and every time you print a document you get an annoying extra page of gobbledygook, go to the Print settings in Word’s Preferences, … Continue reading →

Posted in Department of the Drama | Comments Off

Reminder: Follow BioE on Twitter

Posted on July 13, 2012 by cicada

Hope you’re having a great summer! Sorry the blog is so dead! I’m so busy right now, my brain is scrambled. (That can sometimes be a good feeling — but not so much this time.) I have a few draft … Continue reading →

Posted in Department of the Drama | Comments Off

A truly great comment policy

Posted on June 26, 2012 by cicada

I quit having comments long ago because I barely have time to post (as the timestamp on my last few posts demonstrates) much less weed out spam and deal with trolls. But if I did have a comment policy, I’d … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogs and Blogging, Frivolity, Web 2.0, New Media, and Gadgets | Comments Off

Trying to balance big things

Posted on June 1, 2012 by cicada

Alas, I have been in this state for a few weeks – too many big things to balance. I’ll post again soon.

Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off

Of Money and Science: Two Book Reviews

Posted on May 18, 2012 by cicada

Paula Stephan’s observation that “not all science is created equal when it comes to funding” will not surprise any researcher who ever labored over a grant. Drugmonkey’s blog is a particularly good source of insight into how the NIH grant … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Book reviews, Books, Conspicuous consumption, Education, Littademia, Science, Science in culture & policy | Comments Off

Coin-operated morticians are not easy to find

Posted on May 16, 2012 by cicada

Just in case you’ve always wanted a vintage coin-operated morgue diorama with clockwork morticians and mourners, you are totally in luck! Thanks, Morbid Anatomy!

Posted in Medical Illustration and History, Retrotechnology, Yikes! | Comments Off