Done for Now

I think I am done for now. I have sent off about 28 academic job applications in the last three weeks. I have morphed myself into an inorganic chemist, a physical chemist, an electrochemist, a materials chemist and even a chemical engineer. I feel like the chemistry chameleon.

Through the grapevine, I hear my PhD boss– reference letter writer extraodinaire– has described my strategy as "Janet is doing a good job of carpet bombing North America." That is probably a nicer description that the one I was thinking: application tart.

I figure with that many applications, I will either get zero interviews or twelve. Some of the schools I applied too were pretty big, and my publication list pretty small. Amit tells me that aiming higher that you think you can get is a very Israeli trait. They do it because, every one in a while, it works out. Maybe they are rubbing off on me and I am getting a little more Chutzpah.

Either way, I probably won't hear anything until at least December. Hiring faculty is a committee thing, and "committee" is just another word for "herd of turtles"

Tomorrow I am back in the lab, for the first real time since,.......since...... Oh dear, since almost July. Better drink two cups of coffee tomorrow morning. I am starting a new project and it is always a daunting task. I will need some serious caffeine motivation to get over the hump of beginning.

Going Viral

I would just like you to know that my high school year-book quote is "You will never guess what happened to me!" But I swear, I don't actively go looking for crazy stories.

For the last two years I have been paranoid that this blog will get VERY public and perhaps something I said here might come back to haunt. Turns out, I shouldn't have worried. My science is the worst source of internet smearage of my good name.

You know that little press release I sent out? Well the story of my nanoparticles has gone viral and is on about two dozen different news sites, science sites, blogs and forums. Just google "Nano Star of David" and you will get the picture.

I don't really mind showing up on "e science news" or "bloomberg.com"
But now my name is associated with websites of the Zionist Settlers, the far Christian right in "Rapture Watch" and, yes even a website called "fuckfrance"

Titles of articles include "Star of David shaped nanopartilces better than the rest", "Israeli Scientists find Nano Star of David, Key to Peace in the Middle East" and "Star of David nanoparticles discovered. Time for a boycott."

My friendly little particles have even been called "Our latest weapon: Zionist particles of death"

My personal favorite is that my science ended up on the very famous news satire website FARK under the title "Nano Jews in Space". That one I am completely amused by.

There is nothing I can do but laugh and hope to God that anyone who googles my name will have a sense of humour too.

Really, I couldn't make this up if I tried.

Ohh the 15 seconds of scientific fame!

The long awaited paper has been published online on the website of Nature Materials if you want to go take a peek.

Things got a little crazy around here yesterday. All because a while ago, the Boss had me write up something for the PR department but had me change the name of my nanoparticles to Nano-Stars of David, well since they actually look like Stars of David in the microscope.

Well, the PR department just LOVED that and they farmed it out to all the media yesterday since the media embargo was getting lifted at midnight. Turns out the Israeli media loves the Nano-Stars of David too. The boss spent the day on the phone with reporters and write ups are going in both Hebrew and English Dailies and on one of the radio stations. The lady from the Jerusalem Post did a pretty good job and her article can be seen here. I told her on the phone yesterday that her artice was so good, I was going to buy an extra copy of the paper for my mom to put on her fridge.

All I have to say is THANK GOODNESS I did not have to give an interview in Hebrew.

Ok. So lets actually talk about the science now - because I finally can.

I was trying to make hybrid nanoparticles- ones with two different parts- out of a new combination of materials.
You make one type of particles and then try to grow a second part on.
When people have done this in the past, they usually see the second material growing on the other like a egg and yolk or a blob sticking off one end like a big zit. What I found was that in this case, the second material grew this really cool little cage around the original particle. No one had seen that before.

It took a long time to a) figure out what the heck I was seeing in my electron microscope images b) convince the boss that they were indeed cages, and c) gather enough evidence to convince paper reviewers. The shape was pretty much clear from analysis of the images I took, but to clinch it, we ended up collaborating with these great and super talented electron microscope gurus in Germany to make a 3D model from a bunch of images. Yup, I was right about the shape. And now we have a super cool 3D model to prove it.

You may remember that I also needed to show function. It turns out these little particles because of their little metal cage are fantastic electrochemical sensors for peroxide. Why is that important, you ask? Well because peroxide sensing is the first key step to developing a new glucose sensor that won't need unstable best-before-dated enzymes attached to it. Hello Diabetics! This is cool for you!

So a little perspective for you non science types:

Nature Materials a completely freaking awesome journal to get published in? Yes, Yes it is

Is it the best out there? No, Nature and Science are better. But Nature Materials it the top for the physical sciences.

Why is your name first on the paper? Cause I did most of the work.

Why is the boss' name last? Cause he's the boss.

It this a super-dee-duper interesting discovery? Why yes, I think so.

Will this change our lives in anyway with in the next five years? Nope.

Will this get me a job? If the gods continue to shine on me. Clearly at least Yahweh is on my side.

On Meat

I decided, in a fit of photojournalistic fever, to head to the shook and capture the chicken ritual in action. What I saw changed me.

I first captured a video of a rabbi, collecting the sins in a few chickens of willing passers by. It was amusing and fascinating but really kinda no big deal. The funny part was that he would pat the chickens affectionally every time he put one back in the box.


What changed me was a sight only a block farther down the main street in Jerusalem, Yaffo Street. There were two very large, very pungent trucks of sickly looking chickens, waiting to be purchased for the ritual. Tossed on the sidewalk was the body of a chicken that had died in transit.



In essence, I am getting more and more disgusted with factory farming and how we treat animals. And I am not convinced that factory farming even gives us a better or safer product- certainly cheaper though.

This may be strange coming from me, who spent her summers on a pork farm, spent seven wonderful months on a sheep farm, and have never shied from eating cute animals. I have always known that industrial scale meat production is not pretty, but I think it is getting uglier by the year. I am not sure I want to be as complicit in it anymore.

Maybe it is the Mediterranean diet, but we have been eating less and less meat. There is usually some in every dinner, but it is often less than half a chicken breast per person. James, surprisingly, seems happy and satisfied with this diet, and has even suggested adding vegetarian dishes into our repertoire.

Don't worry, I am not becoming a vegetarian. I will still eat your delicious roast beef, moose stew (yes please!), and your chicken florentine when I come over. But I think meat will be less of a focus in our house than the meat-potato-veg culture that surrounded us when we were younger.

Maybe I will take up hunting when I go home.

You are going to do WHAT with a chicken?!?!

I was told yesterday about this tradition that is done by some of the very, very religious the day before Yom Kippur, the day of atonement.

They take a live chicken, circle it around their heads a few times and say some words to send all their sins to the chicken.

Then they kill the chicken.

And then cook and eat it.

When I heard about this I was silent for a few seconds and then said the only thing that could be said at a time like this: "You guys are weird."

I didn't really believe it so I looked it up. Sure enough, it is true and this is what one article had to say about it:

"The kaparot ceremony is meant to symbolically express our recognition that we have sinned and are no longer deserving of life (like the chicken), but we can be saved from the penalty we deserve if we repent, perform good deeds, and give charity."

What on earth did the Chicken do to deserve this fate?!? Did he sin!?!? NO! He was just pecking away at chicken feed and then WOOSH! Some dude grabs him, spins him in the air a few times and suddenly the poor chicken is full of sin! And gets the death penalty for it!

Today I went into Yossi's office, my most religious lab mate, and asked him in a horrified voice if he was going to do the thing with the chicken on friday. No, he assured me, he uses some money for the ritual which he then gives to the poor.

We, The Hen and Chicken, are relieved.

Ramadan and Eid

The holy month of Ramadan slowly moves its way through the year. Twelve years ago, Ramadan happend around Christmas. This year, it was mostly in August and ended last night.

I didn't know what is was really about, so one day in Hebrew class I asked. Ramadan is the month that the Qu'ran was first revealed to Mohammed.

It is a month of fasting and abstention during the daylight hours from food, water and sex to teach Muslims all the good things like humility, patience, spirituality, empathy for the poor etc. I didn't fast, but did I ever feel empathy for the Muslims in my Hebrew class. August was killer hot and here these poor folks were not even drinking water. The days were long, and as a little thing we could do to help, our 15 minute class break started like clockwork so the Muslims could rush out, pray and get some quick sustenance after fasting since the wee hours of the morning.

But the people I REALLY felt empathy for was the moms. Like the big holidays of any religion, all the responsibility falls on mom. On one of the evenings in Ramadan, Muslim families will often hold Iftars, big dinners for all the friends and family. One of the guys in Ulpan says his mother was having FORTY people over for dinner- and cooking up a storm. But get this- imagine she is in the kitchen slaving over the hot stove and oven all day, smelling that cooking food, and yet she can't take a drink or taste any of the food, because of course she was fasting through the day. Those moms must have super reliable recipes and bellies of steel.

In a co-in-kee-dink this year, the end of the holy month of Ramadan coincided with Rosh HaShannah. Now there is a three day festival called Eid (eye-eed).

In the morning twilight, I heard the special call to prayer wafting though my window from the minarets across the valley. Usually we hear a single haunting voice of the closest mosque rising and falling like a soft wind, over a gentle din provided by echos of the first voice and all the other minarets farther away.

This morning, the prayer was special, short and repetitive. I think they were repeating "Allah Ackbar" "God is Great," but I can't be sure. Anyhow, it seemed to go on for ever, and it kind sounded like a recording from a dementia ward. I will be happy for the return of the regular call to prayer.

Shannah Tovah ve Matookah!

Good and Sweet Year!

It is Rosh HaShannah, Jewish new year, today. Last night we went to the boss' house for dinner with his whole extended family. We dipped apple slices in honey, some ate the sweet processed gifilte fish (I passed and did my best not to make a face as it went by), spread some liver paté on the hallah bread, and then gorged ourselves on a real feast of salads and beef and chicken and rice and veggies. Most of the food was a bit sweet as a symbol of the sweet new year to come.

Of course I ate too much, especially after the fruit basket was put right in front of me.

The boss' family gave me an impromptu Hebrew test and they said they were all very impressed. Especially when I used the word "par" which means gap. "Ohhhhhh!" they all exclaimed, "Col ha cavod!" which means "with all the respect" in English and "ohh la la!" in French.

One of the Boss' young nieces gave us a beautifully decorated Styrofoam pomegranate full of candy and a wee jar of honey. The pommegranate with all its seeds is symbol of the fruitfulness of the new year- and maybe something about multiplying, but I choose to ignore that.

I am using this extra long weekend to apply for jobs, so keep your eye on the counter and see how high it goes! Hopefully this new year will bear the fruit of a new job!

On Popular Science Writing

I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but my paper got accepted to a rather prestigious journal. This I am very happy about.

As a result, The Boss wants to see if he can get the media interested in writing a story about our discovery. This I am somewhat excited and intrigued by.

He asked me to write a lay-man style press release as a starting point for the professionals at the University PR department, complete with pictures. On this I was content to spend a few hours.

I was also asked to repackage my work, not as what it really is, but as nano-tripe. You know the dreck like nano-cars, nano-people, etc. This bothered me.

After I sent the thing off, a few days later I got this email from the PR department.

"images are very important for us - the ones that you sent might not be good enough for the journalists. Do you have color images which might look a little better?"

You know, the PR department should be thanking their lucky stars (secret pun intended) that my type of science produces pictures of what I make. Most scientists only get peaks on a graph. I am SORRY that electron microscopes do not produce images in Technicolor!

Don't they think I gave them the best pics I have? I love the subtle implication that maybe I should photoshop and falsify results for the benefit of the journalists.

Do they know what we do in the lab? We do science not graphic-freeking-design!

To say the least, this irks me.

So while I am on a little Ranty-McRant-Rant, let me continue on a related vein.

Most popular science writing out there is horrid. As academic scientists, we are always asked what the application of this is, or what that will do for them and it inevitably this so-called motivation is mentioned in the first paragraph. And yet it is so far from the real point of the discovery that it is near laughable.

Popular science writing is missing the point of academic pursuits. When asked about motivation, the answer is the same for a historian, a philosopher, an anthropologist, a psychologist, a ecologist, a pathologist, or a theoretical physicist:

We do it because we want to explore how the world works.

If altruism was our main driving motivator, we would all be aid workers.

I am not saying that we are all selfish and that none of us are asking questions about what we can do for the world. It just usually isn't the biggest motivator.

I think the biggest insult in popular science is to that of the public. By always putting in the first paragraph something about curing a disease, or solving the energy crisis, we are assuming the public is too shallow to appreciate the beauty of scientific exploration.

I think we owe the public a little more credit.


I leave you with a quote by Richard Feynman, famous Physicist and bongo player:

"I have a friend who's an artist, and he sometimes takes a view which I don't agree with. He'll hold up a flower and say, "Look how beautiful it is," and I'll agree. But then he'll say, "I, as an artist, can see how beautiful a flower is. But you, as a scientist, take it all apart and it becomes dull." I think he's kind of nutty. [...] There are all kinds of interesting questions that come from a knowledge of science, which only adds to the excitement and mystery and awe of a flower. It only adds. I don't understand how it subtracts."

Earthquake

I just checked the news as was horrified to hear that a 7.0 magnitude earthquake has hit only 30 km outside Christchurch New Zealand.

This is where my Aunt Sandra, Uncle Andrew and Cousin Finlay reside. As well, I have heaps of other friends and people whom I consider almost family who live in the South Island that I am worried for.

This is the same magnitude of earthquake that hit Haiti in January.

I really hope everyone is OK.