Some Budding Yeast I USED TO GROW

This parody of Goyte was put together by some friends of mine from grad school. Not only is it highly entertaining, but it perfectly captures the way a lot of professors I know are feeling right now. I can hardly think of a more appropriate video with which to reboot Fun Science Friday.

Return of the Samurai Scientist

It's been a few years since I last blogged about science. It's not that I've been silent - since closing this blog, I've started several others, but none of them have been about science. Maybe I felt at the time like no one was listening, or that I was already doing too much of this stuff at work, or that I was selling myself short by giving away my ideas for free. No matter. The Samurai Scientist is back.

A lot has changed since my last post. Science blogging, which was only in its infancy a few years ago, has taken off. Fun science - a mainstay of this blog - has taken off. There is a cottage industry springing up of people who not only like science, but believe in it, and want to help. Which is great. I hope they're ready to deliver, because I have plans for them.

Not everything has been rosy for science in the last few years. We are in the middle of a serious funding crisis. Scientific research is under increasing scrutiny from the public, who don't understand why science matters or even what it is. Within the ranks, a ballooning class of postdocs is growing disillusioned with science, and anxious about their careers. A revolution in information technology is shaking up the landscape of academic research and education - a sector not traditionally known for its willingness to embrace change. All of this has been likened to the writing on the wall for young researchers. 

Every day in the lab, I find myself discussing these issues with fellow scientists. Those conversations have convinced me there are solutions out there. Here, I hope to bring some of those discussions to a larger forum, and do my part to help move our art in the right direction. I hope you will join me.

The Last Samurai

Out with the old, in with the new. I've graduated, relocated, and switched to working on kidney stem cells. And as much as I've enjoyed writing this blog, it peaked a while back, and now it's time to mix it up a bit.

This blog is dividing - and neither of the daughter cells look exactly like the mother. Science News and Views will continue on Science Consulting, hopefully a communal effort between me and some friends from grad school. Interested in becoming a science consultant yourself? Please join our Facebook Group - we're looking for a few good nerds.

More of a left-brain person? I'm compartmentalizing my more philosophical musings into The Shmlag, a retro blog. While everyone else marches forward, I'm going to try to march backwards through the bustling crowd in search of my inner child. Should be fun.

But first, I want to give Samurai Scientist a proper send-off into the vast binary yonder. I've enjoyed writing this blog over the last year and a half, and hopefully you've enjoyed reading it. I've tried to convey the idea that science doesn't happen in a vacuum. There's a reality to it, a people, a culture, who are actually pretty fun to be around. Once you engage in all that, it enriches your life and becomes part of you.

Research, like life, is surely suffering. It's also purifying, clarifying, and enlightening. If you're going for a Ph.D., it helps to adopt the ethos of a samurai. You must master nature, force her to obey - it's like sorcery. And there are also obstacles you won't be able to overcome. It may be the hardest thing you ever do, but then few things worth doing are easy. The trick, as with everything else, is to stop worrying and enjoy the experiment.

And smile - don't forget to smile.

Necks 'n Hawks

The top ten Google Search terms leading to my blog in the last 5 months (courtesy of Analytics). I find this remarkable.

A Peace Offering

In light of recent current events, I thought it might be worth rerunning some of my posts about peace. These include Turkish Delight, A Giant Keg for Mankind, What Stands Between Us is Only Words, and Non-Violence and the Jedi.

http://www.samuraiscientist.blogspot.com/search/label/peace