Happy Hour 2006

January 9, 2006

We are pleased to announce that our happy hour was a huge success. The food was lovely, the beer was intoxicating, and the company was delicious. Thanks to our patented "Rock the Happy Hour" promotion technique, we had guests coming from the far corners of the medical school. Notable appearances were made by the Glazer and DiMaio labs, the "cheap date" flies, and both new and old popes, who both agreed, "It was better than 'Cats'."

 

posted by Erica

The Mechanical Contrivium: Trivia About Susan

January 20, 2006

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Susan!

  1. A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but Susan can not!
  2. It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be Susan.
  3. In Japan it is considered rude to talk with Susan in your mouth.
  4. If you toss Susan 10000 times, she will not land heads 5000 times, but more like 4950, because her head weighs more and thus ends up on the bottom!
  5. Moles are able to tunnel through 300 feet of Susan in a day.
  6. If your ear itches, this means that someone is talking about Susan!
  7. Susan can smell some things up to six miles away.
  8. Susan is the only one of the original Seven Wonders of the World that still survives.
  9. Banging your head against Susan uses 150 calories an hour.
  10. There are more than two hundred different kinds of Susan!
I am interested in - do tell me about

posted by Erica

Kara aims higher (at skyscrapers)

March 9, 2006

On the eve of her third wedding anniversary, Kara successfully defended her thesis, entitled "Human cloning: An ethically depraved exercise in elevated self-esteem." Her presentation demonstrated how she spent her first four years in the lab working to clone herself, so that she (and her clone) could get more work done. During her final year in the lab, she took advantage of this double efficiency to perform experiments in two labs at the same time.

"It was very helpful," Kara-1 says, "to be able to send Kara-2 to New York for the elutriation experiments, while I stayed here and did some 35-S labeling." The lab agreed that Kara-2 helped Kara-1 complete an unprecedented amount of work, and asked to keep the clone. Unfortunately, Kara decided to take the clone with her to her post-doc position in New York. It seems Kara-2 has a penchant for 5th Avenue.

The Baserga lab will miss Kara-1, and hopes she'll come back to visit often.

posted by Erica

High Rate of Turnover in Baserga Lab

July 7, 2006

A catalyst, which remains elusive, is predicted to have caused a significantly higher rate of turnover than usual in the Baserga Lab. While the lab is experiencing a depletion of Kara, Sander, and Chewie, their absence is being suppressed by an upregulation of Kat and Bennett, as well as a temporary increase of Indira. Additionally, we have observed an increase of Susan in the lab, which may or may not be associated with the decrease of Kara. Continuing work seeks to quantify the increase in the turnover number, kcat, as well as to investigate a proposed link of the kcat to Kat.

Meet the new Basergas!

posted by Erica

Lab Hazard Rating System

July 25, 2006

We've been notified by the department of safety of a new Lab Hazard Rating System. Our lab rates as shown here.

posted by Erica