Speak Up!

Know what drives me nuts?

Louder, Yorick, I can't hear you!
Source: RSC

Sitting in the back of a seminar room after a fantastic talk.

I can never hear anyone's questions! 

We scientists aren't always the most talkative types, but you'd think we could eke out some volume when it counts, right?

Wrong. I can't tell you how often I've cupped my hand to my ear, leaned so far forward I'm nearly doubled over, and all I get are vague "Charlie Brown's teacher" noises directed at the seminar speaker.

Thoughts race through my head: "Was that my question? Will the speaker repeat it? Don't we have a microphone around???"

Well, let's try to set some ground rules to follow before the next occurrence.

Physiology - Ever take voice or speech classes? There's some easy steps to take to project your voice:

1. Prepare. Don't fumble for words or go 'round in logical circles. One of my colleagues writes his question down on paper before he asks, and then reads from the script. Try it.

2. Breathe. Before you speak, take a deep breath, filling bottom-to-top (diaphragm to chest). Your air supply governs your voice, so fill up!

3. Open up. Your soft palate, the tissue near the back and top of your mouth, needs to be open to allow your voice to resonate in your nasal cavities. One trick to accessing this space? Pretend to yawn, but stop yourself before you do. Feel that heightened, awake moment? That's the soft palate moving, permitting increased air flow.

4. Speak. Use full sentences, and make sure you're communicating the central point of your question. The goal is for the speaker - and the audience - to hear and understand what you're asking. Pause as necessary, using measured spaces between words to drive home important points.

Etiquette - Never just shout out your question, or attempt to cut someone else off while asking theirs.

It's not necessary to overly praise the speaker for his unbelievable oh-my-gosh best talk I've ever heard in my life so thoughtful and well-arranged, etc, etc. The speaker knows they're competent, or they wouldn't be at the front of the room, lecturing...

It's also unnecessary to show your wittiness and intellect by recounting your personal lab highlights, or how much literature you've read on the topic. It's the speaker's moment, not yours.

Always use common courtesy: "Please," "Thank You," "You're Welcome," "Professor," "Dr," "Sir," "Miss / Madame," "Excuse Me," "May I." A few gracious words in the right circumstance could catch the eye of a future collaborator or postdoc advisor.

All else fails? Ask the speaker after the talk, when you can get them one-on-one.

Readers: Have more tips for our seminar questioners? Talk to me in the comments!

Friday Fun: Who Should be Science Laureate?

Perhaps this little tidbit from ScienceInsider got lost in the shuffle yesterday:

Looks like Washington wants a Science Laureate, a travelling scientist "national spokesman for science" to rove about the country drumming up support and excitement. From Sen. Hirono's (HI) office:

"This new honorary position would be appointed by the President from nominees recommended by the National Academy of Sciences and serve for a term of 1-2 years. Using this national platform, the Science Laureate would be empowered to speak to Americans on the importance of science broadly and scientific issues of the day..."

"So, should we rock-paper-scissors for it, then?"
Credit: Solar San Antonio | Hayden Planetarium

“...Establishing honorary U.S. Science Laureates would send a clear message to young people about the value of science and technology in our society, and the importance of scientific research to both economic progress and our quality of life,” said Alan I. Leshner Chief Executive Officer of the AAAS and Executive Publisher of Science." 

OK, I'm all in favor of increasing exposure and public awareness of science, even if most of the politicians quoted in the article keep beating the STEM STEM STEM horse to death.
So, what does this gig pay, anyway?

"Like the Poet Laureate, the Science Laureate would be an unpaid, honorary post. The scientist would also be encouraged to continue their important scientific work."

Tough break. Guess you'd be expected to write those R01's on the road, then.

Happy Friday!
SAO 

Helium: Heavy Demand, Light Supply

From NPR News this morning, an intriguing news tidbit regarding the ongoing helium shortage:

"There's a global shortage of refined helium, and it could get worse if the [U.S.] government doesn't stay in the business of selling helium. To understand how we got here, we need to go back to nearly a century ago to World War I. Germany started building huge inflatable aircraft, and to keep up, the U.S. started stockpiling helium. That federal helium reserve is located outside Amarillo, Texas. [snip]

Hope you can hold off on that overnight 13C
Source: Bruker

. . .there are now 10 billion cubic feet of the gas stored in this federal reservoir — enough to fill about 50,000 Goodyear blimps. And it's all kept under a wide-open prairie dotted with coyotes and jack rabbits."

Hang on, let me catch up here. Federal Helium Program? Strategic reserve? I mean, I've heard about the shortage (SciAm, Science, Marketplace), but I didn't realize the situation had grown so dire. (On a micro-econ level, I had noticed that the Airgas truck doesn't stop by to refill the NMRs quite so often, and hourly billing rates are climbing...)

Most of the articles indicate private refineries and exploration firms will bear the supply brunt if Congress doesn't act. 

Perhaps #chemjobs' future isn't in fracking after all - ever thought about 'helium hunting?' Failing that, maybe you could "catch a falling star" and then list it on eBay.

Justice = Served

Friend of the blog Stu Cantrill sends along a long-awaited decision, courtesy of our pals over at Retraction Watch. Blogizens may recall I wrote (strongly) in favor of this outcome back in February.

I applaud the editors of Chemistry: A European Journal for righting this ship. Well done.

Did you see how that worked out, Dalton Transactions?
Hope you reconsider for next time.

Thanks,
SAO

Special Delivery

Look what arrived by mail in the post this morning:

As seen in several celebrity photo-shoots

OK, so I'm no Charles Atlas (or even Phil Baran) yet, but I'm getting there...
Thanks to the hard-working, fun-loving staff at Nature Chemistry!

My Scientific Misadventures

Did you hear about the Florida teen expelled from school for her unsupervised chemical forays?

Tragic. 

Reading Ash and DNLee's posts over at SciAm made me furious, too. So, I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane, recounting all the stupid (but important!) things I tried in science labs, Kindergarten through College.

Disclaimer: Don't try these on school grounds. Given today's educational climate, you'd likely be in serious trouble for any of these activities.

1. I learned about acidic corrosion by testing small drops of concentrated HCl on coins, nails, paper clips, wood - basically anything that changed color or smoked.

2. Particle size controls reaction rate? I cut up a bunch of hand warmers to play with thermite.

3. I examined anything and everything under our high-powered class microscopes. Including pus, blood, urine, mucus, skin, hair, tears, and spit. All from me.

4. I figured out how to catch asbestos-lined 3-prong clamp sleeves on fire.

5. When I heard about the halogen flame-test, I didn't stop at the required substrates. Turns out, lots of things from your lunch-box will give a positive test.

6. I explored salt bridges and solution conductance using lantern batteries and light bulbs.

7. I cultivated fruit flies in an old pasta jar in my dorm room. Never did see a white-eyed one...

8. Many things will catch fire using a magnifying glass + sunshine.

9. Sometimes, heating something just a bit more will produce beautiful crystals. And sometimes multiple grams of bright blue copper complexes end up all over your smock, the bench, and the floor.

10. My "wilderness survival" kit contained a flint and steel. I did not use these exclusively for survival.

11. Best way to learn about peroxides? Drop some liver into them (or some blood).

12. The experiment to extract luciferin from fireflies did not go as planned.

13. Fun with food chemistry: Just start mixing things from the cupboard and see what happens!

14. You cannot remove urushiol (poison ivy oil) with rubbing alcohol. It just seeps deeper into your skin.

15. Iodine starch tests work on bread, paper, and clothes...

I'm sure there are many, many more. End result? Proud Ph.D. chemist.

Aldrich: Proactive for Pyrophorics

Anyone ordered a pyrophoric reagent (butyllithium, DIBAL-H, Grignards, etc) from Aldrich lately?
Notice anything different?

For those new to the blog, I work at a relatively small biotech company, and as such do all my own ordering, from catalog lookup through payment submission. Last week, we required 100 mL of a soluble alkyl-aluminum reducing agent, so I made my order and waited for delivery. Instead, I got an email from Aldrich's Product Screening Team:

Greetings:  An item you've ordered is extremely hazardous. Please provide, at a minimum, a paragraph of how you will handle this material...

Whoa! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for enhanced laboratory safety, but we've ordered kilos of sodium hydride, liters of n-BuLi, and never encountered this particular safeguard.

When the aforementioned reagent (finally) arrived, it had the following label prominently featured on top:

"WARNING! The bottle inside this can contains a PYROPHORIC CHEMICAL. Exposure of this chemical to air as a result of careless handling or breakage of the bottle could result in spontaneous combustion of the chemical and extreme danger. This chemical should be handled only by trained, experienced and qualified personnel. Failure to follow the proper handling techniques could result in serious injury. Do not handle, transport or store the enclosed glass bottle unprotected!
     We strongly recommend retaining the metal can as a protective container for storing and/or transporting the inside bottle. 

NOTE -- Any literature included in this package must be read before attempting to use this chemical.      ALD-0056"

Double whoa! Now, I've been doing this a while, and I honestly don't recall seeing such strongly-worded labels on the outside. The label appears to be affixed a little differently from the standard product label below it, leading me to believe it's a recent addition to these product lines.

Somehow, I suspect that the increased safety precautions may have something to do with the ongoing legal battle out at UCLA.

Readers: Anyone from Aldrich read this blog? Can anyone weigh in here?

Update, 4/29: Since Andre asked so nicely in the Comments, I've included a picture, below:

Goodness, gracious, great bottle of fire!