RECENT POSTS

Au revoir… but not adieu

As an avowed atheist, it would be in poor taste for me to commend my few remaining readers to God, whether or not they would like to be. In any case, this post will start with an outpouring of gratitude for the unlimited opportunities that Nature Network, and before that, the Science Advisory Board, have allowed me for self-expression. I could have done it myself, perhaps, but it did not happen that way. Thank you for enabling me to meet… Read more

Posted in personal | 21 Comments

Take it on authority

We do assume things are being done in the background, but because we never hear anything, we are going to assume the worst after a while. (Ian Brooks) Earlier this month, I attended a patient association conference in the U.S., concerning a rare congenital skin condition known as the large or giant congenital melanocytic nevus.1 This, and the recent kerfuffle during the month of July, 2010, over the rearrangement of excellent science bloggers into new collectives or at least the… Read more

Posted in philosophy, science | 0 Comments

The regenerome

When I saw the corpse-like fingertip attached by a mere thread of gristle, and that the skin was white down to the first knuckle, I blanched, too. That was this morning, when I changed the bandage for the first time after slicing off part of my index Saturday night in a vegetable slicer. Since there was blood everywhere on first binding, I didn’t realize that I had in fact hit the nailbed – but I definitely didn’t hit bone. (I… Read more

Posted in article, personal, philosophy, science | 9 Comments

Dance until you drop

It’s been a while. Again. There seems to be a directly proportional relationship between my posting frequency and my sensation of being in control of things. In a few weeks, I will be moving both my laboratory and my home. I hope to stay put for about a decade or so, thereafter. For those coming into the story late, here’s the scorecard: 1970-1988 Newton, Massachusetts, USA 1988-1990 Wellesley, Massachusetts, USA 1990 (summer) Bar Harbor, Maine, USA. Left lab with a… Read more

Posted in personal, science | 6 Comments

A scientist by any other name

So, what’s your title? I’ve been asked this before, usually for when I am supposed to give a talk in English somewhere, and I usually try to come up with something on the spur of the moment. I’m a “chargé de recherche classe I, fonctionnaire de l’Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale”. Having been brought up in the academic system in the U.S., where the only non-private research career for molecular embryologists (now, _there_’s a term!)… Read more

Posted in science | 32 Comments

Herbier de Provence

(Update: I will be editing this to include additional plant information below, both for my own memory, and for the Internet’s collective memory.) My family and I have been traipsing around Provence in spring. There are worse places to be. Since we will shortly be settling here, I thought I should try to familiarize myself with its indigenous fauna the other day. Two days ago, we went for a walk around the Gros Cerveau, so named not because it has… Read more

Posted in personal, science | 5 Comments

The best career in the world

Sometimes, I just love being a scientist. I started off wanting to be a marine biologist, thanks to the proximity of the New England Aquarium, a pioneer in the 70’s and 80’s. An avid reader from a young age, I was also inspired by Meg Murry’s mathematical aptitude (which my own did not quite mirror) and then, later, by Vicky and Adam’s discussions with the dolphins. (They wouldn’t talk to me, though, and it was hard to get close on… Read more

Posted in science | 3 Comments

Webbed fingers

Keeping tabs on my activities if I don’t write blog posts is not simple, and physical letter-writing from my desk has dwindled to an annual if not decennial activity, depending on the person. However, since I am carrying out a highly lifecast-inflected mindcasting on this blog, with a similar approach on "Twitter ":twitter.com/Etche_homo on occasion, and on Facebook regularly, it’s pretty easy to catch up for those who bother to try. Bora (why doesn’t anyone call him Coturnix? quails are… Read more

Posted in personal, science | 12 Comments

Sure as heck beats journal club

Hey, kids, here’s another shout out – wouldn’t you like to accrue fame and glory and host an edition of Scientia Pro Publica? I’ll be signing up perhaps towards the end of the year. Between now and then I will be moving across the country, traveling a fair bit, trying to provide some service activities to my communities and changing jobs – well, lab, anyhow. But I will put my money where my mouth is, someday soon. Also, there is… Read more

Posted in science | 0 Comments

Eggs-citing

There is an egg (protein) hunt going on at Nature Network, had you not already been aware. Go find the appropriate forum, to start. This is not too hard – use the search bar. Pretty awesome prize, too. It won’t even rot your teeth, unless you suck on candy while you read it. The first clues are already available. (If you’re smart or patient or both, you waited until now to click on the links.) Knowing the cleverness of the… Read more

Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments