Legal problems of Ph.D's in Germany

As some of you may know already, my husband is German, so what I read last night in C&EN (don't you think it is ridiculous that I often don't get C&EN until Friday?) really shocked me. Apparently some internationally-trained (non-EU) scientists in Germany are facing charges for using the title "Dr." on their websites and business cards. Before I started reading, I was sure that it must be something to do with the fact that the "Dr." title might be confused with a medical doctor in a foreign country. But as I read further, I realized this wasn't the case. According to Spiegel, this law stems from 1939--and in simplified terms states that foreign degrees are suspicious, and need to be verified. In those times, such a law might have made sense, but now it just seems outdated. Luckily, the German government has already started to fix things up; at a conference in Berlin last week (see point 5) it was decided that an American Ph.D's can use the "Dr." prefix in Germany as long as their degree was granted from an institution recognized by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

Happy Pi Day!

This video is kind of freaky, but it fits the pi day theme nicely. Enjoy!

New Bacteria isolated....from hairspray

Earlier today when I read the news online, I came across this article. Basically, researchers in Japan have discovered a new type of bacteria. And it lives in hairspray. Of course, I had to look up the original article, and I just want to know why researchers decided to search for "hairspray bacteria" in the first place. Of course I've heard of various cosmetic products becoming contaminated with bacteria, and I know that many bacterial species are thermophiles, acidophiles, or even both, but I just didn't think that hairspray would be such a great environment. The newest ingredient in your hairspray bottle is from the genus Microbacterium and researchers have proposed the name Microbacterium hatanonis (in honor of the scientist Kazunori Hatano, a Microbacterium expert). For those interested, the rod-shaped Microbacterium hatanonis is aerobic and Gram-positive.

On a side note, when I first read the article and saw the words "parsimony analysis," I had to laugh, because my brain could only think of the Parselmouths (the characters in the Harry Potter books that can speak the language of snakes). In reality, parsimony refers to the idea that "less is more," or that the simplest explanation for something is generally the best. In this paper, maximum parsimony analysis was carried out to create phylogenetic trees demonstrating the relationship between the new hairspray bacteria and other strains of Microbacterium.

Answers Research Journal?

First, I want to say I went to the Answers Research Journal website with a totally open mind. While I am not overly religious, I don't necessarily believe that science is at odds with religion. As an undergraduate I took a excellent class (I forget the name, it was something along the lines of "Great Issues in Science") and was first introduced to the writings of Paul Davies, Richard Dawkins, and Stephen Jay Gould. My favorite two "textbooks" from the class were "The Mind of God: The Scientific Basis for a Rational World," and "Origins: Cosmos, Earth and Mankind." If you are at all interested in science and/or religion and how the two subjects can come to terms with each other, I highly recommend these books as a place to start.

Anyways, when my husband sent me a link to ARJ last week, I was intrigued. It seems as if the journal is an offshoot of the website AnswersinGenesis.org. According to their website, "ARJ is a professional, peer-reviewed technical journal for the publication of interdisciplinary scientific and other relevant research from the perspective of the recent Creation and the global Flood within a biblical framework." At first I had high hopes (I mean, it is "peer-reviewed and everything, that must count for something, right?) and was really hoping for some cool science or interesting theories on how (Christian) religion and science can really go hand in hand. Andrew Snelling, the editor, certainly has the scientific credentials (a Ph.D. in geology from the University of Sydney) necessary for making informed scientific decisions.

So what did I find? Well, I only looked at the current issue, but I wasn't very impressed. Of the five articles, two were written by scientists from "Answers in Genesis" and one was written by a guy whose only credentials are his (home?) address. Two are also written in the first person (which in my opinion just doesn't work for scientific publications), and sound like sermons rather than peer-reviewed scientific research. I do have to admit, the article on Louis Pasteur is pretty interesting, and while I would classify this article on granite formation as opinion rather than research, it was entertaining (I hesitate to say informative) as well. Although I had high hopes and an open mind, I was really left a little disappointed at the end of it all.

Face Research

This is not chemistry related, but I thought it was too cool to pass up. The Face Research Laboratory is run by Lisa DeBruine and Ben Jones, two experimental psychologists currently working at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. I think the face average is the coolest part of the website, but you can participate in one of their many studies here.

Nature Chemistry

Today over at the Sceptical Chymist, Stuart Cantrill revealed a preview of the Nature Chemistry website. The journal is set to open in April 2009. I must say I'm quite pleased with the color choice--the beautiful blue/violet color reminds me of the natural product analogs that one of my labmates is busy synthesizing.

Cheddar anyone?

Why in the world would someone want to calculate the heat capacity of cheese? While I do enjoy a nice creamy Brie, fresh mozzarella (especially with tomatoes and fresh basil), and maybe once in a great while a strong stinky cheese (reminiscent of Limburger) that I tasted on the Azores, calculating the heat capacity of each individual cheese seems to be taking it a little far, doesn't it?

Apparently not. In order to design the perfect cooling systems for the food industry, it is important to know the heat capacity of the food you are dealing with. For cheese it seems like moisture content is key in heat capacity calculations. Formulas to calculate heat capacity for cheese tend to be more accurate for those cheeses with higher water content (soft cheeses). Who would have known?