We understand a crossword puzzle should require no explanation, but given that even Pop-tarts have directions, we’ll err on the side of caution.

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Instructions:

1. Click on image below to begin working on the interactive crossword puzzle.
2. Try not to let the timer taunt you.
3. As needed, use the “Hint” and “Check my answers” buttons in the upper left corner
4. Have fun!

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How fast can you complete it?

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[NOTE: Internet Explorer users may experience compatibility issues.]

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Looking for other puzzles to tackle?

Back to Basics with Chemistry and Biology

Lab Techniques Word Search: You Can Do Them, But Can You Find Them?

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Dear Croc Doc (or soon-to-be if working toward your PhD),

First let me applaud you on your excellent hand hygiene protocol!  Dirty, dusty or sweaty hands are as unattractive as scaly ones.  However, as you guessed, the only acceptable scales in science are the ones you use to measure materials.  Fortunately, there is a remedy for your unnecessary roughness this season both in and out of the lab.  Here’s the Rx:

Gold Bond Ultimate Hand Sanitizer Moisturizer.  This drugstore delight is inexpensive, cleansing and quickly evaporating.  A little drop goes a long way.  One drop will soothe and sanitize without any greasy residue.  It is available in one size for the bench and one for your jacket pocket or handbag.  I certainly would not want to be stranded on this less-than-deserted island of Manhattan without it!

For further protection, invest in a pair of stylish AND practical winter gloves.  I’m obsessed with these touch sensitive gloves by Echo Design!  They are available online for men and women in various uber cool styles, colors and materials.  But perhaps the best feature is that you can actually keep them on while texting, surfing the web or using that antiquated feature of dialing a phone number and then talking.  (I think that’s what they used to do back in the late 20^th century?!)

For men, I love the wool/suede option.

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And for women, I love the Sporty echo touch glove.

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You’ll see a lot of bright colors this season and throughout 2012.  If you are somewhat color-phobic, then accessories are a great way to incorporate this season’s vivid trend.  Gloves, hats and scarves are low commitment items (meaning they come off at the bench) that pop otherwise neutral winter ensembles. Color should be fun, not scary. The key to bold color is to keep it simple. By sticking to one color or one texture for your accessories, you can ensure that the entire outfit plays well together. For example, if you’re buttoning up your favorite neon pink jacket, it’s best to stick with neutral accessories. On the flip side, if you go with a bold hat and glove combo, it will look best when paired with a neutral outfit.

Here’s to smooth and bright 2012!

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Whether painting faces backstage at Victoria’s Secret, traveling the globe for her international clients or writing for magazines and style guides, our FlyGirl lends her hands to enhance beauty both inside and out.  She thinks creatively and approaches practically to create unique yet easy styles.  Send your questions to FlyGirl@benchfly.com and learn how to become your own artist! 

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[Disclaimer: Neither FlyGirl or BenchFly makes any money off of the products recommended in this column.]

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Need some help from FlyGirl? Send questions to FlyGirl@benchfly.com and don’t miss her recent articles:

A-Mean-Ol-Acid

Bringing Style to Science, Literally. Introducing: FlyGirl

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So next time a labmate places the phony “I’m in the library” message on their desk, make them sweat a bit when they return from their two-hour lunch by leaving one of these notes on their bench. Simply download, print, and fill out the note then sit back and watch what happens.

DOCTOR’S WARNING: Do not use the While You Were Out Note for Scientists on individuals with high blood pressure or short fuses as both situations could be harmful to their – or your – health.

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[Click message below to download your blank While You Were Out note.]

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Looking for more notes to use around the lab?

The Passive-Aggressive Instrument Note

Let Chuck Norris Protect Your Bench

Beware of the Graduate Student

The Qualifying Exam Courtesy Note

A Message from the Department of Lab Security

Pay it Forward with Good Lab Mojo Checks

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Our good friends over at The Node decided they needed to take action to ensure developmental biologists everywhere hang on every word out of seminar speakers’ mouths in 2012. Incorporating the fantastic keyword suggestions from The Node’s readers, we’ve created a Developmental Biology Group Meeting Bingo card.

Bingo? Are we actually suggesting you gamble during seminars? Yes!  No. We’re simply providing a few key words that you may listen for during a talk… and if it just so happens that your card yields “Bingo!” sooner than your labmates’ and they have to take you out to lunch as a result, so be it…

Happy New Year (and good luck)!

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[Click below to get your board. Not a Developmental Biologist? Check out our Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Chemistry, Neuroscience and Proteomics editions]

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Looking for other opportunities to spice up a seminar?

How to Survive a Boring Seminar (and win some bets at the same time)

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But how about resolving to improve your lab life in 2012? I know, I know, some of you are the perfect tech/grad student/postdoc, but for the rest of us, here are a few suggestions for your New Year’s Lab-olution.

1. “In 2012, my bench will have more than a square foot of usable space available at all times.” We all have those weeks when we just don’t have a spare minute to clear up our bench. However, there is a limit to how long you can play the “I’ve been super busy” card when someone expresses concern over the vast quantity of unlabeled conical tubes filled with mystery liquids, especially if you’re making the excuse while cruising Amazon PubMed at your desk. Not only can this propensity to clutter infringe on your labmate’s space but it could seriously tick off that pesky health and safety officer who frequents your building.

2. “I will keep up with my notebook.” That’s not to say a notebook isn’t being kept, but is it organized? Is it correctly dated? Do the pages of it need to be actually contained within a 3-ring binder and not strewn across your desk?

3. “I will not pick my nose while wearing gloves.”  Not only should you not be picking your nose, gross, doing so with gloves on could result in a nasty situation. Imagine if you forgot about the hydrochloric acid you splashed on them while pH-ing a batch of Tris? Hmmmm? Seriously nasty. And while we’re at it there are other activities you probably shouldn’t be doing in gloves, like typing a quick email or turning down the volume on the lab stereo. Dancing, however, is fine. In fact, I think gloves add emphasis to certain moves.

4. “I will not put empty solution bottles back in the fridge after finishing the contents.” Exhibit A, an email sent by me to my lab a few months back:

Seriously not cool. Common solutions should always be left in a usable state, i.e. there should be enough left for someone else to complete at least one step of an experiment. Leaving a useless trickle doesn’t count, and it aggravates the trickle-finder.

5. “I will not eat Domino’s pizza no matter how free it is.” I know Domino’s has recently mounted a very strong advertising campaign about how they have improved their pizza, but they may have overstated said improvement. It’s really not good. And no matter how hungry you are you will feel worse after eating it.

6. “I won’t leave my Facebook account open on a common computer.” If you, like me, work in a lab full of pranksters, then this is definitely something to be conscious of. I am currently embroiled in a Spotify war as I generously leave my account open. But it turns out that Spotify posts songs to Facebook. Apparently the other day I listened to a whole playlist of songs whose titles contained my fellow grad student’s name. Sigh.

7. “I will make more lame science puns/jokes than last year.” This is one of those super positive resolutions sure to entertain your colleagues and generally improve your lab life. For example, we have this displayed on our door:

8. “I will no longer be jealous of the two projects in lab that are *actually* working.” It’s tough to be supportive when all your experiments are failing, but just remember, you’ll want a pat on the back when they start giving you publishable data. Try and keep the green-eyed monster in check.

9. “I will not use the fact that I work in a lab to validate my ink-stained pants and mis-matched socks.” Today I am actually wearing a rather fetching sweater dress, but yesterday I was wearing a pair of jeans that had suffered a small pen-in-the-laundry-related incident. Pride in your appearance is a nice self-esteem booster, plus if you haven’t dressed nicely in a while you get A LOT of compliments. But don’t forget to sport your protective lab coat when actually at the bench. Phenol can very quickly destroy a pair of tights.

10. “Graduate. For realz you guyz.”

Have I missed anything? Let us know in the comments!!

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Katie Pratt is a graduate student in Molecular Biology at Brown University. She has a passion for science communication, and in an attempt to bring hardcore biology and medicine to everyone, she blogs jargon-free at www.katiephd.com. Follow her escapades in the lab and online on Twitter.

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Miss a previous edition of Mind the Gap? Shame on you! Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered:

A Social Network for Food: Why Won’t Vanilla Friend Garlic?

I’d Rather Die Fat and Young than Old and Skinny

Look Into My Wide, Vacant, Eyes

I’m Just Mad About Saffron

Sweet Relief: How Sugar May Help Reverse Climate Change

Laughter Really is the Best Medicine

All Work and No Play Makes Katie RSI Prone

Sexual Identity and Autocrine Stimulation: Oh, To Be Teenage Yeast

On Wine, Sunburns and the Tendency of Headlines to Mislead

Which Came First: The Opossum or the Snake?

Pigeons Know a Crazy Woman When they See One

To Boldly Go Where No Worm Has Gone Before

Another One Bites the Dust: Rinderpest Eradicated

Scientists Just Wanna Have Fun (Like Uncaged Monkeys)

Mosquitoes Eating You Alive? Cheesy Feet Could be the Problem

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“I don’t have the money.”

“I would rather light a $20 bill on fire than spend it on my PI.”

“I don’t know what they like.”

“I’ll be the butt of my labmates’ jokes for years if they find out.”

“I don’t have time.”

“I tried it last year and it obviously didn’t matter.”

“I haven’t seen my PI in months- heck, they might not even work here anymore for all I know.”

“Does a flaming bag of dogs–t count as a gift?”

“They never get me one, so what’s the point?”

“Nobody else does it, so why should I?”

Yeah, we know – a few things may be running through your head right now. But frankly, none of these are particularly good excuses for not taking a moment to thank the person who puts the bread on your table (even if that “bread” is a dehydrated pack of Ramen noodles…). While PIs may not give each of us a gift individually, many take the lab out for a holiday lunch or dinner and some even invite the group into their homes. Unless that “dinner” is McDonalds, they’re running up a pretty good tab on our behalf.

Although one may argue that other than the single digit difference in writing the rent check, new year is just a week like any other. However, with the new year comes the opportunity to reflect on the previous twelve months and make a change, if necessary. The new year is like a giant reset button and all we have to do is press it. But is giving a gift to our PI the button we’re looking for?

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Have any cheap and easy PI gift ideas?

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Fig and Stilton Holiday Appetizer

Ingredients:

• 3 heads Belgian endive, trimmed, washed, and dried
• 1 jar fig and ginger preserves
• Stilton blue cheese
• Dried cranberries or cherries
• Toasted pecans, chopped
• Golden honey
• Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Place a dollop of fig preserves on the endive boat.  Top with a small chunk of Stilton cheese as the strong flavor blends well with the fig preserves and honey.  Place 2 or 3 dried cranberries and some toasted pecans in the boat. Drizzle with a thin ribbon of honey.  Top with a mint leaf.

Serve with a sauterne, pinot gris, bottle of bubbly or your favorite holiday beverage and enjoy! Thanks again, Jean!

For the gorgonzola fans out there, take a look at our other endive appetizer recipe. (Yes, we have two endive recipes!)

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About the contributor: Jean Calvert is a freelance writer, a jazz & blues singer, as well as an amateur chef happily residing in Greenville, South Carolina.  Her sassy, jazzy Christmas single, KISS MY FANNY, SANTY!, now available on CD Baby.

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Have any other favorite recipes for the holiday season?

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For the Ladies

Maintain your Pearly Whites

A few swipes of these peppermint pads will leave your teeth AND breath stain free!  You don’t have to wipe out the fun, only the evidence of it.  The container fits into even the tiniest clutch or coat pocket, so sneaking away to the bathroom to wipe can remain a secret.

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Plump your Pure Gloss pucker

Jane Iredale has one of the best lipglosses on the market.  With colors and effects (shimmer and/or shine) to satisfy all tastes, your lips will feel conditioned, full and radiant.  (The mint and ginger leaves your lips lickably fresh!) Look hot, feel cool.  What more do you need?!

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For the Men

Strengthen your most powerful muscle

Seriously, don’t leave home without these.  Enough said.

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Protect your pout…and your pride

Minty and more importantly, matte (Matte for Men).  You don’t have to worry about shiny lip syndrome.  Thus, you have no excuse for cracked and chapped lips.

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‘Tis the season for affordable acid warriors!!  Happy Holidays!

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Need some help from FlyGirl? Send questions to FlyGirl@benchfly.com, or ask in the comments section below!

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Whether painting faces backstage at Victoria’s Secret, traveling the globe for her international clients or writing for magazines and style guides, our FlyGirl lends her hands to enhance beauty both inside and out.  She thinks creatively and approaches practically to create unique yet easy styles.  Send your questions to FlyGirl@benchfly.com and learn how to become your own artist! 

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Recently, your humble nerd sat down with FlyGirl in New York to discuss her road to stardom, her passion for helping scientists and her goals for the column. Time for a serious scientist image makeover that would make the Tri-lambs jealous.

BF: You’ve made up some very popular people in our world: Hillary Clinton, Dan Rather, John Mayer, Leann Rimes.  How do you go from making the initial decision that you want to be a make-up artist to having Mariska Hargitay in front of you trusting you with their face?

FG: Well, I would be lying if I said I always wanted to be a makeup artist.  As a child, I loved makeup and playing dress up, but I never thought it would amount to anything beyond the realm of childhood fantasy play.  Thus, after college I moved to New York and worked in a corporate environment because that was what I thought I was supposed to do.  I was miserable working in a cubicle and staring at a computer 95% of the day.  So I took a few acting classes to try and satiate my creative desires.  Turns out that my acting skills are worse than my lab science skills (there was a bit of a “titration incident” caused by yours truly in my college chemistry lab!) but a fellow “actor” (aspiring filmmaker) asked if I would do the makeup for his film pro-bono. Turns out “pro-bono” is different than “with Bono”…  He gave me $80 to build my makeup kit and the directions to set.  I arrived to work at 6am the following morning and have been working ever since.

Creating glamour is, in fact, the antithesis of glamorous!  Ten years of freelancing in the glamour industry taught me that success results from persistence, vision, constant redefinition of goals, having thick skin, being flexible, facing rejection and expecting the unexpected.  It is a long and twisted road with lots of on-the-job training, incredibly long hours, little to no pay in the beginning while you work up to getting published and building an industry reputation. Hang on, isn’t that the same as being a scientist???

But as we all know the payoff for preparedness and hard work (and perhaps a little luck) can be enormous. I remember reading about Judah Folkman “stumbling” into his work with angiogenesis.  His seemingly overnight success was actually years in the making.  So we prepare our “toolkit” the best we can and take the leap toward progress.

Fashion and music seem to be at the opposite end of the “image spectrum” as science. What would you say to scientists reading this that say “I don’t need to worry about how I look, my results will speak for themselves”?

If they think image doesn’t matter, maybe they’ve spent a little too much time inhaling solvents in the lab…You’re a BenchFly reader so you clearly already have an interest in executing the best practices in science and in life.  You are savvy! But now it’s time to realize that “I just work in a lab all day” isn’t gonna cut it anymore. You may think you’re “just” a graduate student or postdoc, but the reality is that you’re a professional.

You have worked exceptionally hard to get where you are at this point in your career and your academic achievements obviously warrant respect and accolade.  But believe me when I tell you that a well-kempt appearance will dramatically increase the possibility of your results being noticed because YOU will be noticed.  People expect that a scientific lab is clean, organized and efficient. People also expect those working in that environment to be of the same caliber, even if was not common practice in the past.  Today’s world is fast-paced and competitive and every aspect of an individual matters.  You must present yourself as a full package regardless of your industry.  As a responsible professional, it’s not a bonus for you to invest in your appearance – it’s a requirement.

That being said, I understand that you may put fashion and grooming on the back Bunson burner in order to concentrate on your scientific results.  That is why I was thrilled when BenchFly asked me to join forces! Throughout my professional career, my goal has been to keep it simple and achievable.  Beauty is about being confident.  And when you look good, you feel good and work even better.  This does not mean you have to invest in a $400 John Edwards haircut, buy a Gucci suit or wear a full face of makeup and coifed hair everyday.  It simply means following a few guidelines and having a little fun in the process.

How has your experience on shoots prepared you to field questions about the lab?

Work in the beauty industry is frenetic, runs on a shoestring budget, NEVER goes as planned and often takes place in less than ideal physical working environments.  Hmmm, sound familiar?

Working on set with a team is like working in a lab in many ways- you come prepared, set-up meticulously, discuss the plan with a team, execute the experiment, tweak it if necessary and hope for positive results.  In the end, it could fail.  But the experience develops resilience, thick skin, and excitement for the next time you get to implement the tricks and tips learned along the way.

What do you hope people take away from your column?

Honestly, I have a secret plutonic crush on science!!  Having grown up surrounded by scientists, I firmly believe that you are some of the most creative geniuses in the world with a fantastic sense of humor (how else could you face low pay and failure on a daily basis and remain sane?!?) and realistic life perspective.  But because of past experiences (um, nerdy mad scientist typecast) the collective image of the scientist has a ways to go on the style side of life. I want you to make as much of a statement as your results!  I hope to enlighten as well as entertain.

Whether painting faces backstage at Victoria’s Secret, traveling the globe for her international clients or writing for magazines and style guides, our FlyGirl lends her hands to enhance beauty both inside and out.  She thinks creatively and approaches practically to create unique yet easy styles.  Send your questions to FlyGirl@benchfly.com and learn how to become your own artist! 

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Come back tomorrow for FlyGirl’s 2011 Stocking Stuffer Guide to find out what products you can’t (or shouldn’t) live without!

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But how would Darwin describe the evolution of this strange organism? Somehow, a lab must go from an idea in one person’s head to a fully-functioning group capable of elucidating mechanisms and answering questions. Somewhere along that path, a grad student and a PI emerged. Inspired by EJ’s question in the most recent Dear Dora column, the real question is which one of them first slithered out of the primordial cesspool?

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