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Light switches on the wall: Concepts we take for granted

For much of my life, dealing with electrical lighting has been relatively straight-forward. Upon walking into a dark room, I flip a wall-mounted switch into the up position to turn the lights on. When I’m done in that room, moving that same switch into the down position turns the lights off. For the first 26 years of my life, turning something on or off had essentially become a “dogma” for me: up for on, down for off.

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As you may or may not know, I was a violinist well before I was a scientist. For some reason, teachers are much happier to put a violin into the hands of a six-year-old than they are a pipette or a beaker full of hydrochloric acid. Parents, on the other hand, are generally less impressed, especially when said six-year-old is encouraged to practice at home (a.k.a. impersonate a dying cat) for at least 20 minutes a day. But eventually I managed to make the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star “ discernable from the other strange sounds emanating from my violin, and I’ve been playing ever since.

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Postdocs are the hired guns of academic research. They come complete with technical expertise and motivation to tackle a new scientific challenge. The postdoc is regarded as a training position and for those who desire an academic career, this period is a springboard to that opportunity. In theory, a postdoctoral fellowship is not meant to be a prolonged period, in which dirty words like “decade” and “comfortable” come into play. Rather, a more focused approach would do us well- get in, get what you need, get out. But what happens if your experience ends up being more like get in, get stuck, get depressed? Is that the end of your academic dreams?

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Dear Dora,

Thank you for your recent article about leaving a postdoc quickly with your reputation intact. My question somewhat parallels the matter you addressed. In my case, I didn’t leave my postdoc quickly; in fact I remained with that lab for a full two years (almost to the day). However, I did choose to leave at that time because, given the time and effort I did invest in that lab, being as objective as I could be, I didn’t see any tangible progress between Day 1 and the day I left. I was told by my PI, when leaving, that I should write up any and all results in a manuscript format and that we would certainly work, long-distance, to publish whatever had been successful either as a standalone paper (1st authorship for me) or combined with someone else’s project (2nd authorship or onward for me, but at least something!). I diligently wrote up what I had, but no publication ever arose from the two years I spent as a postdoc in that lab. All-in-all, I have very little to show from all the time and effort I invested.

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The other day I was talking to my parents via Skype when we were rudely interrupted by a very loud bird. It was a starling, and it was hanging out on the chimney, its (very loud) song echoing down into my parents’ living room.

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Hello BenchFly readers! It’s been quite awhile since my last edition, and I apologize for my absence. The life of a scientist… you know? But enough of that- down to my latest instalment. I was all set to give you an instructive, fun article on signal transduction, but events over the past few weeks have inspired me to deviate from the standard Enzyme Corner recipe to bring you something different. Without further ado, through the magic of social media I am here to talk to you about… the magic of social media… or is it the myth? In particular, I’m curious about the place of science within the Twitterverse.

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Hi Dora,

I started my postdoc in November. As much as I would like to say that it is going great, that is not the case. I have tried to work it out so far but I am thinking of changing the lab to find another postdoc or more ideally, a job in an industry. I will be quite obviously asked the reason of having such a short time in my postdoc. I am wondering what is the exact way of saying that without sounding like someone who is difficult to work with. I do not wish to personally attack my mentor. Also, does having a postdoc usually impact the process of getting a new job? My Ph.D. advisors and committee members can give a great recommendation for me but that will not be the case with my current advisor. Please help! and thank you! 

Darya, Postdoc

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The colossal squid has the largest eyes on the planet, but it remains a mystery as to why. These soccer ball-sized eyes are almost three times the size of the second largest animal eyes (those of the sperm whale reach 109mm in diameter), and up until now they were thought to have a diameter of 250 to 400mm. However studying them has proved challenging, as these underwater giants are extremely elusive.

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This is a sawfish. I’m pretty sure it’s named for its large, chainsaw like, nose (I know, it’s not really its nose, but I’ll get to that in a second), but I could be wrong. And until recently, what the sawfish does with its saw has been a bit of a mystery.

Sawfish are a species of ray, and live in both salty and fresh water in the sub-tropics. What I incorrectly referred to as its nose is actually called a rostrum, and is an extension of the fish’s cranium. It is made of cartilage, save for the boney teeth that stud the periphery. But unfortunately this rostrum, due to its propensity to get tangled in fishing nets and lines, has resulted in a dramatic decline in the number of these fish, and they are now considered critically endangered.

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Dear Dora,

I recently completed my postdoc (finally!) and took a job at a small company, who shall remain nameless. I am generally a very respectful person, both of people’s position within the company and their tenure there. However, there seems to be one employee who is technically lower than me by title, but who has been at the company for 6 years and they treat me like I’m their personal technician. I don’t want to be a jerk, but how can I make it clear that they’re supposed to do what I say, not the other way around? 

Newby, Scientist I

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