a photoactivatable fluorophore

June 24, 2008 at 7:45 am | | cool results, literature, news, single molecules

I have a chance to brag, so I’m going to take it. I just published a Communication in JACS.

The basic idea is to use an an azide to disrupt the push-pull character of a known fluorophore, rendering it dark. Because the azide is photoconvertible to an electron donor (the amine), you can photoactivate fluorescence.

The motivation for designing photoactivatable fluorophores that emit many photon include super-resolution schemes (described here and here).

Anyway that’s all. Just wanted to talk about myself a little. Which is what a blog is for.

best podcast … ever

June 23, 2008 at 12:35 pm | | EDSELs, literature, science community, wild web

JACSβ is ACS’s attempt at going Web2.0, but I’m not too impressed, yet. The strangest thing is the JACS podcasts, which is nothing more than someone reading a JACS Comm word-for-word … literally! Seriously, they even read the submission date and describe the figures.

You can’t really get the full effect of a scientific article unless it’s narrated. Back in my day, we had all papers read to us out loud; I’ve never picked up a journal or read a paper on a computer screen. I’ve just hired someone to read anything I hand to him.

Seriously, though, I challenge you to go listen to the two podcasts they have at the JACSβ website. See if you can listen to and understand the articles all the way through.

Craziness.

UPDATE: My labmate pointed out the following: “The best thing is that according to the website, the JACS podcast is ‘Free for a limited time.’ Limited!?! Like we’ll pay for it after?” Ha!

UPDATE 2: This should have received an EDSEL in Literature.

godly love!

June 10, 2008 at 4:13 pm | | science and the public, science community

How much does research on “Godly Love” cost? If you said $150,000 per project, you’d be right!

To what extent can emotionally powerful experiences of a “divine flame of love” move us beyond our ordinary self-interests and help us express unconditional, unlimited love for all others, especially when our human capacities seem to reach their limits?

The Flames of Love Project at the University of Akron is trying to answer this and other such questions important to science and humanity. The FOLP is currently accepting proposals for the $150,000 research grant, so get going!

I have to say, I find the image on the homepage sorta creepy: like hands scrambling to escape something. I like life—this life. Do you need to believe in a godly, infinite, ultimate love in order to like this life? I think we live in a benevolent—or at least not malicious—Universe, what is godly love?

Anyway, I’m not a big fan of mixing religion and science. They simply approach questions differently. Doesn’t testing religious feelings make them less emotionally powerful? Anyway, “proving” faith is a contradiction in terms.

That’s my flow-of-unconsciousness.

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