I’m not sure whether I should admit to the following, but this morning I found little scatterings of murine faeces and could detect a musky yet strong smell of ammonia in the storage area where we keep our dog and cat food. Not nice. In case you haven’t guessed, we got mice.

Odd that these little critters should be so brave as to venture into the part of the house in which the cat spends some of its time and although he is getting on in years, he does still have the legs for a chase (especially when the dog slips her lead and chases him out of the door. Anyway, traps have been bought and placed, droppings have been removed and traces of murine urine have been mopped up (with a cotton bud) and the whole area disinfected.

I got to thinking about that word I used just now. Murine. The “ine” suffix means just means “of”, “like”, or “referring to”, while the “mur” was derived from “mus” then “mur” for mouse in an originating Indo-European language and thence to Latin – “murinus” meaning of mice. The root gives rise to the scientific group name for both mice and rats Muridae or sub-family Murinae. Others words of similar structure include porcine (pigs), bovine (cattle), ursine (bears), ovine (sheep), equine (horses), and of course feline and canine, but not supine.

Speaking of animals and in particular of murinae, dogs and cats, as it’s coupons day you have probably guessed from the title of this post that the link this weekend is for 1800PetMeds coupons. So there you have it. On the same link you will also find Orvis, Petsmart, and Petco coupons.

1800PetMeds Coupons is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

Anyway, it’s the turn of Disney coupons this week, but where’s the science link? I could talk about some of the absurdity of the organisation’s paranormal output – Mary Poppins, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, and Herbie, for instance. Or, I could mention the psychological damage caused to me in trying to ponder, as a child, how Mickey Mouse’s ears always face forward no matter which way his head is turned. I could even mention Discover magazine, but, then again, maybe not.

So, dear reader, you are almost left dangling this weekend. Sciencebase has a Disney coupons section as I’ve mentioned. If you are buying from their online store, then please use the coupons. Currently, there are 15% and 20% discounts depending on what you buy and 60% off Halloween merchandise, which is quite timely, although certainly not science oriented, unless we discuss the medicinal and health benefits of pumpkin pie.

Finally, I could mention that a free High School Musical 2 CD is available if you spend $50 or more, but then that raises the question of psychological damage once again…

Disney Coupons is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

According to Toby Freedman, a university life “generally does not prepare individuals for careers in industry”. On the other hand, news this week that a freshman physics class just launched their own company, suggests he might on occasion be wrong. Nevertheless, an academic training is not entirely compatible with a move to the harsh realities of the commercial world and Freedman, who does hold a PhD, which she obtained from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and has written a book to help life scientists make the transition.

Career Opportunities in Biotechnology and Drug Development provides a detailed overview of more than 100 careers in the life sciences industry, advice on carrying out a targeted job search, and useful guidance on
making
the leap
from the ivory towerguidance on making the leap from the ivory tower into the commercial lab or non-academic work environment. Of course, I use the phrase “ivory tower” with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek, given the often equally cutthroat environment in which contract research associates work in academia.

Freedman writes from experience as a scientist who transitioned into business as a writer, recruiter, and entrepreneur, and recently launched a life sciences recruiting firm, Synapsis Search, which pairs job candidates with companies.

From the book’s blurb: “Topics cover 20 vocational areas, including research and development, regulatory and medical affairs, sales and marketing, business development, information management, law, executive leadership, consulting, recruiting, and finance. Each chapter includes a discussion of job security, future trends, and potential career paths; specific educational requirements and personality characteristics needed to excel in a chosen profession; recommendations of books, magazines, and Web site resources; and issues to consider regarding salary and compensation.”

You can access our biological sciences vacancies page here, our science jobs section here, and Nature’s editorial jobs newsfeed here. And, of course, as it’s a shopping day on Sciencebase, you can buy Freedman’s book here and get an Abebooks coupon.

Abebooks Coupons and Life Science Careers is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

So, meanwhile, in the Alchemist chemistry news section over on ChemWeb this week – two smelly discoveries caught my nose. The first points the way to a clearer understanding of how we smell, while the second explains the biochemistry of geosmin, the earthy smell of freshly turned soil and the particular bouquet after rain showers.

We now learn from GATech scientists how a sensor array can weigh up atmospheric or aqueous pollutants and why stirring a dendrimer solution could explain the origins of life. Finally, this week, researchers in California have taken the first steps towards building a gamma-ray laser using a quasi-molecule based on positronium. And, the award mentioned this week goes to the RSC’s Project Prospect team, which received the 2007 ALPSP/Charlesworth Award for Publishing Innovation.

Also, in pharma news this week an interesting development reported in FierceBiotech regarding the issue of whether or not clinical trials are safe. I’ve included it in the comments on the write-up I did on the TGN1412 clinical trial that went disastrously wrong in 2006.

eCampus Coupons for Chemistry News is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

Things move on.

Sharp-eyed readers may have spotted that, once established, Sciencebase moved on too, from a simplistic static site to a CMS-driven blog. As such, some of the pages (with a small p as opposed to a Wordpress big P) don’t have a Related Articles section, they don’t have the ShareThis icon so you can send the page to your social bookmarks or friends by email. The majority don’t have a proper comments box and fall outside the blog archives. This isn’t deliberate, it’s an artefact of the way I set up Sciencebase way back when. You will be pleased to hear that I am gradually bringing those older articles into the fold so that these articles will have all of the special interactive
blog
post featuresspecial interactive blog post features.

Here are a few that have already made the grade, hopping from an early edition of Elemental Discoveries (the proto-Sciencebase ezine) to the fully fledged CMS – Touch Wood – A Guide to Viagra Louts, the story of Viagra, The Real Butterfly Effect, how the physical structure of butterfly wings is helping technologists create new optically functional materials, and Scientific Stereotypes, in which I discussed children’s perception of scientists and whether or not that perception matters to science.

There are dozens more feature articles in the Sciencebase archives outside the blog system, which you can access using the Science Articles link in the menu above, and I will be bringing them into the main system over the coming weeks to enable comments and other blog features.

Gateway Coupons and Science Archives is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

Well, the fitting of the brace raises an interesting question of mechanics as to what the brace is actually doing. It is composed if small metal plates effectively fixed along a piece of tough wire. The plates are seated on the front of the teeth, with one plate on each tooth and the wire is anchored somewhere in the back of the mouth. Now, what I cannot understand is why. The upper incisors of the orthodontic patient in question seem to slope inwards, rather than jutting out. My gut feeling is that pushing the teeth backwards with little metal plates is going to make them more recessive if anything. So, how does this system work? What are the true forces involved in dental realignment and how does pushing the teeth in the direction they are already going make them move into the correct position.

Maybe all will become clear with the next visit…meanwhile, I have to thank the NHS for funding this work, without it, it would be costing us a small fortune and because we are not in the US we wouldn’t be able to take advantage of this week’s Sciencebase coupons, which you can find on the DentalPlans coupons page.

DentalPlans Coupons is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

Even today, with everyone existing in a virtual second world and doing far more online than ever before offices are still piled high with email printouts and memos, and downloaded computer software manuals that simply must be printed for easy reading by the less technophilic members of staff. Maybe there will come a time when we have a chip embedded in a temple at birth and it links us up directly with all those invaluable Web 4.0 services we’ll be using by then…but you can bet your life there will still be someone demanding a printout. I hate to think where they’ll stick the ink cartridges…

…speaking of which, as it’s Saturday it must be coupon time, so check out the latest OfficeDepot coupons and more.

OfficeDepot Coupons is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

Most of us don’t really want to spend 24/7/365 online, occasionally there are times when we need to go, ahem, offline and find a peaceful place to read. Until they come up with a truly portable device that’s as easy to read as a print magazine, print magazines will under certain, ahem, circumstances be what we need.

That said, the chosen reading material can be about online matters, so we don’t need to abandon the online simply because we have to go offline. So, now you can choose from a virtual shelf of free computing magazines to read offline through Sciencebase. I have to admit some of the selection are a bit too esoteric even for an ubergeek like myself. CE Pro (Custom Electronics Professionals) is aimed at helping dealers and installers stay current with products, understand technology and run profitable businesses, not something I really need to read at this time. But, one magazine that should be on everyone’s easy-to-reach magazine rack is PC Magazine.

PC Magazine bills itself as America’s #1 technology magazine, I cannot vouch for that but it does deliver authoritative, lab-based comparative reviews of countless technology products and services. You can get it for free if you’re in the US by filling in the free PC Magazine form here. This is a time-limited offer so you get your free issues and pay a special discounted rate for the additional ones. Check the offer page for more details and the obligatory T&Cs.

Free Computing Magazines Offline is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

If you’re looking for chemical and technical definitions then there are a couple of excellent acronym and abbreviation lookup services you can access via ChemSpy.com Just visit the site’s search page enter your keywords, or rather your clutch of letters, and click either the Berlin or Chemie.de link and the search will begin.

As it is a Saturday, I have to mention our shopping channel too, of course, just so you know how it fares in terms of abbreviations. Of course, there is a whole clutch including the HSN Coupons section of today’s post title, REI coupons, HP coupons, and ShopNBC coupons.

Whoops…almost forgot to define them:

REI – Recreational Equipment Inc
HSN – Home Shopping Network
HP – Hewlett Packard
ShopNBC – Shop Nuclear, Biological, Chemical National Broadcasting Corporation

If you are not in the shopping mood then check out the related links below where you will find a previous article from David Bradley on the subject of why learned societies seem to be so keen on upper and lower case abbreviations and acronyms.

Acronyms, abbreviations, and HSN coupons is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog

Of course, each successful subscription you signup for passed on a little sustenance for Sciencebase proper during the working week. So if you’re in the biotech, pharma, or chemistry fields, and missed the original post, take a fresh look. Among the magazines to which you can subscribe are Fierce Biotech, Drug Discovery News, Biophotonics International, and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing.

You can
also
get free
IT magazinesYou can also get free IT magazines. Among the most popular with Sciencebase readers are PC Magazine, the #1 computing magazine in the US, Dr Dobbs Journal for programmers who want to write the most efficient and sophisticated programs in their daily routine. Cisco on Cisco News, which as the name suggests offers an insider’s view of the comms equipment company Cisco, and KMWorld for knowledge management gurus. Then there is the ubiquitous Oracle magazine for top IT managers, database administrators, and developers.

Don’t miss out on the freebies, check out our free computer magazines sections, and find something to read offline.

More Computer Magazines is a post from: Sciencebase Science Blog