Beetles for lunch
Well, close.
I have the awesomest lab and labmates. My natural inclination (with anyone) is to decline social invitations to lunch, dinner, etc. in order to "get work done." Which may or may not happen as envisioned. But still, the drive to work is very seductive, especially when I’ve made the resolution to leave blocks of time - whole days, in fact - to "focus on my research."
But, for the price of an enchillada, I learned the basics of how to procure, maintain, and use a dermestid beetle colony, at home or at work. Dermestids are the beetles used to clean up carcasses and leave a nice clean skeleton. I also learned about some rather ignoble people and practices surrounding institutional colonies, mainly resulting from a staggering degree of irresponsibility and failure to be considerate. And I learned that the dermestid beetle colony housed at the Smithsonian has been reproducing in isolation for so long that those beetles now can’t breed with non-Smithsonian dermestid beetles. Evolution in a test tube, I’m telling you. Or bathtub or cardboard box or other container, context depending.
li>
The History Channel is airing a special on Krav Maga on Friday night, 10pm EST. I thought you might be interested. It’s part of a series showcasing martial arts from around the world. I’m somewhat disappointed that they present each martial art as a mere sport that can be fatal. It’ll be interesting to see how they treat KM - not much “sport” there; just ways to survive and ways to kill.
Comment by John — August 30, 2007 @ 8:01 pm