Author Archive
CLT #21: Ay! You!
by azmanam on Jan 31 2012 (2645 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
I found this cartoon doodled on the back of a quiz I gave last week in my organic chemistry class. The artist gave me permission to scan his contribution and post it here on the blog for everyone to enjoy. Made me chuckle.
Click the image for larger.
via one of my students!
Enjoy!
CLT #20: Practical Joker
by azmanam on Jan 24 2012 (6043 Views)Welcome back to Cheap Laugh Tuesdays!
More from the Far Side. (note: I don't think this is a good idea. Don't try this on your coworkers 
)
via The Far Side
Enjoy!
Organic Chemistry Extra Credit You Tube Parody Videos
by azmanam on Jan 20 2012 (6276 Views)Last spring, a few of my students made me an awesome parody video of Rebecca Black's Friday, "It's Lab Day."
This semester, nearly half my class turned in lots of great parody videos. Not all of them wanted to be shared publicly, but here are most of the videos my class made me!
Sunglasses in Lab
Two notes about this one: the guy singing a) is part of our university's a Capella group (no AutoTune here), and b) actually does wear tinted safety glasses in lab
Last Ochem Class
It's true that our department is broke and can't afford sep funnels, so we do extractions in measuring cups.
Organic Chemistry
A nice sampling of three songs while daydreaming in class: one I don't recognize, Billionaire, and Party Rock Anthem
OChem Rock Anthem
Keeping with the LMFAO theme.
Round Bottom Flask
Parody of Toby Keith's Red Solo Cup. Nice shout out to James over at Master Organic Chemistry in this one.
Organic Chemistry Tips
Like Kramer's Peterman Reality Tour, I never thought someone could recreate the experience of actually being in my class, but this is pretty close.
An OChem Christmas
The students turned these in at the end of fall semester, so several had Christmas themes. The first one has a pretty low volume, be warned, but awesome hair decorations. Followed by The 12 Days of OChem, and O' Chemistry.
Enjoy!
Cheap Laugh Tuesdays #19: How to Avoid 'Chem-Speak'
by azmanam on Jan 17 2012 (4658 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
Back to Sidney Harris this week (last seen as the inspiration for the Fantasy Research League)
Enjoy!
Cheap Laugh Tuesdays #18: Base Guitar
by azmanam on Jan 10 2012 (6398 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
via Mr. Brügge's Eighth Graders, although this particular one seems to be broken on that page
Enjoy!
TEDTalk: Medicine for the 99%... He's about 99% Wrong
by azmanam on Jan 04 2012 (8306 Views)
A TEDTalk was uploaded in December 2011 titled Medicine for the 99 Percent - It's still on the front page of the most recently uploaded TEDTalks as of this publication. Thomas Pogge is Director of the Global Justice Program and a philosophy professor at Yale.
He argues in this TEDTalk for the development and support of the Health Impact Fund, a global fund available to any innovator of a new drug. The ostensible goal of the fund is to bring access to high impact drugs to all of the world's population at an affordable cost. It's not subsidizing drug costs or aiding in the distribution of drugs, just incentivizing innovators to make a global commitment to cheap and accessible drugs.
Let me explain a bit more about how he introduces his argument and how it works, then I'll go into why this guy's presenting a straw-man at best. He opens by saying medicines are cheap to produce and much cheaper than the alternatives ("hospitalization... operations... emergency rooms... the morgue"), and we need to be thankful to "pharmacologists" who research "these things and develop them" and to the pharmaceutical industry for "supporting these activities."
Read more »
Cheap Laugh Tuesdays #17: Molecular Modeling
by azmanam on Jan 03 2012 (4716 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
It's a brand new year, and I've got lots more cheap laughs for you
(I know the comic isn't original to Chemical Innovation, but I can't decipher the artist's name and can't find a link to the original work...)
Enjoy!
IYC2011: My 3 Things List
by azmanam on Dec 22 2011 (6050 Views)The goals of IYC2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry.
This quote from the chemistry2011.org About IYC page gives us chemists a charge: Embrace the concept that 'Science is for Everyone' and help make science in general (and chemistry in particular) more accessible to a wider audience.
This is an awesome charge. The message of the chemist can sometimes be misinterpreted or abused for a number of reasons. One one end of the spectrum, chemistry can be derided as witchcraft of magic by those without a general understanding of the basics of chemistry. On the other hand, chemistry can be proclaimed as an Absolute Truth for political purposes by those without a general understanding of the nuances of chemistry. In the middle are misinterpretations and misunderstandings of the vagueness and imprecision of our esteemed field.
So as IYC2011 draws to a rapid close, what are the 3 things you would hope the general public would see as the take-home message about chemistry? Here's my 3 Things list:
- "Chemical" is not a pejorative.
- Chemicals are everywhere. In everything. At all times. There is no such thing as "chemical free."
- For the most part, chemists are not vindictive, manipulative, political, or nefarious. They're trying to make other people's lives better everyday. Better Living through Chemistry is not just a slogan.
So what makes your 3 Things list? Post your list in the comments, or on your own blog. If you blog about it yourself, let me know and I'll compile a list of everyone's 3 Things lists as updates to this post.
Cheap Laugh Tuesdays #16: Final's Edition
by azmanam on Dec 20 2011 (4389 Views)Welcome back to CLT!
Sorry I missed last week. Last week was finals week here on campus, and due to a scheduling oversight, I had 14 lab reports to grade, and a final to write, proctor, then grade. And by 14 lab reports, I don't mean 14 people's lab reports, I mean 14 class's lab reports, w/ 18-20 students in each lab. I was a bit busy.
via PhD Comics
Enjoy!
