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Science
2D Molecules that Form Our 3D World
Disciples of organic chemistry know that aromatic compounds compose one of the most important classes of molecules. Very specific rules dictate the classification of these molecules, but one of the simple rules is that they are planar. By tacking on chemical functional groups to these 2D compounds some of the most well known 3D chemistry is formed. Keep reading below…
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Afternoon Inquisition
AI: Getting your International Summer Travel On
International travel has formulated some of my favorite life experiences, but there are certainly things you need to know before taking the plunge abroad. Some of our Skepchicks are about to partake in their first foreign affairs, so we began compiling a list of helpful travel tips. I have had the fortunate experience of traveling to six continents… alone with…
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Science
Is it still plagiarism if you copy yourself?
Rage is rampant in the chemical community over the issue of self-plagiarism. It smacked me in the face today when I was editing a coworker's conference abstract due to four identical sentences. These sentences were on the same topic as our previous work even though the science is different. In my mind they seemed viable. However, with this issue blowing…
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Activism
A Quick Guide to Boosting your Immunity!
A couple months ago the Women Thinking Free Foundation elected a few new cohorts to the board including Ashley Hamer (aka Smashley) of Mad Art Lab fame, Katie Hovany, and myself. Since then we have managed to plan a Tdap vaccination clinic at TAM in conjunction with the JREF, so get excited and come say hello to the WTF in…
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Science
Au Naturel!
People range from being too eager or too shy about putting substances in their body. Being skeptics, we know their reasoning can be derived from pretty shitty logic. I have heard homeopathy advocates argue that some substances are safer than something distributed by pharmaceutical companies because it is au naturel! There seems to be a negative connotation about drugs synthesized…
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Feminism
Breaking Male Exclusivity at Augusta National?
Sports news is rarely included here on Skepchick, however as the unofficial SportsSkepchick it is my duty to fill you in when it is important. As the Masters (the word's most famous PGA golf tournament) approaches, the issue of feminism always arises. The Masters is held at a staunchly conservative golf club in Augusta, GA where American Southern stereotypes are…
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Science
Forecasting Science Trends
This week while I was attending a bioinformatics symposium, I began to ask myself why I was there. I am computational chemist, not a biologist, not a computer scientist, a chemist. So how is it that I am attending an entire day of lectures in something that I have never even taken an introductory course in? The answer is: this…
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Science
Open Source Drug Discovery
Drug discovery is challenging, lengthy, and extraordinarily expensive. All companies focus on making money and drug companies are no different. They spend their research and development budgets focusing on diseases that affect the affluent world population. As a consequence diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis that are abundant in sub-Saharan Africa and India are left unstudied by industry. Despite the omission by drug companies,…
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