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Maple syrup, the waffle antibiotic
Here's a research news report from McGill University touting the antibiotic properties of maple syrup. This is not surprise to TPP because honey has long been used as a wound dressing, but here...
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Formaldehyde: not just for dead things
Endogenous formaldehyde, where does it come from (how is Vit A synthesized in the body, where does synthetic carotene come from)
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What is the probability of a chemist discovering a drug? Is that the right...
Over on Twitter there has been a lively discussion sparked by a question from C&EN's Lisa Jarvis: What is the probability that a medicinal chemist will discover a marketed drug in his or her...
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Voting your professor out of the university
Zounds! Here's another terrific idea for improving a university education: Let students vote "poor" professors out of the university. In other words, fire professors who get low teaching evaluations...
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Friday Fabulous Flower - Redbuds
Redbuds are a fantastic spring flowering tree, dark-barked shrubs and small trees festooned with lacy pink flowers (and the less said about all the seedlings the better). Redbuds are the species...
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DNA testing offers a far better way to detect Down syndrome
The results of a new study offer very good news for expectant parents: a remarkably accurate prenatal genetic test for Down syndrome that requires only a blood sample from the mother.Expectant parents...
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Bored with nothing to do?
You know it was a busy weekend if you need a Monday to rest up. The weekend started with a TGIF with friends and a walk in the garden. A little cool, but the smoked trout was excellent with a tart NZ...
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Senior cell phone 876 area code scam
TPP's new cell phone just rang (or doodly-doed) and that's still a pretty new thing since very few people have his number (except maybe from a previous cell number life), and so rather than just...
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Orioles: The Genuine Article
Eurasian golden oriole Oriolus oriolus, copyright Crusier.It is widely appreciated that the British during the age of exploration were probably not the most imaginative of baptisers. Thanks to their...
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Melastomes and Pals
Princess flower Tibouchina heteromalla, copyright João Medeiros.For most botanists currently working on flowering plants, the default taxonomic framework for their studies is the classification...
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Date the 100th plant flowered
It been a pretty average spring so far; maybe just a bit dry. Yesterday the 100th plant flowered, not the 100th individual plant, but the 100th different type of plant, mostly different species. So 100...
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A review of Philip Schewe's "Maverick Genius", a biography of Freeman Dyson
Freeman Dyson is a unique treasure; he is not only a brilliant and accomplished physicist who has made important contributions to an astonishingly diverse range of topics in physics and mathematics,...
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Formaldehyde: not just for dead things
Next spring I'm teaching a course on the physical chemistry of food while a colleague is teaching a course on the analytical chemistry of foodstuffs. Among other science texts we'll be using John...
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FieldNotes: one thing leads to another leads to another
The Drug Lord With a Social Mission by Maia Szalavitz at Pacific Standard: .....Perhaps the most perverse thing about the rise of legal highs is that, in a scenario that is the direct opposite of what...
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Magnolia vine
One of the stranger plants in our gardens is the magnolia vine (also called the 5-flavored fruit vine)(Schisandra chinensis)(Schisandraceae). As readers well know, TPP has a thing for magnolias, and...
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Friday Fabulous Flower - Goldenseal
Yes, today is Friday, and TPP is having trouble because yesterday seemed like Friday, so Friday, Friday. Hmm, Monday, Monday was a pretty good song, but Friday is just one of the every other days of...
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May 2015 Desktop Calendar
Some red Sphagnum mosses mixed in with a succulent vascular plant from my travels to Chile this past winter. Oh to be walking barefoot on the cool wet peat. It would be a great contrast to the warm...
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Cara Cara oranges
Cara Cara oranges have just recently shown up in local grocery stores. Novel fruits are always something TPP tries and his life list of fruits is pretty impressive. In this case, the Cara Cara is a...
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Peter Thiel's interesting comparison of biotech with software
From Peter Thiel's "Zero to One" comes a comparison of the biotech and IT industries in which he presents a table contrasting the strategies and pitfalls of biotech vs IT. Thiel has said some odd...
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Woodland peony
It's a good colorful garden this week because TPP's tree peonies and the fern-leafed peony are all in flower. TPP has blogged about his tree peonies before (here, here, here, here) and the fern-leafed...
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