Over the last year or so I have doing quite a lot of medical case report editing and it's something that I enjoy enormously. I love the theory of medicine; how things go wrong in the body and how they can be fixed. Despite this, I think I would make a terrible doctor, unless I didn't have to deal with patients and feel responsible for them - this kind of work definitely isn't for someone who agonizes and stresses over everything and gets far too emotionally involved in other people's goings-on (not looking at anyone in particular here). Over the years I've realized that having a deep love for and genuine interest in human biology and diagnostics and problem-solving is great and all, but having zero capacity for working under pressure and an astonishing inability to not get upset when other people are also upset, is not ideal - being honest, I would almost certainly not make it through the training and would probably be considered a liability in a medical setting.
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I recently had the pleasure of touring the Ardnacrusha Power Station in Co Clare (you can get information on the tour here and I also have a video below!) and it was so enjoyable I just have to write about it. This hydroelectric power station was constructed between 1925 and 1929 (at the same time as the national grid with the ESB or Electricity Supply Board established in 1927), and constituted a massively ambitious civil and electrical engineering project that cost the fledgling Irish state almost 20% of its revenue budget in 1925 or £5.2 million. Electricity is now something we take entirely for granted in the developed world but rural electrification in Ireland didn't really gain traction until the 1950s - although there was some electrification from the late 1800s this was fairly limited, and there were still 400,000 rural homes without electricity in the early 1940s: the Ardnacrusha project represented the beginning of electrification in earnest. At the time of its construction in 1929 this power station was capable of supplying 100% of the electricity needs of the country but today it only supplies about 2.8% or 46,000 homes. The project was spearheaded by an Irish engineer called Thomas McLaughlin who worked for the German company Siemens-Schuckert which was given the contract for the build.
Having spent the best part of 20 years looking at and obsessing over science papers, from writing my own (oh, the anguish) to working as a journals publishing editor responsible for managing the peer-review process (oh, the humanity) to editing pre-submission articles and accepted manuscripts (definitely the most enjoyable and least emotional aspect of the whole paper publication process), I kind of feel that I've seen it all at this stage. Academic research is not for the faint-hearted and I genuinely feel for anyone fighting to get their work published nowadays. There's so much pressure on researchers, with both funding and career tenure inextricably entangled with a scientist's publication record and the ability of an individual to market him- or herself online. Having a social media presence as a scientist is an entirely new phenomenon to me, and something I never had to contend with during my own time as a researcher - it all just looks exhausting and I'm not sure it does much to advance the scientific cause.
Neuroscience Ireland, Ireland's National Neuroscience Society, was founded in 2005 but I had never attended any of its meetings as I moved to the UK in early 2007. It is now affiliated with FENS and held its biennial conference at the end of August (FENS affiliates must hold their national or regional meetings in the year the FENS meeting does not take place). As luck would have it, NUIG (where I completed my under- and postgraduate studies) hosted the event and I was so happy to be able to go along and meet up with old friends and colleagues, some of whom I hadn't seen since my move to Cambridge and/or subsequent relocation back to Ireland.
Yes, the Science Festival ended ages ago (23rd of March, ahem) and I'm only getting around to writing about it properly now... but it'll still be wonderful, I promise!
So, in addition to the talk I went to on stress and anxiety in modern life (see here), I attended three other events, titled as follows: 1. How languages are built 2. In science we trust 3. It's simpler with symmetry It's March! And it's all lovely and springy and the birds are singing and it's getting bright in the evenings... pretty soon I won't need to wear my fluorescent get-up when cycling to/from work (although, I do look the business in it), and I might finally be able to venture outside without my woolly hat and gloves.
I've wanted to write for so long - I've noticed that I'm definitely not posting as much as I used to and that makes me a bit sad. For sure it's because of my line of work; being all editor-like all day, and then in the evenings I really can't face doing more work on the computer. I miss it a lot though; having that time and space to write and think and formulate. It's so easy to race through life, going to work, coming home from work, meeting with friends, doing stuff all the time, and it's incredibly important to stop every now and then and let it all pass by. So, this is a bit of an experiment. I've done something indefinable to my right wrist/hand (I totally feel like I've been in the wars lately) and it's SORE. And pins-and-needles-y. And a bit hot, for some reason. But it's not EXTREMELY sore. Or swollen. Or with bits of bones sticking out. So I can't really go to a doctor (this is what the internet says). And it's only been a few days. However, as typing/using my mouse is quite painful, I've had to restructure my workstation to make it more ergonomic. I've elevated the keyboard using a mini-cushion, and am typing mainly with my left hand and right index finger (my wrist/hand is most sore on the little finger side), while I've deployed Anthony's glasses case as a wrist-rest when using the mouse. So far, so good - let's see how we get on!
I haven't posted since the 5th of May because I've been running around like a headless chicken recently, and I'm hoping to get two (two!) posts up today... let's see! It's a bank holiday, the sun is shining (for now), I'm on my second cup of hot water (I don't drink tea or coffee; I know, it's weird), and I'm ready to go...
The Pint of Science festival was on in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago and I went to two Brain events. So, let's explain this Pint of Science thing: what happens here is that academic scientists give talks about their research areas in the PUB - yes! This festival took place simultaneously in Oxford, Cambridge, and London between the 14th and 16th of May, and covered three research areas: Brain, Body, and Biotechnology. It's been a hectic few weeks, what with all this science festival stuff going on, and I'm just about catching up with myself! I went to an interactive event on Monday night that looked at the issue of cognitive enhancers (or 'smart drugs') and whether they have a useful role to play in society.
The Cambridge Science Festival is in full swing at the moment and I went to a talk in the Department of Chemistry last Thursday, entitled 'Challenging the price of drugs'. This talk caught my attention when I was going through the festival booklet, as my MSc and PhD research was in the area of pharmacology, and the process of drug development is something that still interests me very much.
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About my blog
Really, it contains a little bit of everything, from a celebration of science and the English language to the joys of travel and the Shipping Forecast. The title ('Meanderings') is a fairly accurate description of its content: I write about different things as the mood takes me, but hopefully there's something in here for everyone... Categories
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March 2021
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And on another note... |
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