'Don't Worry Be Happy': happiness is key to longer life

PARIS (AFP) - Keep humming "Don't Worry Be Happy". The 1980s New Age-inspired hit got it right. New research shows being happy can add several years to life.

"Happiness does not heal, but happiness protects against falling ill," says Ruut Veenhoven of Rotterdam's Erasmus University in a study to be published next month.

After reviewing 30 studies carried out worldwide over periods ranging from one to 60 years, the Dutch professor said the effects of happiness on longevity were "comparable to that of smoking or not".

That special flair for feeling good, he said, could lengthen life by between 7.5 and 10 years.

The finding brings a vital new piece to a puzzle currently being assembled by researchers worldwide on just what makes us happy -- and on the related question of why people blessed with material wealth in developed nations no longer seem satisfied with their lives.

Once the province of poets or philosophers, the notions of happiness and satisfaction have been taken on and dissected, quantified and analysed in the last few years by a growing number of highly serious and respected economists -- some of whom dub the new field "hedonics", or the study of what makes life pleasant, or otherwise.

"The idea that there is a state called happiness, and that we can dependably figure out what it feels like and how to measure it, is extremely subversive," says Bill McKibben in his 2007 book "Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future".

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080814/lf_afp/lifestylephilosophyhealtheconomyhappiness_080814033615

An irrational joke

Picked up from the internet…

What did i say to \pi?

“Be rational!”

\pi replied…

“Get real!”

Source: http://sidk.info/2007/10/10/math-joke/

Alternative Careers For Scientists

What happens when you finally get the degree you worked so long for and then realize you really don’t want to spend the rest of your life in the lab?

Or if you get tired of working long hours with few results and low pay… or you succumb to any of the other reasons that might put you off being a scientist.

One option is to hang up your lab coat and move into something else… and there are a lot of great options for people with a science background and post-graduate degrees that lead to rewarding and lucrative careers.

Here is a list of career paths you might consider if you ever decide its time to leave the lab. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but might give you a few ideas…

1. Technical Service
Technical support involves interacting with scientists over the phone to trouble-shoot problems with products or even to provide a scientific consultation on general experimental strategy and design. Since you are not face to face with other people, it makes for an easy transition for an introverted scientist in moving to a more outgoing profession. Many opportunities exist to grow in your career within a company if you want to move up the corporate ladder. Just be prepared to answer the phone 30-40 times a day and, once in a while, be berated by a customer.

2. Product manager/marketing
Product managers are responsible for taking care of a product from birth to discontinuation. The job has many responsibilities so fits best with people who are highly organized, can multi-task and lead teams. The main goal of a product manager is to make money for the company. You accomplish that goal by numerous marketing activities (advertising, attending scientific conferences, promotional giveaways, etc.), by building new products that people want and by making sure that every product is available working perfectly when received by the customer. The salary is generous but be prepared to work no less than 12 hrs a day and be under constant pressure to increase revenues.

3. BioTech Sales Representative
Who is that person who comes to your door and tries to sell you everything from tips and tubes to kits and instruments for PCR? Its your friendly neighborhood sales representative. Most, if not all sales people in biotech, have worked in the lab and some even have PhDs. If you take a minute to talk to your biotech sales rep, you will see that their true purpose is to make sure you have everything you need (from their company!) to be a success. But your success is always paramount to their sale. Of course there are those who are under intense pressure to make a sale to the point where they push too hard or some are too green in their career to understand they are trying to sell you something you don’t use. But overall, they are a bright and hard-working group of people who want to excel at their job by helping you excel in the lab. The income you can make in sales can be very high but so is the pressure to meet the revenue targets assigned to you.

4. Field Application Scientist (FAS)
The FAS role is often a perfect position for academic bench scientists looking to move into industry. The FAS is called in when a key customer is interested in purchasing a new product or is having trouble getting one to work. Working in the customer’s lab the FAS will demonstrate how well a product works, troubleshoot problems with a product or teach the lab how to use a complex instrument. The FAS may also install instruments or robotics and maintain their proper function.

The FAS travels frequently because they are assigned large territories and will need to stay at an account sometimes up to a week. Part of their role is to build solid friendships with the labs they support while helping their company win (or keep) a new account.


5. Business development
Business development is a very exciting role that involves growing and shaping the scope of a company’s business approach. This can mean making technical collaborations with other companies, bringing in contract work or licensing in or out technologies through to deciding on mergers and acquisitions.

Typically, this requires an MBA degree in addition to a science background but working your way up through the company ranks is another route. Business development requires a strong mix of technical knowledge and marketing experience. The person should have a good feel for the changes going on in the market and what might be the next hot technology or area of research. Your advice can have a big effect on a company’s decisions so expect high stress and pressure.

6. Manufacturing Quality Assurance (QA)/Quality Control (QC)
The process to take a product from the research phase to market requires the ability to produce it on a large scale. You’ve successfully formulated the buffers and the procedure for a new kit in the lab. Now try building 500 of them and make sure they work exactly as good as the single one from the lab.
… or try scaling up protein expression and purification to make liters of enzyme and keep it soluble.
… or try making liters of competent cells, bearing in mind that if the efficiency falls below a set number and then you have to start all over again.
…you get the picture…!

Manufacturing requires precision, perfection, and focus. Manufacturing scientists do everything from production, to the QC. Depending on what the product is used for, the QC can involve complex techniques like real-time PCR, cloning, or enzyme activity assays. Manufacturing is not a glamorous job but it is critical to the company’s success… if manufacturing can’t keep up, it can cause huge losses in revenue and customers.

7. Technology Transfer
Technology transfer involves finding ways to commercialize technologies developed in the public sector (universities or government agencies). It is like the academia equivalent of business development and requires many of the same skills. Tech transfer jobs can be found either in the public institutions themselves, in companies who routinely commercialize technologies that originate in the public sector or in non-profit technology transfer organizations. Further information on working in technology transfer can be found here.


8. Science copy writing
Copy writers produce the “copy” (the written material) for marketing a company’s, products or ideas and is a great position for people who like to communicate science through writing. If you work for a biotech company as a copy writer, you would be helping product managers to communicate their message to the market about a product via a print ad, email blast, banner ad, webpage or a flyer. Copy writers and product managers work together to perfect the message before the copy goes to design for layout and imagery. This position really accentuates your creative side but be prepared to have to deal with cranky stressed out product managers.

9. Medical/technical writing
Another type of science writing is technical writing, which includes writing handbooks/ product manuals and application notes. This uses less of the creative side and more of the ability to communicate exactly how something should be done. If the protocol is not clear, it is the problem of the technical writer (and the product manager). More info on working in medical and technical writing is available here.

10. Science journalism
…and yet another type of science writing is science journalism. Science journalists produce content for newspapers, magazines and websites (just like I am doing now). You can either work freelance or as a staff writer, employed directly by the publication. Either way, the competition is tough. The best way in is simply to start writing and trying to get things published…! You can get some additional info on science journalism here.

If you are looking to start out in science journalism, Bitesize Bio is a good place to start… contact us for details on writing an article for Bitesize Bio!


11. Scientific illustration
If drawing, rather than writing, is your forte then scientific illustration may be an option. Although opportunities in this field are limited, they do exist. Breaking into this field is like scientific journalism – you just have to start drawing and try to get your work noticed. Here is a great Science article on carving out a career in scientific illustration.


12. Recruiting/head-hunter
Recruiters help companies to find suitable candidates for job openings and can work for independent recruitment consultancies or for a company’s in-house HR department. This type of job requires an out-going personality and the ability to develop a great network for candidate searches. Having a science background will help you know when a candidate’s skills match are a good match for an employer, but the competition for good candidates is high and part of the job is being a nudge… typical recruiters call or email at least 10-15 times before they accept a “no” answer!

13. Teaching
Some people are born teachers and in this case, high school teaching can be a great option. Aside from the joy of teaching (assuming it is a joy for you), the holidays are great and the pay can be pretty good too. The downside is working with teenage kids, which is an unenviable task if you ask me! Here is good article on moving from the lab to teaching.

14. Patent examiner
Patent examiners are employed by the government to review patent applications and decide whether they should be granted. Typically this involves searching literature and patent databases to determine whether the application is innovative and meets the requirements for a patent to be granted. Get more info on the role of a patent examiner here.

15. Patent lawyer/attorney
Patent lawyers operate at the other end of the patent application process – working for clients who wish to file and maintain or need guidance with any aspect of patent law. This is a very well paid career, but is also high pressure and requires both scientific and law training. The level of training required to become a patent lawyer varies from country to country. More details about the qualifications required to become a patent lawyer can be found here.

If you have any other ideas, are thinking of leaving the lab.. or you have already done so, please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in a comment.

Source: http://bitesizebio.com/2008/01/03/alternative-careers-for-scientists/

10 Reasons NOT to be a Scientist

Ok, this week has been a bad week in the lab so far. A few weeks ago I wrote a post describing 15 reasons to be a scientist. Today I am in the mood to cross over to the dark side and give you 10 reasons NOT to be a scientist! Strangely I could only think of 10. If you have any more, please feel free to add them in the comments section below.

1. Egos. Science attracts some straaaange people - and you have to work with them.

2. You can spend weeks, months even, trying to clone a gene, grow a strain or whatever and end up with zero results in the end. Bench work is surely one of the most frustrating jobs in the world.

3. Career Structure. Mainly if you work in academia I suppose. There are plenty of post-doc posts, but what about the next step?

4. Coming last at Trivial Pursuits. I don’t know about you, but I have spent so long with my head in science books that my general knowledge is terrible.

5. Having to write grant proposals

6. Repetition. As is often said - a trained monkey could do 90% of your job.

7. None of your non-science friends have a clue what your job is really all about (maybe that’s a good thing)

8. Transience. You work somewhere for a few years and make lots of friends, then gradually everyone moves to new jobs all over the world and you never see each other again. Sniff.

9. Unless you are very lucky. No-one in the real world cares about, or will be affected by, what you do.

10. The following quote from Max in the comment section of the sister post to this one sums it up beautifully:

"Getting paid substandard wages while working days and nights while on tenure track, while your buddies drive BMWs and surf in Hawaii… while you wonder why your second wife has left you and why you still don’t have an office with a window???

Oh wait, that was my “inside” voice…"

Ahhh, I feel better after that. Remember to add your own in the comments section and maybe you’ll feel better too!

Source: http://bitesizebio.com/2007/11/06/10-reasons-not-to-be-a-scientist/

15 Reasons to Be A Scientist

Just for fun, here my top 15 reasons for being a scientist. Add your own reasons in the comments below if you so wish.

1. Not being stuck behind a desk all day every day
2. Conferences… see the world for free
3. Understanding some of the fundamentals of life and the universe
4. Getting paid to do something you love
5. Realising just how little understanding we have of life and the universe
6. Having the freedom to plan & execute your work (If you are a PhD student you may have to wait until you have finished your studies for this one!)
7. People believe what you say (trust me I’m a “doctor”)
8. Not having to wear a suit to work every day (could you imagine that?)
9. Getting paid to think creatively
10. If it doesn’t work, it’s not your fault. Most things don’t work anyway - this is research!
11. Getting paid to think logically
12. Owning a lab coat
13. You can work in nearly any country in the world that you choose
14. Owning a bunsen burner (depending on your specialization, but each has it’s own gadgets that are great to own!)
15. Your mother/father/grandmother thinks you are a genius (unless he/she is a scientist too!)


Source: http://bitesizebio.com/2007/09/18/15-reasons-to-be-scientist/

One carbon atom

Too much information is not always a good thing. I was at a drugstore trying to decide between two types of rubbing alcohol. Both appeared to be the same, so I called my husband, a chemical engineer. “What’s the difference between isopropyl rubbing alcohol and ethyl rubbing alcohol?” I asked.

“Easy,” he said. “One carbon atom.”

Source: http://science.kukuchew.com/2008/01/07/one-carbon-atom/

Chemist and personal trainer

Because he’s a chemist and I’m a personal trainer, my fiance and I don’t always agree about what eating healthy means. I prefer foods with less fat and fewer calories while he watches out for chemicals and additives.

We were grocery shopping one day and I asked him to go and get some butter.

“Which kind,” he asked, “cancer or heart attack?”

Source: http://science.kukuchew.com/2008/03/10/chemist-and-personal-trainer/

Economics: The funny science

Didja hear the one about the economist who became a stand-up comic? His dad fretted that there wasn't a demand for comics, but the economist said, "Don't worry, I'm a supply side economist. I'll just stand up and watch the jokes trickle down."

OK, so it isn't Yoram Bauman's funniest joke. But the fact that he can make jokes at all about what has been called the "dismal science" is an accomplishment in itself. Bauman, who earned his doctorate in environmental economics at the UW, is an instructor for the Program on the Environment, but just about every Tuesday night he can be found performing at the Comedy Underground in Pioneer Square. And one of the things he jokes about is economics.

The joke above is, he says, the first one he ever told to a comedy club audience, but he's better known for a whole routine based on an economics textbook. The preeminent economics textbook, in fact. It's called Principles of Economics, and it was written by N. Gregory Mankiw, a professor of economics at Harvard University who served for two years as chair of President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers.

Bauman parodied the book in an article that appeared in the Annals of Improbable Research, a "geeky science humor journal," in 2003. He was in graduate school at the time and says he wrote the piece to blow off steam. The following year he was invited to present the paper during the humor session at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual conference.

Thus was born his first comedy routine. Bauman prepared a PowerPoint that purported to explain Mankiw's 10 principles of economics. How does one make humor out of that? Well, start with the fact that Bauman explains Mankiw's last three principles -- principles of macroeconomics -- as "blah, blah, blah."

That was partly because he couldn't think of a funny translation for them, Bauman says. But he adds, "On the other hand, there's a battle between micro and macroeconomists, so as a microeconomist, it was a chance I couldn't pass up to make fun of macroeconomists."

His handling of the other principles is more specific. One of them, for example, says "Trade can make everyone better off." Bauman's translation: "Trade can make everyone worse off." When he says it in the routine, it sounds as if he's just joking, saying black is white and up is down, but Bauman says there's a more serious purpose behind it.

"It's theoretically possible that trade can make everyone worse off," he says, "especially when you consider environmental issues. For example, you could have lots of global trade and the gross domestic product could be going up, but carbon emissions would be going up too, so the trade makes things worse as well as better. One of the things I'm proud of in that parody is that there is a fair amount of intellectual content in it."

Intellectual or not, people do find it funny. He was invited to return to AAAS this year with the routine, which he taped and placed on YouTube. Within a few days, Mankiw himself had posted the YouTube URL for the routine on his blog.

So Mankiw apparently does have a sense of humor. When Bauman performed in a Boston club recently, Mankiw was in the audience, and he agreed to meet Bauman for coffee the next day. He wasn't the only economist who's enjoyed Bauman's routine. The head of the antitrust department of the U.S. Department of Justice attended his show in Washington, D.C., and 30 members of an economics consulting firm came to a gig in New York City.

"Apparently there's a market for economics jokes, especially at corporate events," Bauman says. "Being an economist and being able to do comedy about economics seems to have some traction."

Meanwhile, back in Seattle, Bauman has branched out from economics jokes and is performing a routine about political bumper stickers, among other things. But like his free trade joke, his Tuesday night gigs at the Comedy Underground have a larger purpose. Bauman produces a series called Nonprofit Comedy. A different nonprofit receives half the ticket revenues for each show, and the comics work for free.

Bauman generally serves as master of ceremonies for Nonprofit Comedy, and performs as well. He says that on a typical evening there are eight or nine comics performing 10 to 15 minutes each. The schedule is available at http://www.nonprofitcomedy.com/seattle.


Source: http://uwnews.org/uweek/uweekarticle.asp?articleID=36084