Gah! SNOW?! I was supposed to be safe from this! The garden committee was going to plant yesterday - thank heavens we didn't (it was determined that the soil was too wet) (and now it's under two inches of snow). The garden committee, by the way, consists of four other people who are going to help me sort out my garden - "help" as in do most of it and tell me how to do the rest. We are going to split seeds and supplies five ways and share the harvest. I am so excited that we can grow tomatoes, peppers (!), and even things like okra and watermelon outside. Two of the committee are currently doing their masters in asparagus, so I'm pleased someone knowledgeable is in charge.
Today is Neuroscience Day at Guelph, and I have to present my poster. Blahhhhh. However, the keynote speaker is Bryan Kolb of undergraduate neuro textbook fame, so I am looking forward to that.
8 comments:
tee hee. It's 14C here and sunny.
It's warm here too but there is still snow on the ground. Who knew there were people with masters in asparagus.
Weird-I know his sister and her family...met him too. We didn't talk neuroscience though. I lived with her and her family for about 2 years. Her husband did our wedding pictures.
That's random! When was that?
The talk was pretty good (though super wide-ranging). I had no idea that gene expression in rats is turned on and off by experience - ie if you train the dad rat, the baby rats that are SUBSEQUENTLY CONCEIVED have more complex brains. Pretty cool stuff.
Re: the rats. Really? Sounds very Lamarckian. I am exceedingly surprised.
Oh, was about 1989-91'ish. It is a small world. They live in Oregon now. I'll tell you all about it...
Re experience and gene expression: That's wild! I thought that was explicitly not allowed. Is that unique to rats?
And I've quoted your line about the masters in asparagus in my blog. ;)
I know, it's crazy. I didn't realize gene expression was so easily turned on and off.
The other cool experiment was having two female rats room together, then stressing out one (by putting her in the middle of a big open field in the lab where there might be eagles or something, as far as she's aware). Stressed rat won't conceive. Unstressed rat WILL, but her babies will show stress-related brain changes. Kolb's conclusion (and I paraphrase) was "it turns out even living with a bitchy roommate can change your babies' brains..."
Heh. I'm honoured to be quoted in such a prestigious publication.
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