Flor @flor@scholar.social

#introduction
Hi everyone! I'm a research scientist (postdoc) working with cell biology, genetics, molecular biology projects. Basic science in a hospital-affiliated lab. Let me know if you have any grad school questions.

Show ended with the scientist guy admitting that cooking is both art and science. No duh! This show was only 1 episode (50 min) on Netflix if you want to see it. It was entertaining due to its creative cooking methods, but Alton Brown's cooking show has much better food science and cooking tips.

You know, what? This show isn't so bad if you approach it as a comedy and see the scientist as a novice cook trying to re-invent cooking with the only tools he knows. The occasional science vs art comments are annoying, but I'm now watching this for "if I had to live in the lab..." fantasy fuel. This is so ridiculous, but I'm happier now that the trained chef has taken on a merged role as judge/contestant, rather than only contestant.

Ok, they got past the 1st challenge and now they're trying steak. Scientist guy is using a plastic bag, hot water bath, and will also be using liquid nitrogen later (he says). This is like watching an alien coming down to Earth and trying to re-create cooking using all the equipment in a typical life sciences lab, with a bemused human chef alternating between curiosity and wincing at all the mistakes. This show is so gimmicky, but I'm curious, too.

When chef was roasting tomatoes before making tomato soup, scientist guy complained that would destroy their flavor and is now making an uncooked paste and centrifuging it to get the liquid. Wtf, how DARE... guys, I am so embarrassed. This show is making scientists look so bad.

I'm a few minutes into the pilot of "Chef vs Science: The Ultimate Kitchen Challenge" and I already hate it. First of all, the whole premise is putting a scientist who doesn't have much (any?) cooking experience against a trained chef, as if that were a fair competition. As a scientist myself, I am so embarrassed by the stupid things their scientist is saying! Cooking is not art vs science, it obviously needs both.

Found this cool video about the history of the Rorschach test.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYi19-Vx6go

You can adjust powerpoint registry settings to export slides as 300 dpi images! This is publication-quality, better than the default settings. See how: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/827745/how-to-change-the-export-resolution-of-a-powerpoint-slide

If the student is doing it for school credit instead of money, then they deserve to AT LEAST shadow someone else doing experiments. Ideally, they should learn some hands-on technical skills or learn some data analysis. Something marketable in exchange for their time.

I despise PIs that tell other PIs, "hey did you know you can get undergraduates to work in your lab for free and they can just wash dishes all day?!" No. No no no. Occasional dishwashing help? Sure, of course, because some amount of lab maintenance is everyone's job and it's useful to be in the lab and get to know people. But a full semester or more of only dishwashing? Nooooo. That student better be getting work-study funding at least.