Watch Out Humanity! We're SCIENTISTS

Ok dudes, sometimes, science is bad. Sometimes people think that you can use science to make the human race better and then oops! you got sterilized! Sometimes chemicals are poured all over everything and then oops! you got cancer! But sometimes, the way science, and particularly synthetic biology is perceived is WAY scarier (and competent) than it actually is. Our favorite prediction is too good to paraphrase:

"Imagine an artfully designed fungus that looks like a hat; when you put it on, it digests your head and turns it into a still-conscious, rubbery Super Ball an inch across, suitable for easy launch into space. Once there, another fungus might then reconstitute your head and form a protective life-sustaining bubble around it."

He does qualify this a bit, and the rest of the article actually has some good points, so you should read it after you stop laughing about the fungus hats. The point I'm trying to make is that there are limits to what science can do that are grounded in real facts. Most people don't know a lot of facts about science so it's not that surprising that someone would hear "synthetic biology" and think of the worst. From now on, can we try to be as non-threatening as possible? Let's rename synthetic biology to "trying out new things and seeing what happens biology" or "unicorns and rainbows biology."

Maybe then there wouldn't be any more TV shows about evil scientists ruining everything.

9 days till the election!

Special Team Mission Recap

We recently returned from a trip to Hong Kong to attend SB 4.0 the fourth international conference on Synthetic Biology. While there we learned many things about synthetic biology, about circadian rhythms, and about our western prejudices about food preparation.

Re: Synthetic Biology, if there are new ideas out there, no one's talking about them because half the attendees were there to steal other people's ideas. There were even actual industrial spies there, although no one as dangerously beautiful Elena Sandoval from The Green Trap. Seriously, guy from Monsanto taking pictures of posters and not talking to anyone? Douchebag.

Re: food

We're Back

We're actually going to start blogging more, for real.

The Unicorns do Science in the News

Science in the News is a seminar series where smartypants Harvard grad students talk to people in the community about science. We're going to be giving a presentation on biofuels on September 24th, so check it out if you're in Boston! I wanted to title the talk "Balls Out for Biofuels," but we had to settle for the less in-your-face (but still alliterative) "Fuels of the Future."

Science in the News

Coming Soon: The Adventures of Yeasty the Friendly Yeast

Unicorn Justice

UotH is back after a long summer hiatus with some disturbing news. A number of recent thefts in our building has led the Unicorns to take the law into our own hands. Since the thefts have occurred during lab meetings, I set up my webcam (with motion detection software, of course) to catch the thief red-handed. An old wallet with a tasty dollar bill sticking out was the bait.

The result:

Thanks a bunch D-train. Can I have my dollar back now? The real thief remains at large, so I may have to try hiding in the ceiling next time.

Stay tuned for more posts, including:

• The Unicorns take on Hong Kong for SB 4.0
• Michael's deportation to the Netherlands
• Pimp my Bench
• and more balls out stuff...