Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.

Tag: research

  • Graduated Yet?

    Even though I walked across the stage at the beginning of what is now last month, I still haven’t actually graduated. I more or less fell into a trap of my own making, because at the beginning of the semester I decided I wanted to get credit for my research internship again. This involves a…

  • Curing Cancer

    It’s bothered me for a long time that people talk about “finding a cure for cancer.” Today, Jorge Cham of PhD comics has addressed this very same issue in a very easy to understand and straightfoward way—his comic. I enjoy the rest of his comics and it’s awesome that he’s taken the time to try…

  • Let’s Try Some Science

    I have been working on updating my research poster for a presentation I’ll be giving at UMBC as part of Undergraduate Research and Creative Achivement Day. I have been a part of this project since I first started working in scientific research last year, and it’s been extremely exciting to start to see the data…

  • Bachelors of Science

    Ars Technica recently ran a post on how the scientific method that is taught during early education differs vastly from the actual way science is practiced. This is something I’ve had personal experience with as I worked in a real lab over the past year. Rather than the rather linear progression of observation → hypothesis…

  • Research Worries

    I have been working hard on the guinea pig brains over the past week-point-five and it’s getting close to my next moment of truth. This Sunday while Rachel is at work I’m going to come in and run a Western and see what kind of stuff comes out the other end of the five-hour procedure.…

  • Ready to Cure Cancer?

    Even before I began my research position, I have frequently heard people of many different areas of focus, science majors included, talk about “curing cancer.” The implication is that somehow, it would be possible to find a treatment or technique that would be able effectively eliminate the phenomenon. This assumption is extraordinarily frustrating to me…