Or, perhaps more fitting to this group in particular -- as the atheist otters on South Park say, "For science's sake." : )
All kidding aside, I agree that it's unfortunate that there was such a low turnout when we had a guest speaker of such high caliber. Having said that, there are times when one just cannot get to a meeting. Work and school are priorities. What we should do next time is try a little harder to promote the event -- submitting to the newspaper, blogging it, facebooking it, etc. That way, even if the regular R-Spec crowd is unable to attend, maybe the wider general public would show up. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Henn" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 9:00 AM Subject: Re: DNA in action! I'm sorry I couldn't be there, too. That's a lot of "I'm sorry I couldn't be there" posts. Of course, in my case, living 350 miles away during the week makes attendance a tad more difficult even if one doesn't have, er, scheduling conflicts. Had I been in town, and assuming I had functioning transportation, I probably could have found a way to juggle my time to squeeze in an hour or two at the talk. This probably not too subtle hint is not directed at any one person but is prompted by the cumulative weight of apologies for not being there. It's once a month, for God's sake (or, for the agnostics and atheists, goodness' sake, or, for the evil, for badness' sake, or, for the neutral, for whatever's sake, etc.). Same bat time, same bat channel next month. Dave P.S. We don't own a dog house, but I should probably build a nice one so when I come back to Rochester I can be comfortable. :-P On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 8:44 AM, Jonathan Sherwood <[email protected]> wrote: > Yet another "sorry I couldn't be there" note (at least I have only two > more > months of Tuesday night classes!) > That video was stunning. I've forwarded it to half a dozen biologists. > > -- > Jonathan Sherwood > Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer > University of Rochester > 585-273-4726 > > > On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 8:37 AM, Eric Scoles <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Yes, thanks from me, too -- I really wanted to be there, I'm sorry I had >> to leave. Maybe we can get a panel together sometime, and promote it more >> heavily. Nancy and Mark for a start. Any other gene-iacal suggesticons? >> Get >> some real speculative juju moving. Other than Alicia (would it be awkward >> being on a panel with your manager?), do we have any biologists? >> >> >> >> On 2009-02-04, Pat Rapp <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Thank you for the summary, Nancy. I am so disappointed that I had to >>> miss >>> it! >>> >>> ----- Original Message ----- >>> From: [email protected] >>> To: [email protected] >>> Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 6:58 AM >>> Subject: Re: DNA in action! >>> >>> Last night's R-Spec meeting was fascinating -- it was too bad that only >>> seven people could make it. Mark Zahn, Alicia's boss, spoke about >>> Biodefense. He slanted his talk toward practical knowledge for SF >>> writers >>> who want to include weaponized genemods in their stories, and he did a >>> wonderful job. >>> >>> He talked about which pathogens best lend themselves to modification >>> (Ebola, for instance, has a very small genome and produces only eight >>> proteins, which means there's just not room enough in the cell to fit a >>> lot >>> of extra, genetically engineered stuff.) Mark covered the assembly of >>> viruses using sequencing data and "off-the-shelf" sections of DNA. He >>> talked about the origins and spread of epidemics. I hadn't known that >>> the >>> natural host for influenza was an Asian species of duck, and that the >>> way >>> vaccine makers guess at which strains of flu will hit in a given winter >>> is >>> by examining ducks in late summer. >>> >>> The talk also covered what you need for a rogue genemod lab to weaponize >>> pathogens: off-the-rack equipment, experienced talent, and no more than >>> a >>> few million dollars. What the Russians may or may not have been doing >>> in >>> this regard was discussed, including a recommendation for Ken Alibek's >>> scary >>> book BIOHAZARD (which I have read -- it's horrifying). Mark finished >>> with >>> an overview of surveillance techniques used to spot and track epidemics >>> so >>> that appropriate measures can be taken, including quarantine if >>> necessary. >>> >>> Thank you, Alicia. It was terrific. >>> >>> _________________________ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "R-SPEC: The Rochester Speculative Literature Association" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/r-spec?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
