I had been wondering about R-SPEC on Facebook. I don't know enough about it, other than that it's a good way for people to keep abreast of what we're up to. But I think Pat's right - we need to promote individual meetings to some degree. The D&C would run it in their calendar, and we can make sure other places such as Writers and Books have it posted.
-- Jonathan Sherwood Sr. Science & Technology Press Officer University of Rochester 585-273-4726 On Wed, Feb 4, 2009 at 9:10 AM, Pat Rapp <[email protected]> wrote: > > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
