After attending a retreat yesterday, I returned home to a night (and morning) of violent vomiting. Quick quiz: what causes rapid-onset food poisoning, as defined by profuse vomiting less than six hours after eating? Anything with pre-formed toxins, of course! Our selections: 1. Staphylococcus Aureus (from snot) 2. Bacillus cereus (from improperly cooked and refrigerated […]

So, let’s say I woke up this morning with a great idea to deal with three critical problems in embryonic stem cell therapies with one tidy little trick. Could I found a company in Lake Union? In Seattle? In the region? Finding a vacant warehouse, sweeping out the rats and installing some desks won’t cut […]

Should Seattle be a center for biotech? “At South Lake Union, we are building a center of excellence in life sciences,” says the mayor. Vulcan has voraciously devoured tax and zoning breaks in the name of biotech in Seattle. Will it work? Tremendous potential exists in Seattle. Last year the university pulled in over a […]

I’ve received several responses regarding my column on compact fluorescent lightbulbs. From Tom Robey at Hope for Pandora brought up some interesting points: For reference, 5 mg is 1% of what mercury thermometers contained. Yes there IS mercury, so you should follow these instructions in the rare event that a bulb breaks. So, this is […]

I’ve spent the better part of this Saturday afternoon writing in the Central Library. The building is totally dysfunctional, but beautiful. Just like Seattle. At least the tourists snapping photos seem happy. I’m writing here because my desk is utterly useless for the task—despite working in the brand new UW research building in the South […]