Into The Stars

Another memorial post…
This one is for Nichelle Nichols, who played Lieutenant Uhura on the original series of Star Trek.

(It was very difficult to get an image that wasn’t copyrighted – this is the best that I could find…)

A trailblazer, an inspiration to many and, it seems, a lovely person as well.
I watched the original Star Trek as a child, and remember her as elegant, professional, unflappable – when the men were flailing about across the bridge of the Enterprise (60s special effects 😆 ), I remember her as being cool and calm.

Farewell, Ms Nichols.
May your onward journey be one of peace.

Published in: on August 2, 2022 at 5:34 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Tribble With Biochemistry

I recently read a book on the medicinal effects of cannabis, and came across a family of mammalian homologs (to do with genes) called Tribbles, so called because they enter mitosis early and proliferate rapidly. Yes, they are named after these little creatures…

There appear to be other biological discoveries named after pop culture references – there’s a sonic hedgehog protein that can be found in humans. It belongs to a family of hedgehog proteins, so called because they have prickly looking protrusions. There’s also a pikachuran protein, with “lightning-fast moves and shocking electric effects” like Pikachu, and a “Conan the Bacterium“, that survives radiation and is known to be extremely hardy.

It can be fun to be a scientist….

Published in: on April 23, 2016 at 3:52 pm  Leave a Comment  
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