I just finished the third week of my summer lab rotation. Most of the folks in the lab come from a chemistry background, so I'm learning a lot from them and trying to dust off the cobwebs from orgo. I ran a thin layer chromatography experiment this week and everyone made fun of me because I cut the silica strip WAY too big. It's interesting contrasting a chemistry-based lab with the biology labs I've been in previously. Just as in biology, there are certain generally accepted methods for doing things. For example, when doing chemistry one does not use a pipetman with plastic tips, so ubiquitous in biology labs. Instead, one uses a glass syringe that won't be dissolved by organic solvents. It's funny though, the chemists in the lab often break cardinal rules of the biology lab. For instance, people pore the supernatant from a bacterial culture down the sink. Or they leave the plumbing of chromatography equipment sitting in aqueous buffers, making it prime real estate for bacterial growth. I'm enjoying sharing tips and hints with labmates from different backgrounds.
The weather was warm and sunny the past week, so I got out for plenty of bike rides and runs. Two weekends ago I ran in the Dexter-Ann Arbor half marathon, a beautiful race mostly along the Huron River. I thought it was an impressive show of community spirit, with many of my friends and professors running and a large post-race rally followed by the Taste of Ann Arbor festival. Picture at one representative point on the course:
After taking a two-hour nap following the race, I traveled to the Detroit Institute of Art with a group of medical students and professors as part of a Arts and History in Medicine trip. The museum's most famous piece is a multi-wall mural by Diego Rivera depicting Detroit's history and industry; here is just one wall:
The DIA has many other famous works, including some by van Gogh and Picasso, that we saw only briefly, so I'll definitely need to return.
And finally, I'd just like to note that it's been great to see hordes of bicyclists out and about on the streets of Ann Arbor. I've noticed that only a fraction of bicycle commuters wear helmets in Ann Arbor. Usually people out for long rides wear a helmet, but folks on short trips tend to forgo them out of convenience. The bicycle helmet debate is still raging, with conflicting scientific evidence on both sides regarding the efficacy of helmets. If you were to compare the outcome of a helmeted rider versus a helmetless rider in any given crash, the helmeted rider probably has an increased chance of faring better. However, there's evidence that helmet laws decrease the number of cyclists on the road (increasing the risk for the remaining cyclists due to the "safety in numbers effect," not to mention diminishing the huge cardiovascular health benefits to cyclists in general), cause cyclists to ride faster, and cause motorists to pass cyclists more closely.
On the other hand, the evidence for the efficacy of motorcycle helmets is pretty much irrefutable, yet the state of Michigan is currently looking into repealing mandatory helmet use for motorcyclists:
The argument for repeal is that the helmet law is hurting tourism in Michigan...I have trouble imagining someone canceling their vacation to Michigan because they have to ride with a helmet on their motorcycle. Meanwhile, the health care savings due to helmet use in Michigan are in the many millions of dollars.
