I recently commented that I don’t think there’s any such thing as the perfect job.
But I think I might have been wrong.
A paper in today’s Current Biology1 made me realise that my perfect job does exist:
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rENNISance woman by Cath Ennis
Matt Brown said: "You can blog about whatever you wish, as long as it is related to science and research". His wish is my command! Here are some snippets from my life as a cancer research grant wrangler in Vancouver. Mostly the silly bits.
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Another career change in the works
- Date:
- Thursday, 04 Jun e 2009 - 20:47 UTC
From the Methods section:
Subjects were 22 infant and juvenile apes and 3 human infants (Table S1). The apes included 7 orangutans, 5 gorillas, 4 chimpanzees, 5 bonobos, and 1 siamang. All individuals were audio-recorded in their home facilities (or homes) while being tickled by familiar and mostly different humans, who were instructed to trigger tickle-induced vocalizations in the subjects as part of a playful social interaction, a method that has been effectively applied in a range of species [11], [12], [13] and [14] (see Figure 1 for representative spectrograms). Subjects were primarily tickled on their palms, their feet, their necks, or in their armpits. Table S1 includes further information about subjects and recordings.Check out the recordings. I did. I’m working on my CV and cover letter right now. What’s the weather like in Portsmouth?
1 and reported all over the popular media too. BTW, what’s up with the new ads on the BBC website? Not. Happy.
Last updated: Thursday, 04 Jun 2009 - 20:47 UTC
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Comments
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TIVOL! (Tickle-induced vocalization out loud)
Doesn’t this count as Research Blogging?
I noticed the beeb website this morning. Oh dear, sellout time.
(Can’t….stop….myself…)
Sounds better than being the lab monkey spanker.
(Sorry)
This conjures up images of intrepid ape ticklers swinging through the rainforest canopy, trying to catch their
victimsexperimental subjects.oh… the horror. Poor monkeys. Tickled. By people they hold dear. Oh the horror. They have my deepest sympathy.
And you want to do that Cath? Where I am from we call that EVIL!! ;)
[please donate money here to funds where rescue from evil ticklers is placed. no primate, or non primate, should ever need to suffer this. And especially not human people who are surrently suffering from the extreme tickling and have problems breathing while under tickling syndrome….]
Sarbjit, even the acronyms are cute!
Barry, it was hardly an in-depth analysis ;) The worst thing with the BBC site is the juxtaposition of silly ad photos with serious news items. I’ll try to remember to grab a screenshot next time I see anything remarkable.
Mike, I almost used that joke, but managed to stop myself. Possibly because I know someone who once worked as a horse w#$@er (all in the name of science, of course) and she’s still traumatised.
Åsa, I suffer from the same syndrome, so it would only be fair to let the apes tickle me back!
You know, I suspect the only downside might be the smell.
I’ve never smelled an ape up close, but I’m sure they’re not as bad as some people I’ve met
Primate Pillow Fighter has a nice ring to it.
I wish I could see the search terms people use to find this post
I think “Primate Pillow Fighter” is a new Nintendo game, no? Comes in a double-pack with “Ape Tickle Frenzy” and “Super Mario Rides the #5 Bus to the Station”.
I think that would work better on the Wii
I just realized the follow up study should probably go into the wild and to the normal geographical range of each species, so if you apply you may have to travel to tickle….
Ooooooooh. Borneo sounds pretty good
OK, you take Borneo and I’ll head south to tickle some new world primates.
Ooooooooh. Borneo sounds pretty good
It is ;)
I didn’t get to tickle this guy, but he checked me out for a few minutes.
BTW Cath, if you think the last few days here counted as hot… you probably shouldn’t be thinking about the Borneo jungle. Even the animals hide from it during the middle of the day.
Richard, surely you meant the Donkey Kong Super Tickle Smash?
Darren, heat is a real problem for me when I travel! I’m a Northern girl through and through – Vancouver is the furthest South I’ve ever lived, and I once got sunburn in Scotland in Febraury. I do more or less OK in hot climates once I acclimatise, but I do need to cover up and avoid peak season!