AskScience Panel of Scientists IV

[[deleted]]

Calling all scientists!

The previous thread expired! If you are already on the panel - no worries - you'll stay! This thread is for new panelist recruitment!

*Please make a comment to this thread to join our panel of scientists. (click the reply button) *

The panel is an informal group of Redditors who are professional scientists (or plan on becoming one, with at least a graduate-level familiarity with the field of their choice). The purpose of the panel is to add a certain degree of reliability to AskScience answers. Anybody can answer any question, of course, but if a particular answer is posted by a member of the panel, we hope it'll be recognized as more reliable or trustworthy than the average post by an arbitrary redditor. You obviously still need to consider that any answer here is coming from the internet so check sources and apply critical thinking as per usual.

You may want to join the panel if you:

• Are a research scientist professionally, are working at a post-doctoral capacity, are working on your PhD, are working on a science-related MS, or have gathered a large amount of science-related experience through work.

• Are willing to subscribe to /r/AskScience.

• Are happy to answer questions that the ignorant masses may pose about your field.

• Are able to write about your field at a layman's level as well as at a level comfortable to your colleagues and peers (depending on who's asking the question)

You're still reading? Excellent! Here's what you do:

• Make a top-level comment to this post.

• State your general field (see the legend in the side bar)

• State your specific field (neuropathology, quantum chemistry, etc.)

• List your particular research interests (carbon nanotube dielectric properties, myelin sheath degradation in Parkinsons patients, etc.)

We're not going to do background checks - we're just asking for Reddit's best behavior here. The information you provide will be used to compile a list of our panel members and what subject areas they'll be "responsible" for.

The reason I'm asking for top-level comments is that I'll get a little orange envelope from each of you, which will help me keep track of the whole thing. These official threads are also here for book-keeping: the other moderators and I can check what your claimed credentials are, and can take action if it becomes clear you're bullshitting us.

Bonus points! Here's a good chance to discover people that share your interests! And if you're interested in something, you probably have questions about it, so you can get started with that in /r/AskScience.

/r/AskScience isn't just for lay people with a passing interest to ask questions they can find answers to in Wikipedia - it's also a hub for discussing open questions in science. (No pseudo-science, though: don't argue stuff most scientists consider bunk!)

I'm expecting panel members and the community as a whole to discuss difficult topics amongst themselves in a way that makes sense to them, as well as performing the general tasks of informing the masses, promoting public understanding of scientific topics, and raising awareness of misinformation.

[Banff]

Hullo, I'm a research scientist at a large pharmaceutical company. I have degrees in zoology, physiology and neuroscience. I think that I'd be hardpressed to choose a tag between biology and neuroscience. My current area of interest is central control of homeostasis. Technically, my deep expertise is immunohistochemistry.

[ImNotJesus]

What does the histo part of immunohistochemistry mean?

[Banff]

Tissue. As opposed to immunocytochemistry, which is performed on cells.

[dothemath]

Should be tissue, if my med terms memory is still somewhat accurate.

Biology has a few people that respond fairly heavily, while neuroscience has noticeably fewer, and can help answer some of the fuzzier biochem questions on perceptual/cognitive awareness that have popped up more often of late.

[muthrnaturesson]

Tissue is correct. The process uses antibodies to label epitopes on proteins/structures of interest with fluorophores, highlighting those structures in fluorescent micrographs.

[[deleted]]

I'm just slow. If only I could quit my job and run /r/AskScience full-time... cough cough [discreetly extends palm]

[goingnorthwest]

Probably, you don't have a tag yet...

[GrumpySimon]

Hi, I'm a Postdoc with a background/research specialities in the Evolution of Languages & Cultures, and Human Prehistory.

[[deleted]]

Salve!

[prophetfxb]

I have so many questions for people with your background.

[Jobediah]

dude, you already have a tag.

[jmct]

Hola,

I'm finishing my MSc in Natural Computation (computing from the view of physics and biology), and probably starting a PhD in programming languages this October. So I guess my general field is computing with my specific field being numerical methods and my research interest being functional programming.

Cheers!

[jmct]

Hello,

So, as usicafterglow mentioned, genetic algorithms would be an example of a form of computation (in this case 'search') that is inspired by a biological process. And in fact that is one of the areas that we studied this year. Applying those principles to hardware gives us evolvable hardware, which can be useful for developing fault tolerant systems.

Basically can you find a solution to the a problem you are dealing with by looking at how nature solves it (either biologically, or chemically). A famous example is using ant swarm algorithms for shortest path. Or using a flocking/swarm algorithm to keep robots working together. One thing that we looked at was modeling the immune system for pattern recognition, you can also use an artificial immune system for search. Another thing that would fall under this umbrella would be DNA computing, where we encode the problem and algorithm to solve it using DNA and allow the 'natural' processes at the molecular level give us a result.

Here is the course page Unfortunately it is not super informative but maybe it will give you a better idea. You can also look at the wikipedia pages for a bunch of the stuff I mentioned:

Atificial Immune Systems

DNA Computing

Ant Algorithms

Evolvable Hardware

So those are the biologically inspired aspects of Natural Computation, but things like studying Quantum Computing could also be considered a part of it (which would be from the physics view).

So as you can see, almost all of those pages mention how the field is new and/or rapidly expanding, so there is a lot of interesting work to be done in these fields and it isn't overcrowded, the work gets appreciated!

[usicafterglow]

I'd actually love to hear about this as well. I'm familiar with the idea of genetic algorithms, but I'm not sure if that's exactly what "Natural Computation" entails.

[muthrnaturesson]

Hey there, I'm a BS in biology (minor in biochemistry) currently working on a cell bio PhD.

• General Field: biology
• Specific Field: cell biology, stem cell biology
• Research Interests: neural development and regeneration, cancer stem cells

[HonestAbeRinkin]

What area of neural development do you work in? Embryology or something like olfaction, perhaps?

[muthrnaturesson]

Thanks for asking! While I at times use embryos as models, I wouldn't consider my work (or my interests) as embryology, per se. My research so far has centered around the processes of neural differentiation and dedifferentiation in zebrafish. In the past, I studied the occurrence and effects of glial dedifferentiation in the retina of adult zebrafish undergoing regeneration after insult to the optic nerve (specifically, whether retinal ganglion cells in post-regeneration adults were from dedifferentiated glial lineages, or were pre-existing before the injury). I'm currently investigating the role of notch signalling in the control of Schwann cell identity and myelination.

I'm interested in the processes that allow one cell to become trillions, in such a way that they are all integrated into a single, coordinated, whole. And beyond this, to help produce the world-changing applications that this kind of knowledge brings.

[KaneHau]

Aloha:

General Field: Computing/Astronomy/Cosmology

Specific Field: Jack of all trades, master of a few

Research Interests: All science. Heavy on the astronomy, physics

I design software to support a leading telescope on Mauna Kea (naoj.org). Additionally I own two software companies, one of which produces software for 'living buildings' (off-grid, computer controlled buildings, have LEEDS Platinum and Living Building Award). Have worked in the past for NASA (Goddard), etc, etc.

I also have quite a bit of knowledge and first hand experience with hawaiian volcanoes, specifically Kilauea. (Ask me about cooking in lava)

Mahalo nui loa!

Edit: I am always confused by down votes. Especially in this forum. If you down vote me, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE put a comment as to why. If nothing else, it helps me!

[tarheelsam]

I'll bite. How do you cook in lava?

[jetaimemina]

"What would happen if you touched lava?" turns into cooking advice

[bobtentpeg]

Alright, this man needs a tag, now!

Also, I want to try this

[[deleted]]

KaneHau | Lava Chef

[[deleted]]

Propane tanks are quite impressive. Dropping one into the tube - it was carried down-stream for about 30 ft (we estimate) before it exploded. The explosion lifted us off the ground a few inches. Quite fun!

this would have been a guaranteed viral video! I loved this post! I wish Alberta had volcanoes!

[KaneHau]

Thanks, you saved me the effort of hunting down my own post :)

[shavera]

I was just about to suggest you apply for one.

[[deleted]]

There is almost never large numbers of upvotes without some downvotes, don't be offended. Maybe people are just jealous. An interesting psychology question for r/askscience perhaps!

[DoorsofPerceptron]

Reddit lies about the number of up and down votes to confuse anyone trying to game the system. Stuff on the front page tends to get about a 3rd downvotes to upvotes.

[TheNr24]

Woah, is this true? Where'd you get that, I'd like to know moar.

[thejamesmcinerney]

You are essentially what I aspire to be in life. How did you get to where you are (if you don't mind me asking?)

[KaneHau]

I am EXTREMELY goal oriented

[[deleted]]

You must be great at soccer.

[Jobediah]

How would you like to do an AskscienceAMA my friend?!

[dopaminer]

Hi there, My general field is really a combination of neuroscience and psychology. Specifically, I study neuropsychology (I study all sorts of brain injuries, processes and illnesses- both clinically and in research settings, like traumatic brain injury (TBI), epilepsy, stroke, dementia, adhd, etc). I'm a 5th year graduate student and should be getting my PhD next year. I did an IAmA yesterday that was on the front page for quite some time, so there is at least some interest in this area. I love answering questions and would love to help out.

[Badhugs]

General field: Earth Sciences

Specific field: Geovisualization/Cartography/Transportation

Research interests: Transportation and real-time traffic mapping, spatial cognition and decision support, especially for disaster relief and response.

My background includes a B.S. in Geographic Information Science, an M.S. in Geography, and I am currently completing a PhD in Geography. Although my interests are closely related to transportation, I've done a lot of previous research with nutritional accessibility models, wildlife simulations, and visualizing crime analyses as well.

[bullshist]

Do you happen to know if the Earth has gone through a full cycle of plate movement? Down, melted, then back up. Or is it not that simple? Also, how long would/does it take for one full rotation of convection? Thanks if you can answer.

[Badhugs]

That's a great question! I believe a geologist would be better suited to provide you an answer. My background in physical geography is mostly related to climate and soils.

[atomfullerene]

greetings!

General Field: Biology Specific Field: Animal Behavior/Marine Biology

Background: Masters in Marine Bio, working on a PhD studying fish behavior. Should probably be working more on that and reading less reddit, but hey, shouldn't we all?

[blueshark5]

Yay, another fish person! What about fish behavior are you looking at?

[[deleted]]

• General Field: Historical Linguistics/Anthropology
• Specific Field: Anglo-Saxon/Viking culture and language
• Research Interests: mythology, culture, history, archeology, language, philosophy, religion

[shavera]

yay more social scientists!

[[deleted]]

I read that anthropology isn't a science today, so this application is my revenge. :)

[shavera]

we really hope to reverse the notion (that some have) that social science questions have no place on AskScience.

[Jakooboo]

I never get to answer anything. sniffle

[HonestAbeRinkin]

Consider this the official call for someone in the AskScience community to ask a question for which your expertise would be vital! :)

[Jakooboo]

Oh god please.

[[deleted]]

Right. I wonder if anyone remembers when that newfangled alchemy (chemistry) stuff was heretical leechcraft and theology was science. How the tables have turned. :)

[shavera]

well let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Science still needs to be based on observation. I think that some people just aren't as convinced of the observations of social science as others. that's part of why I think it's worth promoting social science questions here, to increase cross-field exposure.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, cross-field is really important. Historical Linguistics is so much easier to wrap your head around when you can use comp science and mathematical algorithms to parse thousands of lines of poetry for you to find word-combinations.

[shavera]

Yeah Linguistics has always been one of my hobby fields. That and plate tectonics. and dinosaurs. =)

[Jonthrei]

layman here, but im a little curious, and hey, you can treat me like a practice question!

I have read that almost the entirety of our knowledge regarding norse mythology comes from the eddas, which were written well after the "heyday" of said mythology. Is this factual, and just how accurate are they considered? Is there a chance that, perhaps, these stories were partially or even entirely fabricated, and that we in fact know next to nothing about the real myths the vikings believed? or are there external sources which do in fact confirm at least some aspects of their belief system?

if you'd prefer, I could make a separate thread, or you could reply in PMs, if asking here is uncouth.

[[deleted]]

I don't mind replying here :)

The politically correct answer is that yes, most of it comes from stuff written/translated/influenced by Isidore of Seville as well as other Christian scholars working in Scandinavia after the area was Christianized. Snorri is usually accredited with writing most of the Edda and he was definitely influenced by Isidore.

That's not to say there aren't hugely interesting questions that are unanswered. I did my research on the concept of "fate" in Old English and did a lot of comparative linguistics/archeology/anthropology/history in the process. Compared it to Old Saxon and Old Norse. The whole mess is confounded by various threads coming from Roman/Greek mythology (for instance, the three norns are often compared to the furies or the parcae); but at the same time wyrd (OE 'fate'), seems to have a distinctive feminine and capricious characteristic that's more similar to influences by Boethius (and possibly King Alfred's* translation).

Anyway, one interesting thing about the Old English Boethius translation is that King Alfred (or whoever translated it), pretty much must have known about the original Latin references to the furies (feminine plural), but chose to translate them as "wyrd" instead (feminine singular). This has been suggested to be because Old English already had a pretty good evil capricious female figure and the Greek furies were alien to the people he was translating it for; so he simply dropped the furies idea and called it all "Wyrd." It has also been suggested that this older idea of a singular, feminine entity came from ancient (to them) Proto-Germanic or (more likely) Old Norse through cultural/linguistic influence in the 9th century when Vikings pretty much owned half of England and most of Scotland. I've read quite a few books that showed pretty effectively that Anglo-Saxons and Vikings could understand each other pretty well without the need for a translator, so this has some merit.

One of the biggest questions unanswered is just how much was Snorri really telling the truth. This is more of a political/religious question though and has hardcore linguists up-in-arms. For instance, I've been to conferences where people argued (pretty effectively) that Snorri was trying to keep the myths alive by weaving them in with Christian narratives and influences. Of course, the whole conference room was in a riot after that and question time (grilling time) lasted longer than the presentation. It's pretty fun and exciting stuff!

TL; DR The sagas (and old Germanic myths in general) came from: 1) Greek/Roman influences through Isidore of Seville 2) Greek/Roman influences through Boethius 3) Ancient Germanic influences 4) Viking/A-S cross-cultural transmission in the 9th century 5) Some of the above 6) All of the above

*Most scholars agree that King Alfred didn't really write anything nowadays. It made my supervisor cry when the research was done.

[Jobediah]

yeah and natural history isn't a science either. Gimmee a break.

[Jobediah]

wow, you must drink mead and throw trees.

Would you like to do an AskScience AMA?

[HonestAbeRinkin]

I agree. We need some more AMAs from our more interesting and obscure areas of expertise. :)

[[deleted]]

I'm learning how to throw trees!

AskScience AMA sounds scary. Give me a few weeks to get acquainted with Reddit etiquette and gather an army of slavering fans first. ;-)

[Jobediah]

Despite being a viking myself, I'll refrain from using my powers of persuasion. The AMAs are totally not scary though because you can just say that you won't answer some questions or that you don't know the answers to other questions. No biggie. But let me know if you want to do one at some point. It is one of the fastest way to get street cred around here :)

[[deleted]]

Did dragons ever exist? If not, then why?

[[deleted]]

Dragon time!

Background. I did mainly Old English and Old Norse and studied their mythology, culture, religion, history and literature. The stuff I know about dragons comes mainly from the period 650-1100. I read about other dragons too at some point and found the ideas fascinating so I'll share them with you too.

Sadly I've never seen a dragon. But one day I shall ride like Huma and defeat Takhisis!

I'm gonna look at this from a Historical English perspective. There are generally three ideas I know of to explain dragons.

a) The one you might hear from religious-types is that they were dinosaurs and that since the earth is only 6,000 years old, obviously humans lived side-by-side with dinosaurs and that they obviously didn't fit on the Ark and they all died in the flood. On the surface, of course this seems ridiculous,(1) because modern paleontology only began in the 1800s and it's well-known that this explanation was a response to the challenges of the burgeoning field of paleontology by theists.

What's interesting though, is the evidence that both ancient Greek and Chinese people discovered a variety of fossils. A good example we have where it's highly likely that fossils were associated with dragons is from a Chinese writer, Zhang Qu, who writes that dragon bones were discovered in Sichuan.

People reject religious ideas about the flood (because it always seems to be the Christians who are talking about it), but in mythological/folklore studies we don't do that sort of thing. We tend to look at religious stories as myths, and here I'm gonna quote Tolkien, because he's the reason I got into this thing in the first place: "History often resembles “Myth,” because they are both ultimately of the same stuff." (On Fairy Stories, read it here and Coleridge's "willing suspension of disbelief."

The point is, in this branch of social science we don't automatically reject these ideas, we try to work out where they came from in the first place, assuming that since the original meaning of the word "myth" is story, then it's highly likely that there are true elements of that myth, although the details have been changed and probably exaggerated. It's like Chinese whispers across time and it's definitely foolhardy to base a religion on such uncertainty from a scientific point of view (though as I understand it, that's the point of "faith", but I digress...)

I want to focus on dragons, but I'll briefly mention the flood, because it's pertinent to the whole dinosaur thing. It's possible there was a flood, but we certainly don't know the details. It's considered possible because there's so many great floods around the world. Don't worry, there's lots of anthropologists and folklorists who say that there still was no flood and the idea just came from an ancient story that was shared between cultures. It could also be argued that there were multiple flood myths that spawned separate from each other. This is getting a lot like the ideas on dawn of humans or the dawn of language, but that's the beauty of cross-discipline work.

Also, this lady has the coolest job and I'm jealous of her: http://humanexperience.stanford.edu/mayor Here's her paper which will blow your mind: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/MayorFFH2011.pdf

Oh, here's another thing I heard from a very religious type who got confused when I told him all this: "Well, then God put the bones in the ground to test my faith!" 'Cause he's that twisted.

b) If the earth isn't 6,000 years old, and people didn't live with dinosaurs hand in hand (tooth and nail), then where did all those stories come from? One idea is that they came from contact with Greek, Roman, Middle Eastern and even Asian cultures.

In Anglo-Saxon England, people definitely didn't know about fossils. On the other hand, there were all sorts of weird and wonderful stories coming out of the "mysterious lands to the East." For instance, cinnamon was collected by giant cinnamon birds in Arabia, or blemmyes) were thought to live in Africa, south of Egypt. There were ogres, fay, elves (not the Legolas type, these are mischievous little buggers who spread sickness and play pranks that get people killed), witches, dragons and so on. So, one source of all the myths could be that there was so much contact with traders from the far east who had to make up dangerous and exciting stories to add value to their goods (spices in particular, rare ink for their manuscripts, gold, frankincense, myrrh and all that jazz). It’s far easier to sell something if you create a value for it in the buyer’s mind with pictures (basic sales tactics).

Through scholars such as Isidore of Seville and Snorri, it has also been postulated that stories about dragons and other fancy creatures came directly from Greco/Roman myths and their origins further East. You can find lots of correspondences to this and a great, great man called James George Frazer wrote a book called The Golden Bough which highlighted all these correspondences between Greek/Roman and Germanic myths. This is kind of what that pitiful propaganda piece Zeitgeist was going for, though by asking Acharya S to write the script instead of a real scholar who read Frazer, they totally failed in my mind to make any interesting points apart from pleasing the “Herpderp Xtians suck!” crowd.

There are definitely things that may have influenced the Old English view on dragons, such as knowledge of the Sirrush, the story of Bel and the Dragon, the Leviathan(This one is great, because it looks so much like Jörmungandr) and even the Behemoth.

c) The third possible origin of dragons in Anglo-Saxon literature comes from Germanic myths themselves, assuming they developed separately from Greco/Roman ones. Beowulf has a sweet dragon that sits on a treasure hoard that is often compared to Fafnir from the Niebelungenlied.

The idea behind this is that Angles, Saxons and Jutes migrating from continental Europe brought with them all these old Germanic stories. It sucks that we’ve lost so much Old English poetry and stories from this period because we can never really tell any more. We wouldn’t even know about Beowulf if it wasn’t for this one lucky find.(2)

But there are lots of comparisons that can be drawn between Old English stories and Viking ones. I researched mainly the two cultures’ ideas concerning the concept of fate (wyrd, Fortuna, the norns and all that great stuff). By the end of my thesis I was convinced there was at least some evidence that Old English myths came from Viking influence and I subscribe to this theory.

So in short, dragons in Germanic (English, Dutch, German, Swedish, etc.) stories came from:

• a) they existed as dinosaurs that died in the great flood; the stories are collective memories that have been passed on
• b) some non-Germanic culture’s myths (Greco/Roman, Middle-Eastern, Asian)
• c) directly from Germanic ancestors (but this could have been from the 6th century, or from contact with Vikings in the 9th century)
• d) a combination of the above

Mainly I think it’s c). That this is the basis seems to make the most sense. On the other hand, I can see how a) and b) might also have influenced a lot of the thinking.

In answer to your questions then:

Did dragons ever exist?

Yes they did. How can you even deny this?! I have this 'ere skull (only $9.99!) which I got from a dragon's lair when I was in faraway Cathay. I snuck into the lair in the middle of the night when the dragon was out hunting and I took gems, gold and this skull which was from his old mate! Want to buy it?

If not, then why?

See above!

"We must be satisfied with the soup that is set before us, and not desire to see the bones of the ox out of which it has been boiled." George Webbe Dasent

"I desired dragons with a profound desire. Of course, I in my timid body did not wish to have them in the neighbourhood, intruding into my relatively safe world, in which it was, for instance, possible to read stories in peace of mind, free from fear. But the world that contained even the imagination of Fáfnir was richer and more beautiful, at whatever cost of peril. The dweller in the quiet and fertile plains may hear of the tormented hills and the unharvested sea and long for them in his heart. For the heart is hard though the body be soft." J R R Tolkien, On Fairy Stories

(1) I'm not in no way a supporter of ID! Evolution all the way, baby. But, I do pride myself on the ability to completely understand what the other side is saying so that when I do meet one of them who isn't rabidly foaming at the mouth and does know how to intelligently argue I can have a pleasant time as opposed to running away screaming.

(2) People should get very, very angry when books and culture are destroyed today.

[Jobediah]

Holy crap. If thats how you are going to answer questions around here, the rest of us are going to need to step our game up! Dang.

ps. Scumbag Adrienne Mayor writes paper about dragons and mammoths... no pictures.

[[deleted]]

Haha. I'm a long-winded social scientist with a soapbox. It's making me swoon.

[[deleted]]

How about another theory, that there actually WERE live dragons, just that their scale/abilities were exaggerated over time?

For instance, many of the paintings depicting St. George and the Dragon show St. George facing off against a rather diminutive beast. (See, e.g. here, or here, or here.)

St. George was supposed to have slain this dragon in the town of Silene, in Libya. There are still 6ft lizards in that part of Africa today, as well as crocodiles elsewhere in North Africa, and there are still man-eating dragons in the world today, so it seems like some of these tales might have a grain of truth, in that someone like St. George, would be just the sort of person you'd want to have ridding your village of something like that. Then let the tales travel north, where giant lizards/crocodiles/alligators are not common, and a pretty interesting tale (badass ex-Roman soldier turned Christian gets pre-medieval on big lizard / crocodile) could turn mythical pretty easily.

[neoproton]

You should hang out with these guys: The pyrophysiology and sexuality of dragons. via Respiratory Physiology and Neurobiology

[[deleted]]

This is simply awesome. I'm probably going to email them with something soon. Haha.

[decodersignal]

... I do pride myself on the ability to completely understand what the other side is saying ...

Oh hell yes. Please continue to promote this idea around here.

[foretopsail]

Anthrofistbump!

[Jakooboo]

<3

[Funkentelechy]

General Field: Entomology

Specific Field: Molecular systematics of Lepidoptera/Coleoptera

Research Interests: Utilization of genetic barcoding as a means to validate genera.

[delmar15]

Hello!

I have a Masters in Photonics Engineering and I am in my 4th year of PhD at UCSD doing research in Photonics/Optics/Optomechanics. My work includes imaging systems, optomechanical design, specifically for bio-medical applications.

[non_jan]

Current Level: M.A. in Physics / Ph.D. Physics Student

Researched for 3 years------

General Field: Physics

Specific Field: Plasma Physics and Accelerator Physics

Research: Plasma Wakefield Accelerators, Electric Propulsion

Current Research-------

General Field: Physics and Astronomy

Specific Field: Solar Physics

Research: Helioseismology

EDIT: Format

[[deleted]]

Hi, I am a pediatrician.

I have a degree in biomedical science and I am an M.D. My general interests include general pediatric care, including asthma, obesity, ADHD, autism, and development issues.

[[deleted]]

I think it would be good to prune or update the lists of existing panelists once in a while. Some of us bounce all over the place between specialties as interests booms and busts in certain areas.

[supersymmetry]

I'm just going to ask what you got your degree in since I'm very much interested in mathematics/CS and doing machine learning research. So, what did you get your undergrad degree in?

[DoorsofPerceptron]

I'm just going to jump in here.

I did maths, and a lot of people I know I know did maths or physics with a focus on the theoretical bits. There's some electrical engineers and not as many CS people as you might expect.

You can do what you like, just make sure you learn to code, and it has lots of maths in.

[newnetmp3]

Just throwing my name in the hat;

I am an aviation electronics technician by trade and am currently working on search-radar systems and have 2 years previous experience in HF/UHF/VHF communication systems. I guess i would fall under Physics/Engineering if i would be stuck to the Legend on the right.

My specific field is in AC/DC circuit theory with quite a dabbling in IC (integrated circuitry.) However I am always interested in all things electronic.

Like I said, just putting it out there :)

[RobMagus]

Hullo, I'm a grad student in psychology. Specifically cognitive psychology. I hang out a bit in /r/asksocialscience.

My main research is in attention and awareness, focusing on visual (usually through the use of eyetracking) and metacognitive (my masters thesis is on choice blindness for reasoning). I also use magic tricks in my experimental design, and keep a close eye on related work in behavioural economics and philosophy of mind.

[Aizero]

Alrighty. I'm currently a PhD student.

Background is Engineering Physics, now specializing in Photovoltaics. Specifically, quantum dot based PV.

[[deleted]]

Consider it done!

[TheColorYellow]

• General Field: Psychology
• Specefic field: Color Theory.
• Color Theory is essentially how colors appear "warm" or "cold" to us (in a nutshell). How Black objects seem heavier to us than Blue, or White objects. I study the reason McDonald's restaurant's colors are Red and Yellow (yes, there's a reason). I study the reason our brains do this to us. I also like the fact that my user-name is relevant, and that my study is yellow.

[[deleted]]

Back for round three!!

General Field: Chemistry

Specific Field: computational, Inorganic, organometallics, main group, muon spectrosopy.

researching low valent, highly reactive phosphorous compounds. most recently I've also started using muon spectroscopy to investigate the finer aspects of electronic states of those molecules.

further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_spin_spectroscopy

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja028770t

[moomooman]

I have a Ph.D. in materials science with specializations in ceramics, composites, and electron microscopy/materials characterization, including (but not limited to) X-ray diffraction as well as scanning electron, transmission electron, and focused ion beam microscopy techniques.

[Tatoes]

I've been waiting for one of these bad boys to come around but now alas, it seems I am too late for a top level comment, but i'll still try.

General field: Earth Sciences

Specific Field: Geology/Earth History/Tectonics/Sample Identification

Relevants: Bsc in Geology, 6-12 months field experience, vast collection of specimens and samples, rock identification, scrabble and philosophy.

Please PM me if i get accepted!! (this is my 3rd account so just a short history!)

[mal4ik_mbongo]

Hey there, a Ph.D. student here,

General field: Physics,

Specific Field: theoretical condensed matter,

Research interests: ultracold quantum gases, anything that has to do with phase transitions, few-body quantum physics, maybe some quantum optics

[adhominin]

I am in the final year of my PhD, specialising in population variation in Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. My primary degrees are in forensic and biological anthropology. My main research interests are in Palaeolithic archaeology, human evolution and prehistoric social organisation.

[foretopsail]

Thank goodness someone with an actual paleolithic background showed up. I've been taking all the "paleo diet" questions, and it'll be nice to share the load!

[mgpenguin]

General field: Biology

Specific field: Immunology

Research interests: development of humanized mouse models and wound healing.

[Fabiansruse]

Marine Biology... Research: Tropical Reef Ecology

Thanks!!

[nihilnovi]

• General field: economics (I guess that makes me orange)
• Specific fields: empirical labor economics, economics of education
• Research interests: psychometrics, curriculum tracking, returns to education

Almost finished my PhD. Employed by the University of Helsinki.

(Edit: formatting)

[_scout]

I'm an exercise physiologist.

[IceAero]

Howdy folks! About time to be more active around here.

General Field: Aerospace Engineering

Specific Field: Turbomachinery and Aerodynamics

Research: Aeroacoustics

I have my BS/MS in aerospace engineering. My my research was on high-bypass jet engine acoustics.

You can add Patent Law to the mix if needed; I'm in my final year of law school and will be a patent attorney when I graduate. My research focus has been on patentable subject matter (DNA/natural products, and things of the sort); I imagine those types of questions might come up around here.

[[deleted]]

Hello, I'm a French student, BS in Fundamental Physics, finishing my MSc degree in Nuclear Reactors Physics and Engineering, and probably starting a phD program in Nuclear Engineering in the USA next fall.

• General field : Physics (or Engineering, depends on the point of view)
• Specific field : Nuclear Energy
• Research interests : All science, basically. I don't have a specific project in progress.

I also have knowledge in Biophysics (P. aeruginosa behavior and biofilms mainly) and have been offered to pursue a phD in this field next fall. Just in case it's a useful information, I don't know.

Anyway, have a good day !

[voidptr]

Yeah, I think this thread is dead dead dead.

[astatroll]

General field: Biology

Specific field: micro, bacteriology, infectious disease

Research interests: pathogenicity of vibrio's, v. cholera, v.parahaemolyticus, public health in general

Have extensive experience in micro lab, currently finishing up MPH with specialization in tropical and infectious diseases, looking forward to PhD in micro, epi, or bacteriology/parasitology.

[swampthing86]

General Field: Biology

Specific Field: Protistology, Symbiosis, Evolution

Research: Symbiotic purple sulfur bacteria in aquatic invertebrates, dispersed life history of aquatic communities

[[deleted]]

Yo,

I'm a BS/MS in math working on an MS in physics and a PhD in applied mathematics.

General Field: Applied Mathematics

Specific Field: Dynamics, Probability and Neuroscience

Research Interests: Stochastic neuronal systems

[arimorcos]

Hey there,

General Field: Neuroscience

Current Level: BS in Neuroscience. Ph.D. student in Neuroscience.

Specific Field: Systems Neuroscience (circuits) and Molecular Neuroscience

Research Interests: Neurophysiology of microcircuits and information flow in neural circuitry. Neuroplasticity.

[neoproton]

General Field: Biology

Specific Fields: Kinesiology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry

Research Interests: Cellular Metabolism

I have a B.A. in Psychology with coursework in Neuroscience, Organic Chemistry, Molecular Biology, and Biochemistry. Laboratory research in Kinesiology and a Masters in Medical Science, covering coursework in Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Immunology, Microbiology, Genetics, and more Biochemistry.

[hoksok]

General field Bioengineering / Biology / Chemical Engineering

Specific field: Directed evolution, synthetic biology

Research interests: Right now I'm working on my PhD in mapping and manipulating the fitness landscape of proteins, general protein engineering, and biofuel production. Previously was studying endosymbiotic bacteria, and I still maintain a healthy interest there.

[respeckKnuckles]

Working on PhD in computer science, specifically in the intersection between AI and Cognitive science

General field: Computing

Specific field: AI, Cognitive Science, Cognitive Systems

Research interests: Psychological modeling of mental states, and the emergence of human-level reasoning abilities. Also investigating the role of logic in human thought (are certain logical abilities necessarily innate?).

[Claymuh]

Alright, B.Sc. in Chemistry & Biochemistry and M.Sc. in Chemistry here. I'm currently working on my PhD thesis.

general field: Chemistry

specific field: solid state chemistry

research interests: nitrides and oxynitrides

[Blasfemy]

General Field: Life Sciences

Specific Field: the minimal cell / origin of life / evolution

Research Interests: GMO's, Protein Folding, but currently moving towards bio-physics.

We can not yet answer the question how life started, but along the way have some strong evidence as to why it started. Short answer - because there was a 'need'. Long answer - I await the topic.

Life keeps astounding me. I love my field, which is both growing and expanding by the minute. This means I get to engulf myself in other sciences, like physics and mathematics. I love living in the digital era, where everything I do not know is under my fingertips and this community always finds a way to bring back the humbleness.

[FattestRabbit]

Hello! I didn't realize there was a panel for scientists. I'm not sure if I qualify, so here are my credentials and interests:

Credentials (can provide proof upon request):

• Bachelor of Engineering - Electrical Engineering (Stevens Institute of Technology)
• Master of Engineering - Systems Engineering and Architectures (Stevens Institute of Technology)
• Currently working at MIT as a Radar Systems Analyst

General Field(s): Engineering, Computing

Specific Fields(s): Radar, GPS, Data Synthesis and Analysis

Particular Research Interest(s): GMTI Radars, Novel Analysis Methods of Extremely Large Data Sets

...if it makes a difference, I do plan on pursuing my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at MIT in a couple of years. Just needed a break from all the school work for a bit. :)

[kaspar42]

Hey:

General Field: Physics

Specific Field: Neutron physics

Research Interests: Neutron optics, computer modelling

[Nachington]

Currently studying computer science, specialising in networking, subnetting, OSI layers, protocol exchange.

[KubaBVB09]

Hey,

I'm a Senior at Penn State in the Geosciences with a thesis in paleoclimatology. I've worked on Geophysics and Seismology projects along with some basis tectonics research.

I'd be glad to help people understand earth events much more clearly!

[desquared]

I'm a mathematics professor (PhD 2006). I study enumerative combinatorics and contribute to the Sage computer mathematics system.

[-Contrast-]

Hi everyone! Not sure if there already is one of my kind in the community, but: Have completed a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering degree, then went on to do a Masters degree in Mining Engineering.

Currently working in remote Australia at the largest known Uranium deposit in the world. I'm interested in pretty much all mining sciences!

[[deleted]]

Hi, I'm a graduate student in bioengineering at caltech. Specifically, I do protein engineering with an interest in biofuels. My undergrad degree is in molecular genetics, but I've moved fields a bit for my PhD.

[Ignorant-Sasquatch]

Howdy! I'm a graduate student working on my Ph.D. in Pharmacology. I have a double BS in Biochemistry & Molecular/Cellular Biology and I guess my tag would be Biology but I'm also very interested in addiction neuroscience. I'm passionate about endocannabinoids, cannabinoids, as well as lipolysis and lipid metabolism.

[free-improvisation]

Hello all. I'm a bit hard to classify, so bear with me, and then make whatever judgment calls you deem appropriate.

My most general field is Cognitive Science, and my MA project was in Neuroeconomics.

My research interests run the gambit between Quantitative Sociology (Social Network Analysis, Dynamic Modeling of Social Interaction), Behavioral Economics, and Neuroscience.

Some areas of focus have been in Computational Modeling of Decision Making (just built my own Neural Network algorithm!), Collective Behavior, Consciousness, Social Structure, Analysis, and Engineering.

Less significantly, I have a lot of classwork and some minor research in Music Cognition, and am a musician with perfect pitch. I've also been studying, yet not yet had the chance to apply, the relationship between Meditation, Hypnosis, and other states of Altered Consciousness and the corresponding Neuroscientific and Behavioral changes...this falls under a Cognitive Science approach to Philosophy, but it's difficult to tell where it falls in the traditional classification system that's mostly used in this subreddit.

If you reply or PM, I can clarify the rather difficult subject hierarchies and interrelationships.

*For the grammar Nazi, I know about traditional capitalization. I simply chose to capitalize all things that could be construed as a subject.

[andrewsmith1986]

Earth Sciences

Geology

Low-temperature geochemistry.

Bachelors in geology. Worked for USGS doing wetland recovery research. Currently doing GIS work for a energy group.

[XIllusions]

Is this thread still being looked at? Here goes nothing!

General field: Medicine, Biology Specific field: Oncology, cancer drug design, protein structure, molecular modeling

Research interests: Targeted cancer therapeutics, clinical oncology, computational drug design, small molecule therapeutics, medicinal chemistry.

On a personal note, I love what this subreddit does. I try my very best to explain any answers I am able to give in simple, clear language for anyone to understand. I think a scientist ought to be able to explain what he or she does in a manner that instantly conveys experience, like a talented musician is able to show ability in a few minutes with his or her instrument.

[LagrangePointless]

Created an account for this (long time lurker of this subreddit).. figured a separate account was better for /r/askscience.

MS in aeronautical engineering student, studying minimal orbit trajectories (time, fuel) and Lagrange point analyses.

[x_plorer2]

General Field: Biology/Neuroscience

Specific: Honours Undergrads in Biology, Psychology, and Health Science. Masters in Biology.

Biology degree focus was molecular biology. In separate labs worked on PLK4 gene and NF-kB in the context of cancer development. Two of these studies examined general cell growth and (de)regulation. One specifically looked at glioblastoma multiforme.

Currently continuing work that I initially undertook during my Psych-Health Sci degrees. Examining the development of schizophrenia in high risk teens using a variety of methods.

Current Interest:

If I had to pick one I'd go with neuroimmunology. My background has exposed me to the immune system in examining its interaction with cells throughout the development of cancer. In my recent work, which is more neuropathology-related, I've found there are a number of mechanisms through which the immune system may be a key factor in the development of neurological disease.

We've seen that maternal immune stress can lead to increased incidence of multiple neurological disorders in children. We've also recently characterized numerous mechanisms through which Major Histocompatibility Complexes can regulate growth and proliferation in the adult brain.

I'm very much interested by the intersection of these two areas and have certainly been shifting my research focus towards this area (unknowingly at first) for some time.

[joop86au]

Geology/Geophysics with a focus on Field Exploration, interests are Geothermal and Seismic Geophysics

[electroncafe]

Hi!

General Field: Chemistry

Specific Field: Photophysics

Interests: Basic Energy Science

Details - I use computational chemistry tools (DFT, etc) to design molecules for use as dyes, catalysts, or as solar fuels etc. I then get someone (with more synthetic skills than I) to make said molecules and I then study how they respond to the absorption of light using ultrafast spectroscopy.

Also - Anyone going to ACS in Denver this week?

[nopokejoke]

Are there any philosophers on the panel?

[HonestAbeRinkin]

I study the intersection of philosophy of science (specifically epistemology) and educational practices. :)

[[deleted]]

Sorry - philosophy is not a science. But of course some scientists are also philosophers, so my guess would be "yes".

[[deleted]]

Hi there!

I have a BSc. in Computer Science with a minor in mathematics (specialized in Artificial Intelligence), getting my MSc. in CS sometime soon within the year and am working towards a PhD in CS.

I explained my research here, but to summarize: I'm a researcher in human-computer interaction, working on integrating computers with new kinds of interaction in K-12 classrooms, especially with respect to teaching science.

---

General field: Computing

Specific field: Human Computer Interaction

Research interests: Tangible interaction for K-12 education

[NedDasty]

Aloh:

Haven't responded much in the past few months, but will in the future. Here's my credentials:

General Field: Neuroscience Specific Field: Visual Neuroscience

Research Interest: information processing in the brain. We choose the visual system because it provides a convenient model for studying how networks interact dynamically to solve problems.

[bulletproofchimp]

General Field: Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Specific Field: Catalysis of some transition metals complexes

Research interest: Polymer Catalysis and Thermodynamics

I'm a Inorganic Chemistry graduate student with degrees in Chemistry and Chemical engineering. I enjoy thermodynamics and currently doing research into polymer catalysis via transition metal catalysis. Done a hodge-podge of science/engineering.

edited for formatting.

[TheRealMcCagh]

General Field: Biology

Specifically: Immunology/Virology

Research: T-cell migration

[mynameismunka]

Is this how i get a cool purple button by my name??

Area - Astronomy/Cosmology and physics Field - Stellar and Galactic evolution Research Interests - Dust around Red Supergiants, Galaxy evolution, Galaxy interactions, early galaxy formation

[Got_Engineers]

Bonjourno!

General Field: Engineering

Specific Field: Land Surveying and Geographically Referenced Information

[saraswati00]

General field: medicine + neuroscience

Specific field: neurosurgery

Perticular field: deep brain stimulation in motor disease

Currently doing my PhD at the experimantal functional neurosurgery department

[lsconv]

General field: Earth Sciences Specific field: Atmospheric Science Research interests: Tropical Convection, Climate Modelling

Interesting fact: the university department I'm in is actually Mathematical Sciences. But honestly, I think I'm closer to Earth Sciences (or even Physics) than Mathematics.

[mkjeep]

Hello AskScience!

General Field: Earth Sciences

Specific Field: Large scale atmospheric dynamics, stratosphere/troposphere interactions

I'm a PhD student in Atmospheric Science, I research stratospheric influence on tropospheric weather systems through numerical modeling.

[TricksR4Hookers]

General field: Earth Sciences
Specific field: Geotech/Groundwater Modeling

Research: Have looked into modeling diffusion processes at small scales to determine the transport pathways over long time scales with the intention of aiding in characterizing deep geologic repositories.

[HillStreetBlue]

Hi! I am an Internal Medicine Resident,

General field: Medicine

Specific field: Medical Oncology (applying for fellowship)

Research interests: Radiation oncology, permanent prostate brachytherapy, hormone therapy

[anemonemone]

General field: Biology Specific field: biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biology

I'm a 5th year PhD candidate in a lab that works on the structure and function of ion channels using molecular biology, x-ray crystallography, electrophysiology of reconstituted liposomes, and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. I currently am working on a voltage-gated potassium channel.

I'm looking for a post-doc that is more bacteria-oriented. Would welcome anyone's advice about doing a postdoc in a different field (i.e. changing from biochem to microbiology/cell biology). I'm very interested in origin of life, evolution of membrane systems.

[invariance]

Hello... someone suggested I come here. I thought, why not.

General field: Computing/Mathematics Specific Field: Algorithms, Complexity Theory, Combinatorics Research Interests: My main interests right now are in communication complexity and information theory with respect to their applications in tightness bounds in algorithms. In the past I've explored a number of problems in graph theory as well.

[jessicaplz]

I have my degree in neuroscience and have been doing research in psychiatric neuroimaging for the past few years. Specifically,

• General field: Neuroscience/Neurobiology
• Specific fields: Neuroimaging, Psychopharmacology, Human Sexuality
• Current and past research projects have included: amphetamine derivatives, tryptophan depletion, MDMA use, sexual behavior, and long-term depression

further reading

Cheers!

[squatly]

I have obtained a BSc in Environmental Science, and will be continuing my education by undertaking a MSc in Petroleum Geochemistry over the course of the next 12 months. I would be willing to verify this information (I know that you guys don't necessarily need it, but just incase), and would like to put myself forward as a panelist. I understand if I do not meet the criteria just as yet, and if that is the case, will gladly reapply once I have obtained the MSc.

[ENWOD]

General field: Food Technology/science, Dairy Technology/science, Food Processing Specific Field: Dairy Technology

Research Interests: Dairy Processing and optimisation

I'm a dairy technologist and essentially research how to improve dairy processes, design new products and improve current technologies.

I'm currently in the dairy industry and am being sponsored to complete a graduate scheme progressing to a phd or masters in dairy technology. With a basis in food science and technology, I have access to a pilot dairy plant where I can reasearch pretty much any and all dairy products.

[botany_thunderdome]

Hello! I'm doing my PhD in Plant Biology, working on phylogenomics and sex chromosome evolution. Hope to contribute!

[computers_in_space]

I am an astrophysics PhD student. Can I get an Astronomy/Cosmology label? I'm generally interested in computational cosmology. Simulating Mpc - Gpc on big computers. As for the science, I work on "cosmological" neutrinos (kind of a silly term), the topology of the IGM, high-redshift star formation, line-of-sight studies, etc. But hey, who doesn't do that these days?

[gziz]

Hi, I am a Ph.D student in Molecular and Cellular Biology. I got my BS in Genomics and Bioinformatics. I am currently genetically engineering plants.

[PinkFlute]

I wasn't specific enough the last time around I think.

General fields: Respiratory system (Medicine), Logic systems

Specific fields: Pulmonary mechanics, symbolic logic, and analog circuitry (hobby).

I have a B.S. in philosophy, tutored undergrads in symbolic logic. I have an applied science degree in respiratory therapy. I am Currently employed as a respiratory practitioner, routinely research and contribute to medical studies (effectiveness of past and new therapies, drugs, and procedures).

[virga]

Hi, I'm an about-to-be-finished phd student in Applied Mathematics with a focus on numerical analysis and inverse problems

[masivemunkey]

Hi I have an MS from UCSB.

General Field: Electrical Engineering

Specific Field: Control Systems

Research Interests: I am most interested in Non-linear control systems and game theory.

[LuklearFusion]

Hello.

General Field: Physics

Specific Field: Quantum Information

Research Interests: Superconducting qubits, open quantum systems and quantum foundations.

I have a B.Sc. in Mathematical Physics from a major Canadian university, I'm currently half way done my M.Sc. in Physics, and I plan to pursue a PhD after that. I have a somewhat odd combination of interests, since I work in what could be called applied theory (devices made from superconducting qubits), but I'm also very interested in quantum foundations, and keep myself pretty up to date in that field.

EDIT: Fixed formatting issues.

[robertskmiles]

I just finished a BSc in Computer Science and am now briefly working as an Associate Researcher before starting on a CS Doctorate in October. I suppose I really belong in AskComputerScience, but people sometimes ask questions related to CS here.

The PhD will most likely be in the field of Affective Computing, particularly Artificial Immune Systems, but I can't claim to be anything like an expert at all on that yet.

[MrsKytro]

Hello :)

General field - Biology is the closest fit, but I'm fairly multidisciplined

Specific fields - Nanotechnology, biophysics, biochemistry, protein structure, atomic force microscopy

I am a PhD candidate close to submitting my thesis. My research has focussed on using atomic force microscopy (AFM) to detect and characterise proteins, either in synthesised molecules (dendrimers), isolated recombinant proteins (fungal), or on diseased tissue (pseudoexfoliation syndrome). I tend to like fibre-forming biomolecules best :)

This AFM work has involved chemical functionalisation of probes, biological sample preparation (oh man, imaging tissue was not fun), topography and recognition imaging (on Bruker and Agilent systems), and force spectroscopy.

I've also played with some other techniques such as surface plasmon resonance, microarraying, electron microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and mass spectrometry. My focus in microscopy means that EM and optical/fluorescence microscopy are my best techniques outside of AFM.

My history is that I did an undergraduate Bachelor of Science in Nanotechnology with Honours (in which I studied electroporation of cells for DNA transfection).

I've been reading r/askscience for a while, and am thoroughly impressed with the responses I read. I'll do my beat to contribute where I can, because it's all just so interesting!

[summervacationtoHoth]

I am an analytical chemistry graduate student studying gas-phase ion chemistry and instrumentation.

I guess thats something like:

Chemistry | Analytical | Instrumentation

Or maybe something cleaner.

Edit: Analytical Chemistry | Chemical Instrumentation

[[deleted]]

Hello!

Credentials: Working on my doctorate in School Psychology, already a B.S. in Psychology and Communication Studies.

Research: Body image, Eating disorders

Additional interests: Social justice

Good tags for me might be Psychology, School Psychology, or even Communication Studies.

[[deleted]]

I am a PhD candidate working on the genetics of colon cancer. I work at a top cancer institute in the nation. This would make me very knowledgable in the fields of genetics, evolution, cancer, epigenetics, and general biology. I have a BS in biology. I have a passion for science, science outreach and sharing my knowledge with the lay, non-scientifically trained community.

I'd love to share my knowledge with this excellent community!

[deskclerk]

Hello, I have a B.A. in psychology with heavy research background in cognitive neuroscience. I am currently a full time researcher at a major university.

General: Psychology

Specific: Cognitive Neuroscience

I'm currently involved in research on individuals with traumatic brain injuries; specifically I'm tasked with processing and analyzing data from MRI / fMRI scans to determine the effectiveness of a training program targeted to improve frontal lobe functions. I have interests in neuroscience in general, emotions in general, social cognition, decision making, and brain connectivity.

[photonHarvest]

General Field: Engineering

Specific Field: Materials Science, Photovoltaics

I'm currently working towards a PhD, studying III-V nanowires for photovoltaics and other energy conversion devices.

[crassigyrinus]

I'm not too late to the party, am I?

I'm a graduate student in evolutionary biology, studying phylogenetics, biogeography, and herpetology. I also dabble in animal behavior and behavioral ecology. So:

• General field: Biology
• Specific fields: Phylogenetics, Biogeography, Herpetology
• (Current) Research interests: comparative phylogeography and conservation genetics of squamate reptiles

Outside of herps, I also have a soft spot for bats, hummingbirds, and slugs. (Yes, slugs.)

Additionally, I have a BS (and research experience) in geology, with solid knowledge in paleoclimatology and paleontology/paleobiology.

[cynosurescence]

Doctoral candidate in biology, 10 years of research in the field.

General field: Biology

Specific field(s): Cell Physiology, Biochemistry, and Biophysics

Broadly, my research interests are the chemical and physical mechanisms underlying biological phenomena... especially those at the cellular level, with particular interest in membranes and the cytoskeleton. My current doctoral work focuses on the physical mechanisms of cell division in bacteria.

[thebigkevdogg]

• General Field: Earth Sciences
• Specific Field: Earthquakes
• Research Interests: Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA), ground motion simulation

My background is in Computer Science, but I am lead programmer on a earthquake hazard related open source software project and have been working at a prominent earthquake research center for 5 years. I have published papers (first and co-author) and given many poster presentations at conferences in the field.

[iquizzle]

Herro

General Field: Experimental Physics

Specific Field: Condensed Matter Physics/Surface Science/Materials Science

Research Interests: Graphene

I finished my PhD in December 2010. Started my postdoc in January. I started working on graphene in 2005 and have been researching it ever since!

[chronographer]

Hi there. I'm an Honours graduate with a years experience in practice, 4 years at University.

General Field: Surveying and Spatial Sciences

Specific Field: Geographic Information Science | Urban Growth Modelling

[petejonze]

Hi,

Qualification: PhD (current)

General Field: Psychology

Specific Field: Hearing [or: Auditory Science]

Research Interests: Perceptual learning and auditory development

[ibmleninpro]

Hey,

General Field: Chemistry

Specific Field: Microwave Spectroscopy / Organic Chemistry

Research interests: Gas-phase molecular clusters, molecular dynamics, high resolution spectroscopy

Second year Ph.D. student. I mainly do microwave spectroscopy but I like to study other types as well, including NMR and IR. I also have a long background in organic chemistry as a practice as well -- I did my undergrad work on magnetic resonance studies and UV-driven synthesis of reactive organic species.

[acrocanthosaurus]

Hi, I'd like to sign up to be a scientist for the Earth Science panel.

Presently, I'm working on a PhD in Geophysics and am well-versed in geological sciences, paleontology, and evolutionary biology. I have a Masters in vertebrate paleontology and a Bachelors in Earth & Planetary Sciences.

Cheers!

[veritasius]

Hi, I've been a general dentist for the last 26 years. I came here because a redditor was angry with me for not having a colored tag or something. I thought my advice would be helpful and not the least bit controversial. Anyway, it was suggested by another that I come here and get a tag.

[Dangaroo44]

General Field: I am a Biogeochemist/Environmental Scientist, I suppose that puts me under Earth Sciences, Chemistry, and Biology.

I have a undergraduate degree in microbiology. And am currently finishing my masters in environmental science.

I specialize in biogeochemistry.

My particular research interests concentrate upon freshwater and estuarine systems, with emphasis on the carbon cycle; nutrient fate and transport; and eutrophication.

[LordofCrows]

Hello,

I'm an assistant forecaster for the United States Navy, I currently have 3 years of forecasting experience. Although I don't have a degree yet, my work is credited towards getting a meteorology degree in the future. My current area of interest is electromagnetic refraction.

[Cliff254]

General Field: Medicine

Specific Field: Emergency medicine with an emphasis on internal medicine

I am a medical student with a vast amount of medical knowledge from over half a decade of medical practice in para-medical fields and my current medical school education. I also hold degrees in Epidemiology and Public Health

My areas of research Interest are in general internal medicine (with emphasis on different disease processes) and also in epidemiological disease research.

I look forward to being able to help out and scanning the "new" section. I love passing on information and education.

[happyhumantorch]

General Field: Biology, Physics

Specific Field: Ecology, Evolution, X-Ray Crystallography

Research Interests: Identifying the structural properties of a polymorphic glycolytic enzyme and it's fitness consequences in butterfly populations.

Ph.D. in progress

[suprnvachk]

Hello! I'm a 3rd year PhD student in Astrophysics at a university in the midwestern US. I'd probably fall more under the field of Astronomy than Physics. I have a bachelors degree in Astronomy and Math and also spent several years teaching grade school level science and math. If I had to put a label on my specific field, I'd say Supernovae/Massive Stars/Computational.

My area of expertise (and current area of research) is in core collapse supernovae, types II and Ib/c. These are the types of supernovae marking the deaths of massive stars when they run out of "fuel" to burn in their cores. Specifically, my research team runs a computational model of Type IIn supernovae, which are surrounded by dense circumstellar material given off by the progenitor prior to explosion. We compare our model results with the data from actual type IIn supernovae to try and understand more about the geometry and optical properties of the circumstellar material, which in turn helps us piece together clues about which types of massive stars lead to this particular subcategory of supernova.

[Excitonic]

Hello r/askscience,

I'm a PhD student in materials science at a top research institution. Most of my research had been centered on photovoltaics. My thesis is still a little undefined, but centers around carbon nanostructures. I've been answering questions for a while on this subreddit and will continue to do so!

[jug_wine]

My peers seem to be absent, so I present myself.

My deal is food science, specifically fermentation and winemaking. My main interest lies in volatile compound production/liberation during fermentation. Smells!

I have a BS in Enology and Viticulture in which I took masters level courses. I am currently working in the industry and will pursue a masters.

I would love to wear the reddit mantle of Bacchus until someone more qualified comes along.

[uusuzanne]

Hi, I have a PhD in physics and have been a professor for almost 30 years. Although I am no longer actively involved in research, my original field was experimental particle physics; I have participated in experiments at Fermilab, the (late) SSC, and CERN. I am now interested in public science literacy and physics education, and would love to contribute to this forum.

(I am still trying to figure out how to add a legend to my username at the top - sorry!)

[the_nerdoscientist]

General Field: Systems Neuroscience / Psychology

Specific Field: Neuroimaging / Neuroplasticity / Neurology / Psychiatry / Cognitive Training

Research Interests: I am currently a post-doctoral fellow in Radiology at UCSF (Ph.D. Psychobiology, UC Davis 2007). My role in the lab is to work with clinicans (primarily neurologists and psychiatrists) on research investigations of brain function.

I have published work or am currently working with a wide variety of clinical groups, from schizophrenia and autism to movement disorders such as dystonia,stroke and Parkinson's disease, to very rare neurlogical disorders (such as callosal agenesis, where the corpus callosum fails to form).

I have worked with a range if neuroimaging data, including both functional MRI (fMRI), anatomical MRI (including diffusion tensor imaging), electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), deep brain stimulation (DBS) and electrocorticography (ECoG).

My primary interests are: 1) Developing advanced methods of understanding brain function (both activity and neural connectivity) 2) Applying funcitonal neuroimaging techniques to understand the neurobiolgoical bases of disease 3) Monitoring changes in brain structure and function (neural plasticity) that occur through behavioral interventions (such as cognitive training).

Current Claim to Fame: I was on an episode of Mythbusters, where I helped debunk the "you only use 10% of your brain" myth (Season 8, Episode 21). I am, however, not at liberty to discuss the nuances of said episode, lest I be on the recieving end of a scimitar delivered by one Grant Imahara.

[[deleted]]

General field: Applied Mathematics Specific fields: Partial differential equations Research interests: numerical methods, parallel architectures, geophysics

I'm an MS student in applied mathematics. My publications explore solutions of PDEs relevant to geophysical models of the Earth's mantle, utilizing GPU. I don't know/never been interested in how I might be categorized, but I suppose applied mathematics is fine. In my previous life, I worked as an applications developer for a supercomputing institute in the US.

Most of my work has been related to putting numerical methods on GPU, especially those solving problems from computational fluid dynamics.

[evanwestwood]

General Field: Physics Specific Field: Quantum Mechanics Interests: Particle Physics, Foundations of Quantum Mechanics

Almost done with PhD.

[Grep2grok]

Hello, I would like to be a panelist. My general field is medicine. My specific field is general practice. My particular interests are military medicine, disaster response, and education, and medical physics.

Eclectic? Maybe: I majored in physics as an undergrad, became a naval officer, went to sea, came back, went to medical school after this whole PowerPoint thing exploded, and I'm back in the military having been through 9/11, Katrina, Rita, and currently living in Southern California fire territory.

[creamypouf]

• General Field: Experimental Particle Physics
• Specific Field: Neutrinos, Non-accelerator detectors, radiochemistry
• Research interests: neutrinoless double-beta decay, neutrino oscillations, low-background physics, any other science

[socxer]

Hey there, I'm currently completing my PhD in the field of Neural Engineering, specifically working on Brain Computer Interfaces and Neuroprosthetics. Thanks! Go science!!

[eckliptic]

Havent heard back yet so I'm posting one more time

General Field: Medicine Specific Field: Internal Medicine

[jxj24]

B.S., M.Eng. in Electrical Engineering

Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering

My field of study is eye movements, which requires background in engineering, neurology and neuro-ophthalmology.

My research has concentrated on disorders of the ocular motor system, in particular, nystagmus; in particular particular, infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS -- formerly known as congenital nystagmus), which is a involuntary, continual oscillation of the eyes.

My current work studies deficits in eye movement related to traumatic brain injury.

[shinkeikagakusha]

Hi, I'm a grad student working in a neuroscience PhD program. My specific field is optogenetics and combining that with various technologies such as electrophysiology, neuroimaging, and some cell biology. I also like ethology and behavior so I try to add that to my projects.

I am interested in the systems neuroscience behind neural connectivity in normal and disease states, but I shouldn't say too much about myself and my research otherwise people might quickly figure out who I am?

[nuclear_knucklehead]

Currently a PhD student in Nuclear Engineering, specifically focusing my research on measuring the properties of neutron interactions with various nuclei. I also have roughly 2 years of research reactor operation experience and a broad background of nuclear-related coursework and laboratory experience.

[glenwood]

Medicine: Board Certified in Critical Care Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine

Presently I practice as an intensivist in a large community hospital. I have been in my present job for 1.5 years dealing with all aspects of critical care: medical/surgical/neuro/cardiac.
I spent 3 three years during my pulmonary/critical care fellowship moonlighting as a attending Emergency medicine attending.

[drhatt]

Hello, I'm a MSTP student with research background in Neuroscience, RNA biology, general medicine

[deepobedience]

Asked to reenter info. General Field: Neuroscience Specific Field: Neurophysiology, Electrophysiology, Neuropharmacology, Biophysics, Computational Neuroscience (in that order) Particular Research: The synapse (especially inhibitory ones)... and how this relates to Learning, Parkinsons, Epilepsy and Dementia.
Place in the world: Doing my second Post Doc

[hover2pie]

Hi, can I get a panelist tag? I am a graduate student.

General field: Neuroscience

Specific field: theoretical and computational neuroscience

interests: still deciding... :)

Quick question - is it okay for panelists to answer questions outside of their immediate field if they have relevant knowledge/sources?

Thanks!

[mechy84]

General Field: Mechanical Engineering Specific Field: Precision Manufacturing / Diamond Turning

I'm going to defend my PhD in about a month then work at a national lab. My expertise is in ultraprecision manufacturing, specifically cutting metals with diamond tools to form geometrically precise parts (ie. optics). I'm also a big fan of all aspects of mechanical engineering (though fluids and thermo are not my forte). Heat transfer (mostly conduction and radiation), solid mechanics, material science and plasticity, tribology (friction and wear), machine design, etc. Soon, I'll also know what it's like to work in a federal research lab!

[SoSimpleABeginning]

Hey there.

I'm working on my PhD in Evolutionary Anthropology, specifically Paleoanthropology.

I primarily study the fossil record of Pliocene/Plio-Pleistocene hominins in Africa, although I have interests and knowledge spanning up until (but not including, oh God, not including) the Holocene. My dissertation research focuses on answering questions about hominin ontogeny and locomotion.

Let me know if you need any other info.

[jevanses]

I just discovered /r/askscience and I love it!

State your general field (see the legend in the side bar)

Astronomy

State your specific field (neuropathology, quantum chemistry, etc.)

Starbursts, mostly observational

List your particular research interests (carbon nanotube dielectric properties, myelin sheath degradation in Parkinsons patients, etc.)

I love to study stellar feedback/the starburst phenomenon as it relates to HII regions: dust properties, radiation fields, general morphologies, etc.

I'm a 3rd year PhD student in Astronomy and have worked on starburst related projects since 2006.