Scientiae is up!

Finally, Scientiae is up! It’s Sci’s first time submitting to the carnival, and I’m very glad that I got in. It’s a big one, too, a two part experiment from Endless Possibilities. I highly recommend, especially the ones from The Bigger Picture (with photos of women in science looking very badass), and more than a permanent student.
And Ambivalent Academic has posted on what to put on a cover letter for people she’s cold-emailing for post-docs. Sci had an idea, and posted an example, but I am but a lowly grad student and could very well be totally wrong. So I am posting my example HERE, and I would really lovely some feedback for those bigger and badder than me!!
*ahem*
*cough cough*
Dear Professor X,
My name is Scicurious, and I am nth-year graduate student in the laboratory of Dr. Magneto at Mutant U, on track to graduate in never. My current work utilizes genetic studies to pinpoint mutations in Sabertooths, for the determination of the generation of more crazy things with claws and attitude.
I was recommended to your laboratory by Dr. Jean Grey, who felt that our work is very complementary (/ I had the pleasure to talk with you at the last International Conference on Mutant Research, where I presented my work/ I recently spoke with you about use of x-rays in assessing the presence of adamantium in the skeleton/ I did something else with you and it was totes awesome). I would like to use my postdoctoral experience to investigate the generation of claws in other mutants. Right now, I am fully trained in some aspects of claw generation, but would like to use my postdoctoral experience to move into the additional study of adamantium, which I feel would add greatly to my current techniques and allow me to form a more complete picture of possible mechanisms behind claw growth and badassery. I greatly admire your work on Wolverines, as well as your work with adamentium skeletal elements, and I was wondering if you might be looking for a post-doc at present.
I have taken the liberty of attaching a current CV and research statement, which explains my current work in more detail. Please let me know if there is a post-doctoral position available in your lab, and if you do not believe I would be suitable, I completely understand. Thank you very much for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
Scicurious
So? Concerns? Did I say anything horrid and bad and guaranteed to make people run away?

For the rain, it raineth every day

Or at least it raineth a LOT today. Going for a run in the rain makes Sci feel very badass, but it also makes life around the southeast EXTREMELY humid and nasty. It is now May, and it’s official, nothing will be truly dry until at least October.
But luckily for all of you, there’s some good things on the internets to keep us all distracted from the piles of rain flooding the east coast (for those of you elsewhere, think of us as you slather on your SPF 30 like good little boys and girls).
1) Scientia Pro Publica! A new carnival from the fertile brain of GrrlScientist, it’s a blog that covers everything on science and evolution. This month’s is up at Deep Thoughts and Silliness from the adorable Bob O’Hara. Not to give anything away, but it’s the swine flu edition.
And we’re in it! Not for swine flu, I leave the likes of that to the people who know it best. Instead, we’re in it for bornean frogs and their sweet, sweet, inaudible music.
2) As some of you may be aware, Sci is rapidly approaching the time when they will kick her out of the womb of the Ivory tower, and into the cold, hard world, where people have to worry about things like “taxes” and “housing” and “life”. And Drugmonkey has come to my rescue (and the rescue of many others who are looking for post-docs around this time), with a GREAT post on how to look for post-docs, which will hopefully be followed by what do consider when you get an offer. Required reading, all ye in the writing phase.
3) In the realm of sad things: it turns out Elsevier teamed up with Merck to publish a fake journal, filled with snippets of articles that support Merck pharmaneuticals. This has pissed a number of people off, and with good reason! Unfortunately, unless there’s enough anger to really make the data hit the fan, it seems like Elsevier will continue to get away with this sort of thing. The publishing giant controls a boatload of journals, many of which are highly regarded in fields like Sci’s, and profs will thus continue publishing there for the sake of their careers. I do hope, though, that I’m wrong.
4) And finally: Wolves. Just in time for the Wolverine movie, Ed has written on bone-crushing super wolves!!!! I don’t suppose they looked like this?

Now THAT is worth going back to the Ice Age for…