The "talking science" badge
| Justification: With a job in science education, I spend my days devising new ways to talk science with people who generally couldn't care less. I still can't decide if my favorite word is "zygodactylus" or "allelomimetic". |
The "MacGyver" badge
| Justification: I don't think the fact that I've saved the day with my leatherman on dozens of occasions quite cuts it. |
The "arts and crafts" badge
| Justification: Sculpey clay + duct tape + acrylic paint + foam core + string of Christmas lights = instant diorama of just about anything. |
The "I'm pretty confident around an open flame" badge
| Justification: Turn on the gas, then light the match. Or was it the other way 'round? Either way, I use plating E. coli and subsiquent sterilization as an excuse to dowse tools in ethyl alcohol and then pass them through the Bunsen burner. |
The "inappropriate nocturnal use of lab equipment in the name of alternative science experimentation / communication" badge
| Justification: Does setting up a mad scientist's laboratory in a haunted house count as "in the name of alternative science experimentation/communication"? |
The "I may look like a scientist but I'm actually also a ninja" badge
| Justification: The evidence. |
The "sexing up science" badge
| Justification: I've hormonally induced sex change in fish; it doesn't get much more "sexed up" than that. |
The "I can be a prick when it comes to science" badge
| Justification: "Poisonous" is not the same thing as venomous. Chimps and gorillas are not monkeys. Additionally, scientific names must be properly capitalized and italicized (or underlined, in the case of handwritten materials). Break these rules around me and you will never hear the end of it. |
The "I've touched human internal organs with my own hands" badge
| Justification: The human brain, sliced in 1" thick sagittal sections and stored in alchol, is pleasantly firm to the touch. |
The "will glady kick sexual harasser's ass" badge.
| Justification: Places of science should know better. Thankfully, I haven't had to use this badge much. |
The "has frozen stuff just to see what happens" badge
(LEVEL I)
| Justification: A childhood fling in entymology stocked my parents' fridge with plenty of arthropod carcasses in various states of decomposition... |
The "has frozen stuff just to see what happens" badge
(LEVEL II)
| Justification: When all the summer camp kids went home, it was just me, a cooler full of dry ice, and infinite possibilites... |
The "I bet I know more computer languages than you, and I'm not afraid to talk about it" badge
| Justification: I only have the right to wear this badge when I'm not attending either of the two local Linux Users' Groups' meetings... |
The "I've done science with no concievable practical application" badge
| And the government funded it. |
The "knows how to collect semen from more than one species" badge
| Progress: I can collect sperm from the bluehead wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum, but I still lack a second species. |
The "I know what a tadpole is" badge.
| Justification: As a herpetologist, I know what a tadpole is. Tadpole identification, on the other hand, is a painful process I have thus far managed to almost wholly escape. Shame on me! |
The "I'm a scientist who is fundamentally opposed to administrative duties" badge.
| Justification: I'm pretty sure that, if I ever have my own lab, it will be mostly unadministrated. Judging from the current state of my desk this will result in chaos, but chaos is a pretty neat area of study... |
The "have used a dental drill and I've never been a dentist" badge
| Justification: I worked in a fossil lab for a little while, and we used many dental tools, including the high-powered kind. |
The "cloner" badge
| Justification: Alas, nothing so glorious as a whole organism; I've only cloned genes. |
The "experienced with electrical shock" badge
(LEVEL III)
| Justification: So long as levels I and II aren't prerequisites for level III, then I suppose my forays into electrified fence grabbing, finger into socket placing, and playing of the boardgame Operation count as delivering electric shocks to my person. I contend that they count because (at least in some instances), they were intentional. |
The "totally digs highly exothermic reactions" badge
| Justification: Who doesn't, really? |
The "science has forced me to seek medical attention" badge
| Justification: Somehow, the experimental treatment wound up in my eye. Yes, I was wearing safety glasses. No, I don't know how it happened. |
The "I'm into telescopes astro" badge
(Level I) | Justification: My uncle bought me a telescope once. Plus, I've worked Astronomy Days at the museum, and the Astronomy Club always brings the coolest 'scopes. Staring into space or viewing astrophotography always gives me a warm, comfortable feeling of insignificance. |
The "world's foremost expert on an obscure subject" badge
| Justification: Wow, I really feel like I don't have enough experience to deserve this badge. However, two of my peers and I have published more notes specifically detailing the life history of the species Alsophis rufiventris, the redbelly racer, than anyone else. In a publish or persih world, I guess that makes us the experts. |
The "I've set fire to stuff" badge
(Level I) | Justification: See the "I'm pretty confident around an open flame" badge. |
The "works with acids" badge
| Justification: In 12th grade, they asked me to dilute some 10M hydrochloric acid (okay, so not the strongest acid in the world, but I was a high schooler) under the hood, without supervision. They said "if your lungs, throat, or nose starts burning, just step away from the hood for a minute" Talk about baptism by fire... |
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