Military Science Research

Nathan
Fisher

How in the world did I end up here?

"How in the world did I end up here?"  Those were the words I muttered to myself as I lay prone under the bed in my containerized housing unit (CHU).  I was desperately trying to recall exactly how to fasten the body armor that seemed like overkill just a few short days ago, but now seemed...


Jason
Sherwin

The search for missing information

This posting is about ‘the search for missing information.’ In particular, we compare a TED Talk by Eli Pariser on the ‘filter bubble’ to the neuro-engineering work I do on what is called cortically-coupled computer vision (C3Vision). In Mr. Pariser’s talk, he warns of the potential danger...


Jason
Sherwin

The promise of the latter stage career

The topic of this posting is ‘the promise of the latter stage career.’ It is inspired by my recent trip on holiday to Spain, in particular Barcelona. In Barcelona, the Sagrada Familia church is an emblem of the city and it is a hot tourist destination. But it’s history and continuing developme...


Jason
Sherwin

Education and Hard Work - Necessary, Though Not Sufficient

The theme of this posting is ‘Educated, Unemployed and Frustrated’ and it is a commentary/response on the article by the same name from the March 20 edition of The New York Times. The original article was written by Matthew Klein. The main thesis of Mr. Klein’s article is that recent graduates...


Jason
Sherwin

Narrative Networks

The topic here is ‘a conference on narratives in DC, the Hirshhorn Gallery on the National Mall and social faux pas in the scientific setting.’ Last week, I participated in the third workshop of a series hosted by DARPA (for those of you not in the working-with-the-government-on-science-can-be-c...


Jason
Sherwin

Finding what you’ve buried there

The theme of this posting is ‘finding what you’ve buried there.’  This is a common temptation in the research world. In fact, in science in general, we start with a hypothesis that we aim to prove or disprove. The problem though is that no one likes a depressing story, i.e., a disproved h...


Jason
Sherwin

Big science vs. Little science

The theme of this posting is ‘big science vs. little science.’  It is somewhat of a commentary on an April 6 article by Pete Peterson entitled, “Of Space Ships and Bullet Trains” from City Journal. In this article, Mr. Peterson highlights the trials and tribulations of funding ‘big sc...


Jason
Sherwin

Cursing and Creativity

The theme of this posting is ‘cursing and creativity.’  As you know, there is a tremendous amount of creativity needed in the sciences. Of course, professional practitioners can (and have gotten by for years) with minimal displays of creativity. This is true in any profession. But the real ...


Jason
Sherwin

Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli: Sometimes They Just Screw Up

The theme of this posting is ‘sometimes they just screw up.’  It’s about the students – or otherwise, underlings - who will at some point in your career work for you. They will be doing the things you’ve done, or the things you don’t want to do. But they are expected to do it just a...


Jason
Sherwin

Moving Around and Following One’s Nose

I’ve gotten some requests on this blog to go a little more into my research. Don’t worry! It’s coming. But, for now, I want to focus on a “career-related” issue, since this is a bio career related blog. In particular, this entry is a response to an article that recently appeared in the Wal...