Ben Dickson

We can't have Achieved, Merit and Excellence but Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase and Telophase are fine?

Bring in the A through E mitosis system if you ask me!

We can't have Achieved, Merit and Excellence but Learners, Restricted and Full license are fine?

Bring in the A through E licensing system if you ask me!

Shutting down intestinal (or liver with sufficient juice) metabolism could lead to an over dose as more drug is absorbed without being chewed up. Shutting down transporters may lead to a sub-therapeutic dose, as you pee more out before it's absorbed.

Quite the lottery!

I would speak to an expert on the particular drug in question, because there are multiple mechanisms at play that interfere with absorption and metabolism.

A sufficient juice consumption one evening may have consequences on the next morning's dose. How serious that is will depend on the drug.

Am I to believe that David Seymour has never purchased a product imported into Aotearoa that has a sticker matching the local requirements placed over the top of the product information printed on the product?

This seems like a solved problem...

I think that one of the most hurtful things about AI'd answers to assignment questions is the loss of that lovely "oh good they did understand what I was saying" moment that you get when reading an honest, if imperfect attempt.

It also nicely exemplifies the natural progression. The criminals almost always out gun the cops (but, the cops have a space cowboy so no problem).

That's awesome! I have regrets about my answers to the open form questions... wasn't the most eloquent day I've had and should've taken more time but hopefully I walked the line and didn't sound like a bigot 🫣

Oooh this works for lecturing too!

Oh, and credit where it's due, I forgot to note - the Rheumatic fever example was front of mind after a good talk from Julian Paton at a UoA Alumni event in Kirikiriroa last night

*Sigh* but I guess I'm just the kind of rube who thinks human lives might be worth investment...

A lot gets left behind if you pursue only research with a commercial market.

New antibiotics? Eehhhh predominantly a need for poor people (although that won't last 💀💀). Prevention/treatment of rheumatic fever? Can the kids pay? 🫣

Our research system isn't wealthy OR sorted and is getting worse...

I assume this is him wanting less custody without handing over more money 🤔

And... for what it's worth, most bike shops (or subscribers to the n+1 rule of bikes) probably have spares just lying around.

I'm kinda amazed you managed to go anywhere...

*reads message* *heart rate elevates*

"Why?"

Oh... and don't forget that if a University judges a students NCEA programme as insufficient they have entry standards... so admitting them is a choice, but not admitting them has funding consequences - so maybe just find Universities better? 🫣

Maybe the education is a problem, maybe the qualification is a problem.

I contend that sitting above them, the biggest problem is that young people today are calling bullshit on the value proposition of their education and we're completely unprepared for that conversationt. 🤷

Is it opportunity? Tell that to all the excellent science students who put in the time, get the grades, get the advanced degrees and go into a workforce that this very government is cutting off at its knees.

Or Arts grads whose efforts are dismissed as irrelevant by narrow minded decision makers

I'm not a huge fan of what NCEA has evolved into, but I'm also sufficiently embedded in an A through E grading system to understand that "C's get degrees" is a pervasive attitude and that's more of a problem that what you call a grade 😐

What is the reason most students are working harder for the A?

That's an interesting point - I was (also?) the first cohort (Year 11 in 2002) and from my perspective it worked just fine. There were some teething issues, sure, and I've always heard grumbles about it... but nothing worse than the system it replaced from what I could tell.

NCEA is older than smart phones. Windows XP was released the October before NCEA began its phase-in. I have grown from a 15 year old to a 38 year old since NCEA began.

Lets face it... if you don't understand how NCEA works at this point, you've never cared...

The mental (and computational) overhead introduced by fancy GUI to do simple tasks is kind of unbelievable.

Using a text based interface has an initial cost in the learning curve, but once you get the hang of it... power and efficiency is at your fingertips!

A pile of dumped rubbish and park green waste

Love reporting dumping and general rubbish accumulation in the park behind our house only for the council to ignore me for weeks. Spent some time this afternoon trying to carefully extract jasmine runners and roots out of it and discovered it's even worse than we thought. Will try again on Monday 🤷🏼‍♀️

A photo of a tandem bicycle in front of a great wall. A purple helmet hangs from the front handlebars.

Saturday shopping 🚲🚲🥰

I sometimes feel like I might have some insight into what it would have felt like to be named "Adolf" around the 1940's

A pale male is appears not stale by virtue of the red, green, yellow and blue hat they wear with a propeller on top. They are also wearing a boring gray jacket, and clear framed glasses. They look into the camera over the frame of the glasses.

Hat described as "tuff" and wearer as having "aura" by authentic gen alpha.

Where does this go on the RS&T CV?

Your mistake is in the choice word....

Match made in heaven?

The Covid Response - BWB Bridget Williams Books In March 2020, New Zealand had three confirmed cases of COVID-19, panic buying had begun, and no one knew what to expect next. Had the virus run the same course as it...

Have you read Shaun Hendy's new book? Do you have some insight into the topic? Would you like to write a book review?

The New Zealand Science Review is keen to include a review of this book in our next issue (also other science/research system books if you want to propose them...).

If you're keen, let me know or email us (editor at scientists.org.nz).

You can find out more about the journal on our website.