Poem: "Authentic to Your Dreams"
This poem came out of the March 5, 2024 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by prompts from Dreamwidth users Siliconshaman, Kengr, and See_also_friend. It also fills the "Pottery" square (both from the prompt) in my 3-1-24 card for the National Crafting Month Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored anonymously as a gift for . It belongs to the series Polychrome Heroics.
"Authentic to Your Dreams"
Everyone wonders where
mad science came from,
but few people realize
that it didn't "come from"
anywhere at all, rather it
evolved from everywhere
over a long span of time.
In the beginning, people
had to do it all by themselves.
It was hard. Labs are expensive
to set up, and most rental agencies
are somewhat reluctant to take a risk
on an unknown and odd-looking renter --
especially if one had forgotten to take off
the lab coat with the acid holes in it.
Some started out making their own
with stuff from the baking aisle,
since cooking is edible chemistry.
Others explored herbal remedies
or bath-and-beauty products.
Some turned to pottery,
slip and glaze and primal fire.
One reason women are so well
represented in the mad sciences
is because the tools of their crafts
lend themselves so well to it.
They began to put together
science kits and book sets
for chemistry and biology.
They offered subscriptions
of junk boxes and scraps for
mechanics and electronics.
They distributed kits in places
nobody would look for scientists,
like inner-city schools and craft clubs
and painted park benches set aside
for "Formerly Employed Mothers."
It didn't take much, just one gal
leaning over to whisper to another,
"Everybody's a mad scientist,
and life is their lab. We are
all trying to experiment to find
a way to live, to solve problems,
to fend off madness and chaos."
So the movement grew.
It drew in all kinds of people
who wanted to study based on
their own interests, not restricted
to the most popular of topics.
That led to unexpected results
and truly novel discoveries.
As the previous scientists
gained success and made
more than enough to live on,
they began to pay attention
to the next generation.
They set up groups of
Mad Investors willing
to back young scientists
who had hot new ideas.
They sold starter kits for
labs on a lay-away basis
or monthly payment plans.
They assembled teams of
specialized supervillains willing
to commit robbery-to-order and
fill a shopping list with whatever
a mad scientist might need.
Out of these early efforts grew
some of the greatest businesses in
mad science like Cetus Biosciences,
Lemuria Lighting and Electricity,
and Trilobyte Computer Care.
Each of them developed
its own specialty, but they
shared the same roots.
Even today, they still make
kits for children and adults
in a wide variety of sciences.
Inside the lid of every box
is printed the familiar motto:
Be authentic to your dreams.
Be authentic to your own idea
about yourself. Grind away at
your own mind and body until
you become your own invention.
Become a Mad Scientist.
* * *
Notes:
"Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos."
-- David Cronenberg
"Be authentic to your dreams. Be authentic to your own idea about yourself. Grind away at your own minds and bodies until you become your own invention. Be Mad Scientists."
-- Warren Ellis
Lab space is expensive for many reasons. Here are some price examples ...
According to STAT+, a lab bench and a couple of shelves at LabCentral in the Kendall Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, cost one researcher $4,600 per month, back in 2019. It wasn’t just LabCentral, either. At the time, lab space cost per square foot in Kendall Square was averaging close to $100 per square foot. Despite the costs of the bench, the researcher, Scott Robinson, found that paying for the space put him at ground zero of a robust life-sciences hub.
Boston isn’t the only example of areas with high rent for lab space. According to Statista, the highest rent for laboratory and life sciences space in 2020 was in London, with average costs of $113 per square foot. New York followed behind with average per square foot prices of $105. Access to a larger community of peers and resources is always important for founders, but sometimes it can be shocking to see the prices. $4,600 is a lot to pay per month for a small space, even if it means you’re closer to a supportive and innovative community of scientists.
Lab Startup Equipment List and Average Costs
Cost of High School Lab
TOTAL: (Base Total Construction Costs ) $323,000
A new faculty member, fresh off a purgatory of post-doctoral research stints, receives a "start-up" package from the university (and more importantly, the department) they have just joined. This start-up package is mandated in the faculty member's initial contract, and often becomes a sticking point in negotiations. The package can be anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 or more, depending on the research field and the type of research the faculty member will perform. This chunk of money is intended to allow the new faculty member to purchase the basic instrumentation and equipment necessary for their research, materials, and pay for the salaries of post-doctoral researchers and, if in a department where their stipends are not defrayed by teaching, graduate students.
The basic concept carries over to smaller institutions, but you should drop the amount by almost an order of magnitude. This obviously varies from place to place, but if you're getting better than $100,000 in start-up at a small liberal arts college, you're doing really well. The chances of a new hire getting $500,000 in start-up money are about as good as the chances of winning the lottery. Because that's what you'd have to do to get a half-million in start-up funds from a small college: win the lottery, and donate half a million to your own lab.
On average, the design and construction of a standard interior layout for a specialized laboratory, at biosafety level 1 or 2, range between $350 CAD per square foot and $550 CAD per square foot, depending on the amount of specialized equipment needed, the quality of finishes, and the size of the space.
Cooking is edible chemistry.
Ceramics is about chemistry and physics.
Bias in research means that some topics are understudied or basically forbidden as career killers. For instance, anything involving women is much less studied and funded compared to men, and female researchers get less money than males. Peer rejection is a big problem in science.
Among the ventures of Kraken are these:
Cetus Biosciences -- biotechnology
Lemuria Lighting & Electricity -- gizmotronic and bioluminescent fixtures a specialty
Trilobyte Computer Care -- mainstream and gizmotronic technology
"Authentic to Your Dreams"
Everyone wonders where
mad science came from,
but few people realize
that it didn't "come from"
anywhere at all, rather it
evolved from everywhere
over a long span of time.
In the beginning, people
had to do it all by themselves.
It was hard. Labs are expensive
to set up, and most rental agencies
are somewhat reluctant to take a risk
on an unknown and odd-looking renter --
especially if one had forgotten to take off
the lab coat with the acid holes in it.
Some started out making their own
with stuff from the baking aisle,
since cooking is edible chemistry.
Others explored herbal remedies
or bath-and-beauty products.
Some turned to pottery,
slip and glaze and primal fire.
One reason women are so well
represented in the mad sciences
is because the tools of their crafts
lend themselves so well to it.
They began to put together
science kits and book sets
for chemistry and biology.
They offered subscriptions
of junk boxes and scraps for
mechanics and electronics.
They distributed kits in places
nobody would look for scientists,
like inner-city schools and craft clubs
and painted park benches set aside
for "Formerly Employed Mothers."
It didn't take much, just one gal
leaning over to whisper to another,
"Everybody's a mad scientist,
and life is their lab. We are
all trying to experiment to find
a way to live, to solve problems,
to fend off madness and chaos."
So the movement grew.
It drew in all kinds of people
who wanted to study based on
their own interests, not restricted
to the most popular of topics.
That led to unexpected results
and truly novel discoveries.
As the previous scientists
gained success and made
more than enough to live on,
they began to pay attention
to the next generation.
They set up groups of
Mad Investors willing
to back young scientists
who had hot new ideas.
They sold starter kits for
labs on a lay-away basis
or monthly payment plans.
They assembled teams of
specialized supervillains willing
to commit robbery-to-order and
fill a shopping list with whatever
a mad scientist might need.
Out of these early efforts grew
some of the greatest businesses in
mad science like Cetus Biosciences,
Lemuria Lighting and Electricity,
and Trilobyte Computer Care.
Each of them developed
its own specialty, but they
shared the same roots.
Even today, they still make
kits for children and adults
in a wide variety of sciences.
Inside the lid of every box
is printed the familiar motto:
Be authentic to your dreams.
Be authentic to your own idea
about yourself. Grind away at
your own mind and body until
you become your own invention.
Become a Mad Scientist.
* * *
Notes:
"Everybody's a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We're all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos."
-- David Cronenberg
"Be authentic to your dreams. Be authentic to your own idea about yourself. Grind away at your own minds and bodies until you become your own invention. Be Mad Scientists."
-- Warren Ellis
Lab space is expensive for many reasons. Here are some price examples ...
According to STAT+, a lab bench and a couple of shelves at LabCentral in the Kendall Square neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts, cost one researcher $4,600 per month, back in 2019. It wasn’t just LabCentral, either. At the time, lab space cost per square foot in Kendall Square was averaging close to $100 per square foot. Despite the costs of the bench, the researcher, Scott Robinson, found that paying for the space put him at ground zero of a robust life-sciences hub.
Boston isn’t the only example of areas with high rent for lab space. According to Statista, the highest rent for laboratory and life sciences space in 2020 was in London, with average costs of $113 per square foot. New York followed behind with average per square foot prices of $105. Access to a larger community of peers and resources is always important for founders, but sometimes it can be shocking to see the prices. $4,600 is a lot to pay per month for a small space, even if it means you’re closer to a supportive and innovative community of scientists.
Lab Startup Equipment List and Average Costs
Cost of High School Lab
TOTAL: (Base Total Construction Costs ) $323,000
A new faculty member, fresh off a purgatory of post-doctoral research stints, receives a "start-up" package from the university (and more importantly, the department) they have just joined. This start-up package is mandated in the faculty member's initial contract, and often becomes a sticking point in negotiations. The package can be anywhere from $500,000 to $1,000,000 or more, depending on the research field and the type of research the faculty member will perform. This chunk of money is intended to allow the new faculty member to purchase the basic instrumentation and equipment necessary for their research, materials, and pay for the salaries of post-doctoral researchers and, if in a department where their stipends are not defrayed by teaching, graduate students.
The basic concept carries over to smaller institutions, but you should drop the amount by almost an order of magnitude. This obviously varies from place to place, but if you're getting better than $100,000 in start-up at a small liberal arts college, you're doing really well. The chances of a new hire getting $500,000 in start-up money are about as good as the chances of winning the lottery. Because that's what you'd have to do to get a half-million in start-up funds from a small college: win the lottery, and donate half a million to your own lab.
On average, the design and construction of a standard interior layout for a specialized laboratory, at biosafety level 1 or 2, range between $350 CAD per square foot and $550 CAD per square foot, depending on the amount of specialized equipment needed, the quality of finishes, and the size of the space.
Cooking is edible chemistry.
Ceramics is about chemistry and physics.
Bias in research means that some topics are understudied or basically forbidden as career killers. For instance, anything involving women is much less studied and funded compared to men, and female researchers get less money than males. Peer rejection is a big problem in science.
Among the ventures of Kraken are these:
Cetus Biosciences -- biotechnology
Lemuria Lighting & Electricity -- gizmotronic and bioluminescent fixtures a specialty
Trilobyte Computer Care -- mainstream and gizmotronic technology