On Sep 12, 7:54*am, "Tom Littleton" wrote:
"Giles" wrote in message

...







Things get done by people who:

1. Know what needs to be done.
2. Have an inclination/reason to get it done.
3. Can command the necessary resources (money/labor/space/materials/
etc.) to get it done.
4. Have the requisite experience/expertise/knowledge/tools to get it
done.
5. Have the time to get it done.
6. Can stay focused long enough and/or often enough to get it done.
7. Have the requisite authority/permission to get it done.....or do it
anyway.

It has been my good fortune to know a good few such people off and on
throughout my life. *They have been a constant source of inspiration
and admiration. *I have also been fortunate in actually being such a
person (admittedly by sheer happenstance and on a modest scale) on
rare occasions.

thanks for sharing your self-congratulation, once again. As one person, or
more, is fond of saying, YMMV.

introductions and CV had been exchanged

hoo, boy. That should have been good.

Dan looks at me and says (and I quote), "O.k., why are we here?"

the same thought occurred to this reader, at least.

Hypovirulence. *There is a virus.....well, actually a tribe of
viruses.....that ingest and otherwise thrive on the Cryphonectria
fungus, the villain in the American chestnut drama. *There are many
strains of Cryphonectria, so it is a good thing that there are also
many strains of the virus that attacks and weakens them. *But it DOES
make life complicated.

a discussion of Cryphonectria, and why it has become the villain would have
been informative.....you might have chosen to enlighten us with that, as
opposed to a description of consuming breakfast, but I suppose, that's my
scientific training getting the best of me......

And it happens like this......

ok, I've slogged this far, we'll get to the point now, I figure....



*Then they get down to business. *It takes all
of four minutes. *Dan hangs up the phone.

Approval must await the next application and funding cycle.....a
matter of a few months. *This means exactly nothing. *The deal is
done. *The funding will appear. *The work will go forward. *The world
has turned.

so, that was it? They got a grant project approved(at least on a verbal
basis)? Do you have any idea how often this happens, every day, in every
field of science? Further, can you comprehend how such verbal agreements
often de-materialize into bureaucratic backlogs? I hope for the best, and
all, for this project(hell, I am alarmed as the next guy over the fate of
American Chestnuts, as well as the fate of much native flora and fauna), but
to tell the truth, nothing is really 'gotten done' until the project
generates data, and points the clear path toward progress addressing the
problem. As you are no doubt well aware, this can happen through both
positive or negative findings, but simply glad handing after an initial
planning session doesn't speak, in any way, to accomplishment. Frank Reid
provided a salient example of accomplishment, as illustrated by the final
results.

g.
who suspects he will somehow get no less busy.

doing what, is always the part that's unclear, but it's good to know we can
count on a long-winded essay describing your pivitol role in modern
biological advances. Now, was there any discussion of WHY the virus class in
question is not already present, given the presence of a preferred media of
reproduction? If so, I didn't read it in your piece. And if not, was there
any discussion as to potential deliterious effects of introducing same to
the ecosystem involved? Hell, Wolfgang, it seems like a potentially
interesting and beneficial program of study about to be embarked upon.......I
just wonder what makes it in any way different from the numerous examples of
well-intended tinkering with nature that has had provable detrimental
effects for our environment. I also wonder why you choose to not name the
research principals. Is this supposed to be top-secret? It would seem like
something unnecessary, and, at the same time sort of puzzling.......Come on,
lad, you can do better. A little less about the importance of Wolfgang, and
a bit more about the actual issue at hand might have been nice.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tom- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Garlic and Goat cheese pizza just befiore bedtime is bound to make the
middle aged stomach a major contributor to CRANKY. Maalox or just a
large bucket of water in which to place one's head can sometimes
curtail CRANKy. P;+))
Dave
He wasn't defending a thesis Tom. Just describing what HE experienced.
As to what science is or is not, well that's for another day, as is
experimental design standards in the bio medical world.