There will be brains

Tomorrow, I'm off to Washington, D.C. for the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting. This conference is huge - 30,000+ attendees. My lab has a few posters, listed here. I hope to post highlights of interesting stuff I see, maybe even some photos. I went to SfN two years ago, and one of the greatest parts is the vendor exhibit. They reserve one hangar-size room for biotech, imaging, publishing, etc companies to set up booths and hawk products. These booths are just like those you might find at other conferences (like the Consumer Electronic Show, for example), but instead of big HD TV displays and video games, they have hi-tech microscopes, pipetters, and analysis software. Anyone can browse the goods, and there is a ton of free stuff. I'm hoping for a plush rat and a squishy brain stress ball. There are also scores of free publications, and, as usual, candy, to go around.

There's science to be seen, sure, but conferences are really just big parties. Academic meetings are infamous for illicit hookups and other decadence among Ph.Ds. I probably won't post on what I see of those (at least not pictures). I like D.C., and I expect the city to have a certain energy given the recentness of the election. The G20 summit is also going on, so if I see Angela Merkel, I'll be sure to give her a shoulder rub.

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Update: I know, bad blogger. A dearth of updates the past couple weeks. The conference was fun, but uneventful science-wise. I saw a bunch of posters, met some people, and explored Washington. The past couple weeks have been super busy. I had a presentation, a paper, and a lot of experimental work to do. At any rate, that is subsiding, and I am preparing to leave work for a brief holiday vacation. Hopefully that will mean more blogging.