Longest Running Thread EVER

[Cancer]

Extortion is nowhere near as gratifying as slowly dismembering the deserved victim and reveling in their anguished screams, though.

[Old Man]

Extortion is much more profitable, however.  Hard to see dismemberment as a sustainable business model.

[Cancer]

Practicality is not among my strengths. Remember, I chose to become an astronomer.

[Bazza]

Practicality is not among my strengths. Remember, I chose to become an astronomer.

so you prefer patience? 

[Cancer]

I prefer my objects of study at the far end of a telescope. Up close would be too easy for them to retaliate.

[Bazza]

I prefer my objects of study at the far end of a telescope. Up close would be too easy for them to retaliate.

so no biology then?

[Old Man]

Practicality is not among my strengths. Remember, I chose to become an astronomer.

I once intended to become an astronomer. In fact the only reason I didn't was because of a ridiculous combination of bureaucratic obstacles.

[Cancer]

Well, I was forced out of it in 2000, and haven't resumed research really yet. Maybe this summer.

[Cancer]

so no biology then?

In a discussion that involved facehuggers, you ask that? NFW.

[Old Man]

I prefer my objects of study at the far end of a telescopic sight.

 

ftfy

[L. Marcus]

Mind the sni-

[Bazza]

In a discussion that involved facehuggers, you ask that? NFW.

I was asking in general, being that a microscope is the opposite of a telescope. 

[L. Marcus]

The principle is the same.

[Cancer]

And it is quite possible to make distance microscopes, microscopes where the object is a meter away. Those are mostly found in manufacturing facilities, where the sample is in vacuum or in a toxic atmosphere.

[L. Marcus]

All atmospheres are toxic, one way or another.

[Cancer]

Helium-neon is not toxic. It's a simple asphyxiant.

[L. Marcus]

And boy, does it make you sound funny!

[Cancer]

Gah. Had a conversation that led off with "______ is out of jail finally," where the person is a student of ours. Seems that he filed for divorce, so his wife filed a domestic violence charge against him, so he'd been in jail for 2.5 months. When you're a student, posting $100,000 bail isn't easy. We're going to do what we can for his studies if he comes in for advising tomorrow.

[Cancer]

Oh, and one of our faculty members is out, with a 12mm kidney stone.

[Cancer]

Hopefully we can get through May without any deaths in the department. If we can, it'll be the first time since 2011. If.

[Old Man]

Oh, and one of our faculty members is out, with a 12mm kidney stone.

That's a .50 caliber stone. Surely surgery is required?

[Cancer]

That isn't my department. They may be able to break it to smaller pieces sonically ... this is more L Marcus's bailiwick than mine.

[L. Marcus]

It's a pretty big stone, but it can pass of itself. Stones up to 20 mm may do so, but they'll be pretty horribly painful. Depends on a lot of things if you wanna intervene -- age of patient, effect on the kidneys, the amount of pain involved and the effect of painkillers, the site of the stone, and so on. If the stone's not trapped, and the painkillers work, and the kidney is fine, then you can afford to wait a couple of weeks, at least.

[Old Man]

I was unaware that the stone's intended route could accommodate a foreign object of such diameter.

[Bazza]

That's a .50 caliber stone. Surely surgery is required?

is that a rolling stone?