This am I woke up to a screaming match courtesy of the minotaur* that live above my apartment. Thank you very much you inconsiderate assholes. A scientist has to get her beauty sleep in order to come up with fantabulous ideas! Also, if I hear y’all again I’m calling the cops, you beastly jerks.
Anyway, besides that, I decided to do a google search on my favourite pathogen thinking that I may get inked at some point. I’m kinda sleepy, but not enough to avoid noticing the glaring errorS (yes, errors, nor error) in one of Encyclopædia Britannica’s diagrams regarding said pathogen. There are so many things wrong with it I should accuse with … well, I don’t know what authorities, but that’s besides the point. The point is that you are spreading, old, crappy information to people who want to learn about said pathogen. I don’t know who’s in charge of this, but as a former researcher loosely associated with said pathogen’s field, I am appalled by the glaring errorS. Even a first year grad student, heck!, a junior or senior undergrad can notice those mistakes after spending an afternoon with me talking about the beauty of said pathogen (and yes, in my eyes it is a thing of beauty …. to study, not to use, ewww).
So, I’m scratching my head here EB online, I really am. I want to forward said “diagram” to my PhD mentor with the following subject line: DSF … WTFF is this piece of misinformation!?? Instead, I’ll try shooting you an email and pointing to a GREAT version of the revised, and accurate version of the diagram. In fact, it has better colours and it’s way less confusing.
That’s all. Please get your info straight. Said picture is full of fail. Same to all the websites out there that don’t bother to correct info, especially about the structural biology of the entities they’re talking about. Shame on you.
*What’s the plural of minotaur? I’m sure I’ll find the right stuff anywhere but at EB online. Minotaur? Minotauri? Minotaurs?
I helped my post-doc PI write an entry for a class of viruses for an encyclopedia. The word limits are ridiculous, and it’s obvious that they didn’t have a scientist edit the entry. Who looks at encyclopedias now anyhow?
I honestly don’t know, but that one hasn’t been looked at in over 15 years. The diagram shows things that have been revised a few times. I saw it and almost puked. I’ll shoot them an email and mention that there are more accurate, current and informative versions of this out there. DFS