What Can Taylor Swift Teach Us About Lab Safety?

What Can Taylor Swift Teach Us About Lab Safety?

Photo: Still from "Teardrops on My Guitar" Taylor Swift © 2007 Big Machine Records   It’s hard to believe it’s been 17 years since Taylor Swift released the hit single “Teardrops on My Guitar” when she was just 18. Based on the real-life story of Swift’s high school...

Aligning Safety Culture Through Storytelling

Aligning Safety Culture Through Storytelling

One night during my Ph.D. work, I found myself in a self-imposed, potentially dangerous situation that underscores the importance of safety awareness in the lab. I was alone, working late with a perchlorate salt—a highly reactive, shock-sensitive substance. As I...

LSI Names New Executive Director

LSI Names New Executive Director

On March 6, Stephen Taylor dropped this teaser in his LinkedIn feed: “It’s in these quiet moments that we find clarity for our #NewBeginnings and sometimes we find those new beginnings in the most unlikely of places. While I’m not ready to unveil what’s next just yet,...

How To Make Your Lab More Dangerous

How To Make Your Lab More Dangerous

In his 2003 biography, billionaire investor Charlie Munger revealed his favorite hack for finding out-of-the-box solutions: “Turn a situation or problem upside-down. Look at it backward,” he said. “Where don’t we want to go, and how do you get there?” Applying...

The Sticky Issue of Cell Phones in the Lab

The Sticky Issue of Cell Phones in the Lab

On average, Americans check their phones within 10 minutes of waking up, and continue checking them about 344 times per day, or once every 2.8 minutes during waking hours. That means most of us touch our cell phones more than any other object in our lives. All that...