MBA in...Healthcare?

Thats right, the MBA is no longer just for people who want to do finance or accounting based careers as you might believe. Actually I just read an interesting article that talks about Healthcare (an ever popular topic nowadays) and how recruiting for Healthcare managers has continued to grow even in The Great Recession. Healthcare in general has continued to grow (and will continue to grow) becuase, simply put, we have a generation of baby boomers that are heading into their 50's and 60's, and with an increasing life-expectancy that can only mean one thing...tons of doctors visits. Not only that but Hospitals and Biotechs are increasingly looking for people who have a healthcare and business background, which has lead to an increasing demand for Healthcare Management MBA's. Harvard, Duke, Northwestern, UCSD, and UMass Boston are a few Universities that offer a Healthcare Management MBA. Check out the Article to read more. [Article]

Prepping for Winter...Geek Style

Ok, so now that BB has moved from Southern California to Boston ive realized 2 things. 1) Boston has these things called "seasons", unlike SoCal, and 2) Winter in Boston = not too fun. Whats a Business savy executive or Lab Geek to Do? Read LifeHacker of course! Life hacker has posted an article about keeping up productivity during a snow-day, and will also be posting articles relevant to you geeks out there who want to make sure you keep busy with projects during those cold winter months. Check out Lifehacker this month for cool (wait..or Hot?) Winter tips...[LifeHacker] [Snow Day Productivity]

Dell goes a bit Green...

Well, environmentally that is. Apparently, the hip new thing to do for tech companies is to go green, and Dell is no exception! Dell has cleverly installed Solar Panels in their parket lots, not only shading cars from the blistering Texas heat (Have you guys been to Texas? You could fry an egg on the sidewalk), but also generating 160 kW of power! Not only is it offsetting power costs for Dell, but its also utilizing space that the company already owns...a parking lot. There no reason any company with an outdoor parking lot shouldnt be doing this. Good move Dell! Now if you would only improve your shoddy tech support, I would be a bit happier...[Article]

Cleantech Needed in the U.S.?

Well, Obama just gave a speech at MIT and he agrees with Broken Beakers previous article... Clean tech is the way to go! Obama just spent 20 minutes lecturing (and praising) MIT efforts to go green, and discussed that this nation NEEDS to pursue clean energy, not only because the world might depend on it, but because its a 2 TRILLION dollar industry (and i think republicans AND democrats can agree we could use that money right about now). Read the story here. [Article 1]

Cleantech...the answer to economic recovery?

An article at CNN talks about how Cleantech is supposed to become "The next big boom", and I agree! The article focuses on how new companies which focus on environmental concerns are getting a lot of money thrown at them by Venture Capitalists... similar to what happened to the computer industry in its early days! The article also mentions GreatPoint Energy, a Cambridge based company which focuses on converting biomass and coal into natural gas! Pretty good read, check it out here. [Article] [GreatPoint Energy]

Rise of the Robots

Ok, i am now convinced that we will all be replaced by robots one day. Yamaha has just built a robot with a voice synthesizer that can sing pitch-perfect. Not only that but it looks VERY similiar to a real human being. Scary. On the bright side, if these robots become standard in the music industry they can avoid embarissingly akward moments like this one. [Article Link to Robot Voice! Robot voice! All the kids love...the robot voice!]

The Fall of Bob.

You've probably heard of Bob, the guy in all those Enzyte commercials. Enzyte made a huge impact on the herbal supplement market, making millions of dollars in sales its first couple of years due to its wide-spread marketing and exploitation of men with small, *ahem*, well you know. Well guess what, Enzyte CEO Steve Warshak is now facing prison time for defrauding thousands of customers. "Waaaayyyyy to go Bob!" Full Story here. [Article]

Big Bada-Boom!

So what happenes when you put a bunch of undergraduate chemists in charge of making methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl (MCMT, a gasoline additive)? Only one of the largest explosions to be investigated by the Federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Board. Yes, this lab explosion was so large that it actually managed to throw debris a mile away! Readmore about it here! [Article]

Were Back! JIT For Fall!

So fall has arrived, and Broken Beaker is now in Boston! Our first story is about...Fashion. Hey, i told you well cover EVERYTHING relating to the science world. Yes, Boston magazine has done a pictorial on the upcoming fall fashion trends using nothing but scientists! Some of the items in the article are rather pricey (featuring designers such as Yves Saint Lauren and Roberto Cavalli), but that should be no problem for you Biotech dynamos. Get some fashion tips form it, and see what the CEO's and Managers at biotech SHOULD be dressing like. [Article]

Broken Beaker moving to Boston!

Yes, Broken Beaker is moving to Boston, home of the Bruins, Celtics, and Har-vuhd! It will take me a couple of weeks to get settled into my new home (and Grad-student life) and updates will be rare until mid September, but rest assured we will be back online reporting from the hub of bio-tech in North America!

Stylin Sonar Panels

Solar Panels are starting to get a bit more fashionable, thanks to SRS Energy, which has designed solar panels which can integrate seamlessly with Spanish tile. Along with being fashionable, the average homeowner will produce 860 kwH per year! [Article]

DNA Sequencing...Half off!

Well, not really, but researchers at Stanford have figured out a really cheap (and effective) method for sequencing the human genome. The entire process only required 3 researchers and less than $50,000! Countdown until health insurance companies require a submission of its customers entire genome starts now! [Article Link]

Wyeth Under Fire

Wyeth (Just purchased by Pfizer for a whopping $68 Billion) is, well...screwed. Reports have surfaced today in the New York Times that claim Wyeth has been paying "Ghostwriters" to basically write articles for scientific journals saying how great Wyeth-produced horomones are. I guess thats not a big deal, except for the fact that, well, thats kind of a conflict of interest. Not to mention kind of illegal. Oh and did I mention that Wyeth has been caught up in a class action lawsuit? By whom you may be asking? Well, by the 8000 women who used Wyeth horomones such as Premarin and Prempro and said it made them sick. Well see how this is going to pan out, and maybe the allegations are un-founded, but my guess is that Wyeth is going to eat it on this one. [NYT Article Link]

Wanna Build A Startup?

Need a little inspiration to start up your own Biotech? An article over at Inc Magazine talks about 7 startup started by ordinary people, who, through hard work, innovation and a little bit a cash, grew their companies to be worth millions! I know, its a little more cost-intense to start a biotech, but there's definitely something to take away from this article! Check it out! [Link]

Big Pharma vs Generics, Round 2

Man, are generics becoming a hot topic or what!? The Associated Press has released a new article about the battle heating up between generic drug-makers and Big Pharma (Amgen, Pfizer, etc). In case your unfamiliar with whats going on right now (and you definetly should be, it effects anyone in the healthcare industry), Obamas recent push for Healthcare reform has riled up the big pharmaceutical companies, because theyre afraid that to cut down on costs, generic drugs will be allowed to be made sooner than later (Lower patent time = lower profits). Big Pharma is asking for a 12-year generic ban, while generic drug makers are pushing for a 5 year cap. Congress has voted on a 12 year ban on generics, but will it pass the Senate? What about the threat of a presidential veto? And how will this effect the stock-market, since recently a lot of the healthcare companies have been carrying a lot of the rallys occuring recently on Wall Street? Read the full article. [AP Article] [Past Broken Beaker Article]

BMS Future rests...on Mice?

Bristol Myers Squibb recently purchased 90% of the shares of a company called Medarex. What does Medarex do? Well, they make it easy for pharmaceutical companies to develop drugs from mice for use in humans. Why should you care? Well, it just so happens that many of the blockbuster drugs manafactured by Novartis, Amgen and BMS are manafactured by "humanizing" antibody-excreting mouse cell lines, and if Mederex's method of doing this, dubbed UltiMab, proves effecient enough, it could speed up the development time for BMS drugs, giving them a head up on the competition. Why else should you care? Well, It should also be noted that pharmaceuticals derived from cell lines are the exact same drugs being targeted by the 12 year "generic ban" being talked about in the Senate nowadays (and that weve talked about in previous articles), so any new drugs developed from cell lines will be exclusive to the company that develops it for a long time, meaning big money for the pharmaceutical companies. BMS stock is only $20 a share, now might be a good time to buy...[Article Link] [UltiMab Link]

The Zen of Zappos

What does Zappos, an online shoe retailer and Amazon.com have anything to do with Biotech or Business? Everything. I read this article a couple of months ago about Tony Hsieh, and how his unique management style has pushed Zappos to the top of its game in online shoe sales. I was really intrigued about how he employs unique ways of keeping his employees motivated and making sure they are dedicated, such as offering new trainees $2000 to walk away from the company (read the article to find out why). Every company should read this article (especially Biotechs, which are plagued with antiquated management systems) and really re-evaluate their management style, maybe they can learn a thing or to from Tony. Apparently Amazon.com thought Tonys method of management was so intriguing and worked so well that they bought Zappos for $900 million dollars., yet will let it remain an independent company, which is pretty rare for a buyout. [Link]

Shocking Facebook News

I love those studies that prove something that 99% of people already knew, like the fact that Facebook sucks up worker productivity. The people at Nucleus Research published a study that says that workers check their Facebook an average of 15 minutes a day, resulting in a loss of 1.5% productivity. If i were a betting man, i would wage that the actual number is even higher! BusinessWeek argues that it may be that instead of taking "real breaks", people now take "virtual breaks". [Link]

How to leave your job...gracefully.

Considering the tumultuous economic environment we live in, a lot of you have either been laid off recently or have been hired by another company. Here's an article that talks about the best way to leave a company, and leave your ex-employees and managers happy. No matter how much you would love to tell off your boss, kick over your cubicle, or steal the office fax machine and smash it in the park, its probably better you dont. You never know, the Manager of the company that fires you today could be the CEO of the company that hires you in 5 years...Check out the article. [Link]

Virus Batteries, wave of the Future.

Talk about cool, some MIT Graduate students have genetically engineered viruses to form batteries! The viruses (a harmless bacteriophage) are able to produce both the cathode and anode portion of a battery, and have been used by the grad students to power small LED displays. Eventually the technology could be refined to power such everyday items as TV's, Cars, etc, but how long until they are available commercially? That remains to be seen, but since this is a U.S. Army funded project, i doubt it will be available (to consumers) anytime soon. Check it out! [Article]