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[Ripclawe]

http://www.azcentral.com/offbeat/articles/1111worstjobs11-ON.html

Charles Leroux
Chicago Tribune
Nov. 11, 2004 10:12 AM

CHICAGO - For the second year in a row, William Speed Weed, contributing editor at Popular Science magazine, has had the duty of calling scientists around the world and announcing: "We've determined that you have one of the worst jobs in science."

In a telephone interview, Weed reported that "some get quite indignant. The worm parasitologists (No. 2 on the magazine's Worst Science Jobs II list) were like that. I had to call several before finding one who'd talk."

He found Eric Ottesen of Emory University who noted that, "we can't show pictures or really even talk about these diseases. Society just isn't ready for it." advertisement

One worm that no one wants to know intimately is the female Dracunculus medinensis. After migrating from the gut, she settles just under the skin, where she grows to as much as 3 feet long and then lays her eggs.

"When the thousands of babies make their joyous arrival," Weed writes, "they blister the skin and pop through, leaving Mom behind. The traditional way to get rid of her is to wrap her head around a stick and twist very slowly -- one turn of the stick per day -- for weeks or months, depending on how long she is." (That ancient treatment gave rise to the snake-curled-around-a-pole symbol of the medical profession.)

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POPULAR SCIENCE LIST OF WORST JOBS

1. Anal-wart researcher

2. Worm parasitologist

3. Lab-animal veterinarian

4. Tampon squeezer (STD researcher)

5. Landfill monitor

6. K-25 (Oak Ridge lab) demolition

7. St. John's Harbor (sewage) ecologist

8. Iraqi archaeologist

9. Tick dragger

10. Nurse

11. Computer help-desk tech

12. Congressional science fellow

13. Public school science teacher

14. Nosologist (disease statistician)

15. Root sorter

16. Crank (maverick theorist)

17. TV meteorologist

 

[Phoenix]

Surprised to see nurse on there.

 

[bjork]

Tampon Squeezer?

omg sir no

 

[teiresias]

:lol @ #8

 

[Cool]

Hahahah.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

it made me sick to read that Oo

 

[Cimarron]

2. Worm parasitologist

I dunno. I used to work in paristology in my lab. Parasite are quite facinating actually

10. Nurse

AGREED! They work so hard and get paid relatively peanuts. Especially Nurse practitioners. They are pratically doctors and get WAY less money.

11. Computer help-desk tech
I liked working help desk.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

"Assistant crack whore"

 

[Leon]

8. Iraqi archaeologist

:lol:lol:lol

 

[Koshiro]

8. Iraqi archaeologist

You put this in as a joke right??

 

[MIMIC]

TV meteorologist? That looks like fun to me.

 

[belgurdo]

Nurse? Maybe if you don't like dealing with the mouth breathers that clog the college courses for it

 

[pnjtony]

No, help-desk kinda sucks. I make way more at Comcast than I did at Ford though, I'll give it that much.

 

[UltimateMarioMan]

One worm that no one wants to know intimately is the female Dracunculus medinensis. After migrating from the gut, she settles just under the skin, where she grows to as much as 3 feet long and then lays her eggs.

Game over man GAME OVER!!

 

[beerbelly]

What skills do you need for a help desk job? It sounds fun to me.

 

[ConfusingJazz]

Here's the link to the Popular Science website about it.

My favorite quote so far comes from the anal wart researcher:

The bright side? “In 13 years I’ve only been pooped on twice, and that’s not bad.”

 

[Ripclawe]

http://www.popsci.com/popsci/science/article/0,20967,713464,00.html
Lab-Animal Veterinarian
Worst Science Jobs II: Number 3

At one point in his career, Neil found himself taking perfectly vital, eager young beagles and surgically giving them arterial blockages to replicate heart disease. Then he implanted pacemakers to study what forms of artificial heartbeats worked best on failing hearts. “They’re so friendly; they love to be studied,” Neil remembers, his voice dripping with melancholy. “As far as they’re concerned, it’s the highlight of their week.” When the study was over, the dogs were euthanized.

 

[BlackMage]

Retail in general should be on that list.

 

[RiZ III]

Anal-wart researcher

:lol :lol

What do you want to be when you grow up?
An anal-wart researcher.

HAHAHA wtf

 

[pestul]

7. St. John's Harbor (sewage) ecologist <-- that's my harbor..

 

[pnjtony]

What skills do you need for a help desk job? It sounds fun to me.

Depending on the help-desk, know how to use a PC. Doesn't mean you'll be a good techie, but you could end up being hired. As long as you're not PC retarded you should be fine considering more people ARE pc retarded.