Cold Spring Harbor Laborotory

I went to Cold Spring Harbor Laborotory for a meeting earlier this month. The meeting was very exciting and inspiring, but I still felt sleep-deprived everyday. I only went to the bar on the first night, for a brief 20 minutes, without consuming any alcohol. I don't know how my colleagues and many others managed to go to the bar and grab a couple of beers after evening sessions ended at 11pm and still come to the morning sessions at 9am. No doubt it must be a terrific place to socialize with other scientists attending the meeting, but for someone like me, who can never finish a beer, it seems that's asking too much of myself.

Compared to the last time I went there, this time the food was so much better. Everyday there was a theme for the meals, and I had so much of everything that for a couple days after I came back I only wanted to eat two meals a day. We were treated a banquet for our last dinner there. Lobster was on the menu (one for each person, if you don't object to it). Two graduate students from Oxford were sitting on our table and it was their first time eating a lobster! So we had to tell them where the good parts are.

OK, back to the Laborotory itself. CSHL's president and former director, James Watson, is the co-discoverer of the double-helix structure of DNA (along with Francis Crick they won the Nobel Price in 1953). It is no surprise that you shall meet a lot of right-handed double-strands on this campus. The first one you see is the one in the lobby of the Grace Auditorium:

Then you go into the auditorium and you see them on the walls:

The first two are more realistic. The next one, behind Airslie, facing the Outer Harbor, is more artistic:

Other than double-helices, there are also other art objects in the shape of life forms at CSHL. Here is a pavilion. It's top looks to me like a virus particle:
Of course, there are real lives on this campus. One night when we were leaving for our Holiday Inn, we spotted three bunnies on the lawn in front of our car, hiding in the safety of the complete darkness. Here is one bunny at dusk, not being shy at all:

There are also ducks etc. and people are fishing here in the Inner Harbor:


There are many interesting sculptures, too. This one is a small fountain behind Airslie, in the shape of a chubby child holding a water basin:

This one is called Oak Tree II: (haven't found Oak Tree I anywhere)

This one is titled Getting There. The chrome top part swings in the wind.

People here can enjoy not only arts, but also water sports. There is a beach with life guards in the Outer Harbor. These researchers had just taken out a boat for some rowing in the afternoon.