I read about this 520-million-year-old larva with its brain perfectly intact, and I laughed. Actually laughed out loud in the empty lab at 2 AM. Here's this tiny creature that survived half a billion years with everything preserved—brain, guts, circulatory system. Meanwhile, I can't get through year four of my PhD without feeling like my own brain is dissolving. The researchers called it 'almost perfect preservation.' I screenshot that phrase and stared at it. When was the last time anyone called my work almost perfect? When did I last feel preserved instead of slowly decomposing under fluorescent lights? They found exactly what they were looking for. Their 'most ambitious hopes' realized in one fossil. I keep pipetting the same failed protocol, hoping something will finally stick. Some things survive 520 million years intact. Others barely make it through another Tuesday. #Science #LabLife #ImposterSyndrome