Tick-Tock-Tick...

Ah miss mah fishies...

Only a few more days--the project approaches its end, whether I like it or not. As usual, when searching for answers in the realm of muddly legal problems (and I maintain this is a pretty muddy, if entirely futile, one), I am inevitably frustrated at being unable to dice up the collected materials and run them out on a gel; or I lean towards dropping the whole thing in a huff, picking up a pipet, and running a therapeutic PCR or two. On the other hand, an approaching deadline means I'll stop whining soon. Exciting, no?

<Oh my Lord, she'll find something else to talk about! Cheers from the peanut gallery!!>

Ha! Careful what you wish for, or you may find yourself stuck with a "Fun Transposon Fact of the Day" feature or some such thing. Actually, that's not a half-bad idea...

Unfortunately, methinks I may have to take multiple law classes next semester due to some technical requirements on the part of the law school. On the up side, Patents is being offered at a reasonable hour (read, afternoon), and the Lottery kindly gave me both the Patent Prosecution seminar and the IP Transactions seminar, of which I would take one. At this point, I'm unclear as to which that would be, although I lean toward the prosecution one.

However, I inwardly echo a lab mate's sentiments: enough with the classes, already! They take time away from research!

On a non-personal--and therefore more interesting--note, Christina Hoff Summers' review of Harvey Mansfield's Manliness book is here. While tempted to make comment, I shall not do so until after I've read the book. I remain intrigued to read his work. (But I must say, if the relative big-screen depictions of Achilles and Hector were remotely faithful The Iliad, which I admit to not yet having read, then my vote for the most manly is for Hector all the way--no, not just because of Eric Bana, although that certainly doesn't hurt.) [h/t Corner, of course]

And if you're looking to read beautiful thoughts exquisitely expressed, run to Think Denk.

Fanfare for the College Senior

I believe some congratulations are in order...

...to my Little Brother for completing his thesis! I believe it was on something econ-y ;-)

I'm proud of you, Little Bro! And someday, after you've graduated and moved on, you may even look back (almost) fondly.

What Would Beethoven Think?

It is well known that Yours Truly has great affection for nerdiness &/or geekiness in their various incarnations, is terribly proud of her "nerd's dream girl" title, and herself aspires to be a supreme nerd of zebrafish development and transposon biology--and possibly of IP law as well, but that remains to be seen. She, however, was previously unaware that scanners could play music. No, really.

Does this explain my long-dead printer that insisted on printing a page with a solitary happy face when it was turned on?

{quasi-h/t Sandmonkey}

Travel Bleg

Hi y'all...a travel bleg on behalf of a friend...this is the sort of thing I should know, but as I've been shamefully bad at keeping in touch...which '03s are in or around London?? (I can only think of one at the moment; to all the rest, I apologize.)

Please email me if you think of some names!! Grazie!

[cross-posted]

Ghosts of Congresses Past

Since the theme of late is the Paper of Doom...The Legislative Branch: Resistance is futile?

"The 3 percent federal telephone excise tax was a temporary funding tool for the Spanish-American War. The U.S. defeated Spain on December 10, 1898, yet this "temporary" tax creeps into its third century. Enough." The entire article is here.

I'll acknowlege that the Court's position, which in my reading more or less leaves the door open for Congress to act under the guise of "necessity" due to a war's "rise and progress" even after said war is "over," is not specious (not entirely). However, it is precisely this sort of power creep, this metastasis, to which I strenuously object. Sigh. Maybe I should just capitulate; maybe the dream of legislative responsibility is an impossible dream...

Happy Easter!

What better way to celebrate Easter than by listening to Symphony of Psalms? And, of course, the Hallelujah Chorus!

Happy Easter!

Not-so-trivia(l)

I know, I said I wouldn't be blogging, but given the sheer enormity of the task before me, this won't kill me.

Behold, the excerpt whose import is of some concern:

"...the war power includes the power 'to remedy the evils which have arisen from its rise and progress' and continues for the duration of that emergency. Whatever may be the consequences when war is officially terminated, the war power does not necessarily end with the cessation of hostilities. ...it is adequate to support the proservation of rights created by wartime legislation."

Your task, should you choose to play, is to guess at the author. I did leave out some identifying bits, but the substance is pretty much there.

The above excerpt encapsulates my problem, which I don't yet know how to tackle. Is that really constitutional? If yes, how the heck do you transition out of a wartime legal regime?

The Usual Suspect

Es yo.* Mea culpa, as per usual. Although I've always lived more or less "on the back of the beat," there was a time in my life when I was fairly good about getting things done and not leaving them until the very lastest of minutes. I'm a little foggy as to when exactly that was but I do know it existed. Such capabilities also seem utterly to have vanished.

Case in point: it's been a long week filled with frantic studying and the two exams are now complete, the final take-home portion having been turned in today. But will it be an enjoyable weekend filled with delightful activities like a lecture, a friend's little gathering, and otherwise savoring the sunshine, chirpy birds, and warm(ing) air marking the beginning (more or less) of Spring? Oh no, no it will not. It will be spent indoors on the clock, reading, noting, highlighting, and frantically typing away--with no TV or movies or cybergoofing.** This evening marks the beginning of the effort to gather more material and sit down and produce the paper draft due Monday. All I have to say is thank God it's a draft. It's a difficult and complex subject that I should have started on a long time ago. It will be a rather drafty sort of draft, at that. I know the error can be remedied and a respectable, upstanding paper produced by making it the primary focus of my existence until the end of April, but it won't be anywhere near that by Monday. However, at the end of Monday, something will exist at least. Pretty, no; something, yes.

Therefore, the Nomad commences an "Imitation of Reading Period" in...5...4...3...2...1...Now!

*Soy yo? I've never been entirely clear on the grammatically perfect way to say "It is I" in Spanish.
** Even more poor timing on my part, for I very much want to see Take the Lead.

Isn't It Nice to Know...

...that some things never change?



(How could I resist? :P)

Shameless Plug

Special Seminar

Stephen Ekker, PhD

University of Minnesota

Candidate for Director of the Stem Cell Institute

"Engineering the Zebrafish for the 21st Century Biologist"

Wednesday, March 22

_______________________

I'm assuming this means I don't have to keep it under wraps any longer.

It's always nice to see good things happen for your PI!

Neo-origamism?

You know how dearly I love DNA. Is it not a serious contender for Most Fabulous Molecule? (For the record, RNA is pretty hot, too.) You may also know that despite my typically vehement disapproval of yellow, I love smiley faces. Ergo, you can only imagine how happy this makes me.

A map of the Americas measuring just a few hundred nanometres across has been created out of meticulously folded strands of DNA, using a new technique for manipulating molecules dubbed "DNA origami".

The nanoscale map, which sketches out both North and South America at a staggering 200-trillionths of their actual size, aims to demonstrate the precision and complexity with which DNA can be manipulated using the approach.

...It is not the first time DNA has been used to make structures - the idea was originally developed by Nadrian Seeman at New York University, US - Rothemund's approach takes things to a new level of complexity.

Although Rothemund has only made 2D shapes there is nothing to prevent the technique being applied to make complex 3D structures, he says. These could serve as disposable scaffolds to help molecules and carbon nanotubes self assemble.

Other examples "DNA artwork", creating using the same technique, include "smiley-faces", complex geometric shapes and a picture of a double helix with the letters "DNA" running above it.

Seriously--just look at the little guy


Now, if you will excuse me, I have sequencing data to look at, which may someday prove plenty thrilling in their own right. Alas, however, I am currently unable to make happy faces with transposons. That may have to go onto the to-do list.

Into the Fireswamp

Your humble Nomad here admits that she has a small problem, one she's known about for years (as have you): she has a tendency to bite off more than she can chew. Occasionally quite a lot more.

She realized this evening, as she sat down to begin--all right, all right, first she watched NCIS and The Unit--the putative proposal/tentative outline for her Lincoln seminar paper, that this would probably qualify as one of those "quite a lot more" occasions. I'm not going to release the topic just yet, but the current working title is Exit Strategy (not quite as good as Out-Lincolned?, I admit), and is actually intended as a full-length treatment of a short paper topic I wrote on previously. (In fact, said short paper turned out heinously badly; but it's such an intriguing and relevant topic I just can't shake it and have determined instead to wade back into the morass.)

The difficulty? Ah, yes. I've realized, whilst starting on a rough layout of matters that must be addressed, that 1) my answer remains "I don't know", which won't fill 25 - 50 pages; and 2) there's very likely a wealth of detail I ought to treat. At the very least, everyone else's papers promise to make for awesome work, especially given that several folks are writing on opposing angles of similar issues. Should our prof manage to get them published as a special issue or some such thing, a compilation should make for great reading.

Where is the Dread Pirate Roberts when a girl needs him?

A Rose by Any Other Name

Why certainly--you can call it C. elegans; but at the end of the day, it's still a worm.

All right, all right; yes, the lowly nematode will tell you all sorts of things about genes, cells, and development--which is cool. But...the whole wormy thing... Guess I reveal myself as pro-vertebrate ;)

Necessity and the Constitution

Good morning!

And it's another day that has thus far and will continue to be spent catching up on things due today, rather in lab being mildly useful. Of course, with such a paucity of actual experience, "useful" is a relative term. For example, I realized this morning that I completely screwed up an entire injection batch by calibrating the dosage wrong. When I go in to clean up and evaluate the embryos today, they will all be dead, just you wait and see. Note to self--if when you're injecting and you think "gee, that seems like an awful lot of solution being injected," for goodness' sake, STOP, woman, STOP!! Stop and think very carefully for a minute. Ah well, asi es la vida.

So, I thought I'd try something different today: just to prove that as much as I like pretty shoes and being silly, I do sometimes have a quasi-substantive thought. Occasionally. I just don't always write them down. Ergo, below are some of them. It is, in fact, this week's 2-page paper for my Lincoln seminar. It's not great, but I thought it maybe wasn't completely horrible. Although I could be wrong, you never know.

Yes, there are a number of incomplete and underdeveloped positions in it. One, it's a rough product; Two, we're only allowed two pages, dagnabbit--you're not exactly looking at the next Sowell, you know. And yes, I am completely incapable of writing decent conclusions. Always have been, probably always will be. Deal :)

Does the Constitution Allow Interpreters to Entertain the Idea of Necessity?
Lincoln’s Argument in the Letter to Erastus Corning and Others, the Letter to James Conkling, and the Letter to Albert Hodges

While the argument Lincoln advances in the Corning letter is an argument about the constitution, once it passes from the realm of suspension of the writ of habeas corpus it is ultimately an argument from necessity. Despite Lincoln’s remarkable ability to express himself and his constitutional positions as President both clearly and persuasively, his argument in the letter to
Erastus Corning and others simply is not constitutionally sound. He is unfortunately quite wrong—not necessarily inherently so by including necessity in his argument, but in the substance of his argument as compared to the very text of the constitution.

His error is in claiming that the language of the writ suspension clause can be extrapolated to cover any action regarding any wartime situation in which “disloyalty to the Union” is suspected. That argument from necessity is constitutionally unsound and incorrect. While I might agree or be persuaded to agree that powers may be a little broader in wartime, his argument oversteps
constitutional limits outright in employing the writ suspension language to defend other actions not obviously connected to writ suspension itself, such as the heavy-handed treatment of or silencing of newspapers. Rather than so blatantly stretching that clause, he must seek support from elsewhere in the document, if it can be found. However, in the Conklin and Hodges letters, his argument from necessity for the Emancipation Proclamation is much more constitutionally sound.

Therefore, we see that an argument from necessity can be a constitutional argument. Put perhaps more completely, such an argument is not necessarily anti-constitutional in and of itself, nor is it one the mere consideration of which automatically risks grievous injury to the constitution. There is nothing in the constitution itself to indicate that necessity cannot be a consideration under at least some circumstances. In fact, the document itself entertains the concept of necessity, albeit on a far more mundane scale, in the Necessary and Proper clause; more importantly, the constitution considers necessity as a valid factor in what are all essentially situations of dire emergency.

Harboring great concern, even innate suspicion of an argument from necessity is valid, defensible, and highly compatible with our need to be jealous guardians of liberty. It is not, however, valid as a final pronouncement. As the constitution itself hints, the question is one of limits. Again, the
constitution does not rule out necessity entirely. The words of the writ suspension clause clearly indicate that the Founders understood that there will indeed be instances of severe national emergency, and that in such situations, certain actions taken out of necessity are entirely valid and justified. (Or that there could be such instances: ideas, attitudes, and reactions of our own
times as to whether or not nation-threatening situations actually exist or can truly exist line up remarkably well with those expressed in Lincoln’s.)

Whether an argument from necessity is a constitutional argument depends on what action or position is being argued, as well as the constitutional provision(s) at issue; there is no one-size-fits-all answer to that question, as demonstrated by the letters to Corning, Conklin, and Hodges. Lincoln instinctively understood this, and the concept of constitutional constraints, as evidenced by his
statement in the letter to Hodges:

I am naturally anti-slavery. If slavery is not wrong, nothing is wrong. …And yet I have never understood that the Presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgment and feeling. …I understood, too, that in ordinary civil administration this oath even forbade me to practically indulge my primary abstract judgment on the moral question of slavery.

But in the argument espoused in the Corning letter, he ignored this principle. Therefore, an argument from necessity is not inherently an unconstitutional one; there are times when necessity may be a valid constitutional argument.

Finis.

******
Update 3.7.06: Marked "V. good!" With an exclamation point, no less!

Energy all around

Not infrequently do I scratch my head at any given San Franciscoism, but this time someone over there might actually be on to something...

The Corporate Game

It's that time of year again: time to help out folks with their thesis projects. In that spirit, I give you the Corporate Game, a short game/quiz forming part of the thesis of a friend of Little Brother. I'm told the underlying purpose of the thesis is to examine how closely (or not) people align with Machiavellian principles in regards to business. (Correct me if I've stated it wrong, Lil' Bro.)


I scored as:
"More Gandhi than Gordon Gecko, you place business ethics and stakeholder interest over an absolute lust for revenue. This is not to say that you will not try to maximize your firm’s profits or your personal success, but you won’t step on any hands to get to the top. As a result of your amiability you are well-liked by subordinates and business partners. Just be careful to not get taken advantage of by all the sharks in the corporate ocean."

Yet again entirely too Nice? Probably!

Happy Feet...Thank Your Double Helix?

Do humans have alleles for dancing ability?

This headline is of particular interest, given that I'm supposed to be cramming for the Genetics midterm on Friday followed by the Development midterm on Tuesday (all while The Chauffeur is in Miami with nothing to do and I'm stuck here), but am in fact trying to write a paper for tomorrow's Lincoln seminar that I nearly forgot about.¹ The usual disclaimers apply, of course. Obviously I haven't read the paper yet, but nudge me--repeatedly--when I'm free (next Thursday, minimum) and I'll scrounge it up to have a look.<sup>2


1</sup> On the plus side, it may have given me a new, somewhat provocative, paper topic.
² God bless PubMed.

Lab Chic

The Manolo, he loves the scientists this morning! (A beautiful morning, to be sure, but six below if you're in Minneapolis...it will be the Super Boots this morning, for this baby scientist!)

Inspirational Procrastination

Never let it be said that procrastination is entirely without value. Thanks to contemplations on whether an Administration can out-Lincoln Lincoln [*coughnotethedatecough*]^1,2 plus a random recollection of a conversation earlier this year,³ I have been struck with a new book idea. The working title for the as yet nonexistent manuscript is The Synthesis of Law. 'S not a stellar title, but it's the best I've got so far.

Of course, I'm not supposed to be thinking about synthesis of law, I'm supposed to be thinking about embryonic left-right patterning.

¹ On a less partisan note, all recent history and recent debates on such matters are properly understood as continuing aftershocks of the 1860s and, indeed, of the beginnings of our Republic itself: that is, as rehashings of previous controversies, with some variation in the surrounding factual context. I continue to think that this is an important--and sorely neglected--starting point for evaluating present "controversies"; or at the very least, an important component of the lens through which one views and analyzes those controversies. Moreover, that neglect concerns me in that it may render thoughtful persons unaware of historical background or indifferent to the pertinence of that which predates what is narrowly presented as "current" and "relevant." Not that I don't claim the same fault, mind you :)

Why does it matter? Because this history is very much alive (!) and these issues making news at the moment--separation of powers, &c &c--represent unresolved tensions present in the Constitution and therefore present in its interpretation and execution since the beginning. Those tensions, which have been understood and dealt with in a variety of ways by judges, lawyers, legislators, and Presidents since the ink first dried on the Constitution, tend to bubble up from time to time. Particular situations, such as the one we've been in for a few years now or, say, the Civil War (!!!), tend to exacerbate things.

Essentially, we're just looking at Constitutional Interpretation: Variations on a Theme here, guys. But I digress. If you don't like the music, fine; but consider on whom you wish to lay the blame for the offense to your ears, and why. Do you not like bars of the last variation? Do a whole swath of them rub you wrong? Is the music OK, but being played badly? How would you play it? Do you just hate the theme and thus the whole enterprise is screwed? What would you have written? No snark intended; my point is this: there is a certain amount of molding over time of our interpretations, rooted in things like a best understanding of what the words meant when they were written and precedent . So, over time, similar scenarios have arisen, and similar arguments have been advanced, and jurisprudence has marched on. The beginnings of our powerful central government trace at least back to the Civil War, and arguably farther. As such, a powerful central government entails powerful branches and desires by each to have interpretive authority. Although, again, debates over who has what interpretive authority and when raged at least as far back as the Alien and Sedition acts of 1798! (OK, that was big on interpretive authority of States, but the point is basically the same.)

In conclusion, I do not at present argue for or against anything; I only admonish all of us who would be critics to contemplate before we point our fingers, as we are foolish to point only to today's actors or vituperatively accuse only one Administration if we ought truly to be critical of a succession of actors and Administrations (who, we ought not forget, might be advancing defensible arguments). What we have is an instance of a messy, complicated, and historically linked problem. Nothing new under the sun...Let's not be foolish! And again, of course, I'm quite sure I've got precisely the faults I'm trying to inveigh against :)

I could do a very similar riff on "privacy" stuff in general...but I won't for the time being. Basically, my position is this: if you think the Fourth Amendment means what it says, no more and no less (which I think would be an example of so-called "strict construction" resulting in something tremendously broad--good, bad, or indifferent, I'm just commenting)...then you have another thing coming. If you'd like to rant, rave, and rail, there are more judges, lawyers, law professors, and legislators involved than you have breath to expend. Welcome to the legal system. Not all faults are courtesy of W, John Ashcroft, or whoever else I'm forgetting.

²Huh. Guess the quasi-substantive thoughts were in the footnotes. Perhaps I can be a lawyer after all; there may yet be hope. Wait...do I want that?

³ Fascinating how a brief or offhand remark somtimes reveals so much.

Why is it that...

...kitchens are never truly and permanently clean? Never. Ever.

Moi: barefoot, check (prefer it to socks); kitchen, check (dude, it's where the food is!); pregnant, not so much. Now, I'm a big fan of the first two (the third I can't really weigh in on), BUT if some feminist really wanted to help out homosapien-kind, especially the girl trying to take care of herself and clean occasionally, significant progress would have been made on the 100% self-cleaning kitchen. But noooo...

Yes, I know, that was totally irrelevant and I'm cranky today. But I stand by it.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Green Fish

Tidings of great joy: I have successfully made lovely mosaic fish! [Meaning: if you view them under the appropriate wavelength, there are glowing red patches. This is a good--nay, fabulous--thing :)]

Next step, world domination. Gotta start somewhere!

Kidding! I have absolutely no desire to rule the world. It would be much more interesting to be the power behind the throne, don't you think?

Fast Times at MCB (now with fish)

Salutations from Minneapolis, where it is unseasonably warm, the semester is now nearly two weeks old and I'm already behind, and in a few minutes I'll be putting some baby fishies under the microscope to see if I've had any success at all in my preliminary experiments. (I doubt it, but looking at stuff under a scope is always cool.)

Since The Little Brother chastized me yesterday for not updating this soap box in quite some time, I shall hereby endeavor to appease him for the moment!

At any rate, this one is also for The Chauffeur--who I don't think actually reads this, but might find the following quizzie amusing nonetheless:

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite, and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

(h/t Chris Karr )

Quasi-substantive thoughts to come later...maybe...

Winding Down

Another semester draws to a close--I still have a hard time comprehending how the older I get, the faster everything hurtles by. Woosh!

I have one grade back already: a B+ in Mol. The more I think about it, with just a few more points over the course of the semester, I might've been able to reach the A- range, but I can definitely live with that letter and I'm relieved to know that the Quest for the Pointy Letter is perhaps not as impossible a dream as I'd thought. Cell I don't know about yet, since the final was on Friday, but I'm hoping to salvage that to something not horrible...we'll see how that turned out.

The lineup for next semester, as soon as I get my registration issues ironed out, is as follows:
Advanced Genetics
Advanced Development
Seminar: Lincoln and the Constitution
3rd Rotation, followed by Agonizing Choice of Thesis Lab

I'm still undecided about what to do about, you know, Life. The beginning of this graduate adventure has been a gift, both to my sanity and my heart: about this time last year I truly was --l THIS l-- close to walking out on law school, except that would have made the persistent cloud of despair for the future that much worse. Now, although there is still plenty to fret about, hope and excitement have replaced despair. It's astonishing what a year and a couple changes will do for your spirit. Therefore, provided I don't muck up the other classes this semester, the decision is now whether to continue on the Masters track, or switch into the Ph.D. I used to be pretty sure that I'd never get a Ph.D., that it just didn't seem to fit. But now that I've had time to get to know myself a little better, I see that it might actually fit quite well!* Plus, given the number of classes I'll still need to take and that I'd want to do a laboratory-based MS thesis, a Ph.D. might not be *all* that much more combined time. (What can I say, I have these delusions about doing stuff like getting married and getting my own life before I'm 30...)

Sorry...I keep blabbing on about all that...but it's not an insignificant decision...at any rate, I do have that Biochem exam on Monday, and I've been so tired today that I haven't gotten much done, so here's to a few more hours attempting to study! Followed by a marathon tomorrow!

*Which is the story of my life in a nutshell...I swore up and down I would NEVER, EVER go to an Ivy League school, and look what happened...I thought it would be a good idea to go to law school, and, well, you get the picture...Never let it be said God doesn't have a sense of humor...

Hasta el fin...

This is technically still sort of the last post...for a dose of finals humor, The Unreasonable Man (a UMN Law student I don't actually know) presents the latest in his series of legal pick-up lines: Evidence.

******

It's that time of year again: Finals are upon us, here in the chilly North--actually, it was remarkably warm today. I find myself amazed that the semester could have passed so quickly, and despite the continual state of stress, it's held some good learning experiences, and I shall miss it.

That said, I would dearly, dearly love to skip right over Finals and head back home! (Either that or institute the Princeton Model, to get my Reading Period back, so that I could be Christmassy right now, instead of panicky.) Monday is the Mol final, Friday the Cell final (hopefully my PI will grant me a few days out of lab to study!), after which I cram for the Biochem final next Monday, and fly home next Tuesday. Hence this is likely the last post for a while.

Until then, a Merry pre-Christmas to All!...if you head out to see The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, you mayn't tell me until after the fact because I will be exceedingly jealous...I will try to send emails soon about working on getting together around New Year's/early January...

I leave you with these things of beauty at which to marvel in awe.

Speaking of Christmas...

I certainly hope that when the Stem Cell Institute moves into their new digs in January, they aliquot, er, allocate a few of their megabucks towards a color printer. Doesn't have to be a super sexy one--any colors other than black and white would be simply smashing. I'm just sayin', yo...

7 Down, 3 to Go

Meaning our exams, of course. This morning's was for Mol, covering RNAi, translation initiation regulation, and nonsense mediated decay. 'Twas, however, less difficult than expected (although this doesn't mean that I still couldn't have gotten things wrong), with several multiple choice questions and the rest short answer, most of which were fairly straightforward from the lectures, rather than being data interpretation or extrapolations from lecture concepts and assigned papers. This would be a welcome surprise, EXCEPT that (1) I didn't have time to finish the majority of the design-your-own-siRNA question (probably the most challenging question) and may not have gotten absolutely everything else right; and (2) the lower-than-expected difficulty level means that the margin for error for the test will be extremely small.

Why is this important? Well, the 1SD spread from the mean (the B range) is already fairly tight and high*, therefore a few points on the exam could have a large negative impact. Le sigh...you just can't win...

Aren't you all so nice to let me vent! Off for that staple food, free pizza...

*Due in no small part, I'm sure of the presence of post-1st year grad students. I'd thought it was primarily 1st years and some undergrads, but found out this weekend that there are 2nd year and at least one 3rd year in the course. Oy!!

For the Record

I do solemnly swear that I DID FINALLY see chromosomes today. The GVs made it into the slide wells and under the scope could be seen four honest-to-goodness chromosomes. (Ideally there ought to be many more, but we'll ignore that for now.) To where they vanished during centrifugation and staining, I have no earthly idea. But they were there, hang it all.

By way of explanation, I've been trying since the end of October, following on the heels of the previous rotation student and the PI before that, and this is the farthest I've gotten.

The small victory, it can feel so intoxicating...

Book Bleg

Whilst I sit here reading about nonsense mediated decay (NMD), my thoughts stray to the literary prospects afforded by Christmas break--which will be ushered in by exams all to quickly. Therefore, friends, I am seeking recommendations as to a few books to read during that time, either fiction or nonfiction; I guess the reading will be apportioned along with the eating, walking on the beach, family/puppy time, and--I hope--visiting friends. Anyhoo, I'm hoping to start with The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (oh, and I see there are multiple Popper works listed...should probably read those too...), but I'd love to hear to hear opinions on other works!

A Moon Battery?

Every so often, one feels a bit of neighborly concern...especially when one's neighbors come up with things like this*:

A former Canadian Minister of Defence and Deputy Prime Minister under Pierre Trudeau has joined forces with three Non-governmental organizations to ask the Parliament of Canada to hold public hearings on Exopolitics -- relations with “ETs.”

By “ETs,” Mr. Hellyer and these organizations mean ethical, advanced extraterrestrial civilizations that may now be visiting Earth.

Personally, I'd be a smidge more worried about the *unethical* ones, not to mention how on earth we'd classify them under the Geneva Conventions and such, but whatever hovers your craft.

[...] Mr. Hellyer went on to say, "I'm so concerned about what the consequences might be of starting an intergalactic war, that I just think I had to say something."

Whoa, dude, dude, breathe...there are more than enough nasty sorts here on our own wee planet...and we know they exist, which is an awfully helpful attribute. Plus, we just assumed these other guys are "ethical" and "advanced," no?

Hellyer revealed, "The secrecy involved in all matters pertaining to the Roswell incident was unparalled. The classification was, from the outset, above top secret, so the vast majority of U.S. officials and politicians, let alone a mere allied minister of defence, were never in-the-loop."

Hellyer warned, "The United States military are preparing weapons which could be used against the aliens, and they could get us into an intergalactic war without us ever having any warning. He stated, "The Bush administration has finally agreed to let the military build a forward base on the moon, which will put them in a better position to keep track of the goings and comings of the visitors from space, and to shoot at them, if they so decide."

Now, my friend, I don't like to be a purveyor of monkey wrenches, but 1) I can't help but think that a military base on the moon would be kind of a tricky secret to keep; and 2) even if we assume, arguendo, the administration has made such plans, I'm having a bit of a difficult time imagining the odds of our purportedly ethical extraterrestrial visitors seeing the business end of a supercool weapon are higher than their getting an invitation to Crawford for some BBQ and maybe even getting to hold Dubya's hand.

Hellyer’s speech ended with a standing ovation. He said, "The time has come to lift the veil of secrecy, and let the truth emerge, so there can be a real and informed debate, about one of the most important problems facing our planet today."

And all this time I'd been pondering how to increase individual prosperity and opportunity around the globe; preserve the principles of free speech and limited government for posterity; improve the dismal state of American education; end human trafficking; and stop regimes who oppress those who live within their borders while their leaders amass large sums from international aid monies. I'm a silly girl, what can I say?

On October 20, 2005, the Institute for Cooperation in Space requested Canadian Senator Colin Kenny, Senator, Chair of The Senate Standing Senate Committee on National Security and Defence, “schedule public hearings on the Canadian Exopolitics Initiative, so that witnesses such as the Hon. Paul Hellyer, and Canadian-connected high level military-intelligence, NORAD-connected, scientific, and governmental witnesses facilitated by the Disclosure Project and by the Toronto Exopolitics Symposium can present compelling evidence, testimony, and Public Policy recommendations.”

[...] The Disclosure Project, a U.S.– based organization that has assembled high level military-intelligence witnesses of a possible ET presence, is also one of the organizations seeking Canadian Parliament hearings.

Vancouver-based Institute for Cooperation in Space (ICIS), whose International Director headed a proposed 1977 Extraterrestrial Communication Study for the White House of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, who himself has publicly reported a 1969 Close Encounter of the First Kind with a UFO, filed the original request for Canadian Parliament hearings.

Ahhh, Jimmy...

The proposed Decade of Contact is “a 10-year process of formal, funded public education, scientific research, educational curricula development and implementation, strategic planning, community activity, and public outreach concerning our terrestrial society’s full cultural, political, social, legal, and governmental communication and public interest diplomacy with advanced, ethical Off-Planet cultures now visiting Earth.”

You know, I'm awfully tempted to forward this to the senior scientist who harangued me the other day about lack of federal funding, &c.... (OK, it was a general harangue, but still, I think they forget what they're up against, sometimes.)

Those bits of neighborly good fun aside, I wish our friends in Ottowa well with their project in interplanetary diplomacy. Even if I do think the taxpayers' money could be better spent, I'm sure it's an admirable effort. And if the ethical extraterrestrials do exist, you will have beaten us all to the punch. Naturally, you may refer the unethical, belligerent ones to the then-President Rice. Cheers!

(h/t The Corner, of course)
*Er, Ben, is this just bitter-cold-induced Canadian humour that I don't get?

Thanksgiving Quizzie

You Are The Stuffing

You're complicated and complex, yet all your pieces fit together. People miss you if you're gone - but they're not sure why.

What Part of Thanksgiving Are You?

(Rather fitting, given that Mom's stuffing is definitely the most important part of my family's traditional Thanksgiving foods...followed not infrequently by the pumpkin cheesecake.)

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!!

Another Person Grade-Blogging

No, really, this is newsworthy. Or, more specifically, the fact that I may actually be doing OK in one of my classes is extremely newsworthy. The grades from our latest Mol* exam are up, and I've clocked in around what looks like a firm B on the exam. If I didn't have another exam tomorrow, I'd break out the ice cream and have a little celebration.

However, keeping the proverbial head above water is still a BIG task: the last weeks of the semester will be, starting tomorrow, a massive campaign to maintain the decent Mol standing, eke out something in Biochem, and beat the remaining Cell quizzes and final into bloody submission; all the while still showing up in lab and maybe actually accomplishing something. (Though the latter may be too much to ask for.) Thank Heaven for Thanksgiving...4 entire days all to myself to do nothing but study and offer up prayers that Minnesota will see the light and convert to the Princeton Final Exam Period Model!

Ah well, I still maintain I'm marginally better at this than at being a law student. Except that Paulsen is offering a seminar next semester on Lincoln & the Constitution, and I entered the law lottery solely because I do rather want to take it. Naturally there's a goodly bit of sadism involved: it's a senior writing seminar, which means 5 short papers (they only sound easy) and a final 25 page paper. Who wants to take that at the same time as Genetics and Development? Ooooh, pick me!!! Oh yes, and there's also an Innovation Law course being offered...quick, stop me now!

I guess the other item on the agenda is to generate and execute a million-dollar idea in order to buy The Chauffeur a faster car.


*Strangely, I don't actually know the full course name off the top of my head, although I suspect it might be "Regulation of Molecular Processes."

One of Those Days...

...definitely. Doctor's appointment that could not be rescheduled ended up taking the entire class period for Cell. I'd emailed the prof ahead of time explaining this conflict (which I was unable to resolve) and asking for an excused absence and hadn't heard anything back from him. Still haven't. Did put the signed note in his box, so hope he'll see it and not penalize me (yes, it's back to high school). Got Cell midterm grade back--I was right--it went rather poorly. F^#%. Now must do brilliantly on the remaining quizzes and even more freaking brilliantly on the final to still end up OK. (Must also find time to get through the day-to-day work and start studying for Biochem exam on Monday, on which must also somehow do brilliantly.) This was supposed to be a low-key week with time to study. So far, that hasn't happened.

Then, was doing great in lab until forgot a key reagent which set me back an entire hour and somehow during the very last step ended up with ridiculously low yields. Absolutely no idea how that happened, so I get to do it again tomorrow. As I was cleaning up, checked the voicemail and found a "please call us back" message from my bank, with no details. Now, I'm sure that's probably because of some regulation barring them from mentioning your private information over the phone or something like that, but it's also an outstanding way to give a girl a minor heart attack while she immediately starts imagining every dire scenario which could leave her with an empty vault at Gringotts. Fortunately, it turns out they were just calling to let me know I won a compilation CD. Phew!!

Nevertheless, I just want to finish tonight's work as quickly as possible and hope tomorrow will bring improvements.

At least the first snow of the season is coming down outside...

Scary Moment of the AM

In Biochem lecture on protein folding:

Prof: "And if we think back to P-Chem..."
Cot's inner monologue: *panic* Wait...I was supposed to take P-Chem?!? When did that memo go around? See, Dr. ___, I didn't take it because (a) the title involves "physics" and "chemistry," neither of which I do; therefore (b) I would have promptly failed out of school. And as we all know, I adored our little Gothic country club and didn't really want to depart in ignominy. I mean, physics is very sexy (I guess chemistry is too, kind of), except when I touch it: then it's just a disaster.

Sigh. That's OK, I'm not here to be a biochemist, I'm here to play with Genes 'n Cells & Co. and will make sure not to do any hardcore biochemistry without adult supervision. ...just have to make it through!

But still, scary!

{Evening edit because I had to write on a Mac this morning}

Could You Make That a Chocolate Martini?

You scored as James Bond, Agent 007. James Bond is MI6's best agent, a suave, sophisticated super spy with charm, cunning, and a license's to kill. He doesn't care about rules or regulations and somewhat amoral. He does care about saving humanity though, as well as the beautiful women who fill his world. Bond has expensive tastes, a wide knowledge of many subjects, and his usually armed with a clever gadget and an appropriate one-liner. James Bond, Agent 007 92% Batman, the Dark Knight 88% Neo, the "One" 71% Maximus 71% Lara Croft 71% Captain Jack Sparrow 71% Indiana Jones 67% The Amazing Spider-Man 58% William Wallace 54% El Zorro 50% The Terminator 46% Which Action Hero Would You Be? v. 2.0 created with QuizFarm.com

My payback for this post, I guess...
(h/t TigerHawk)

Your Honor...

It was daunting to be a mere student arguing last year in front of an experienced litigator who took seriously his duty to tear our arguments apart. It would be doubly so to argue before a federal appeals court judge (at least for Yours Truly, who cringes at the thought of the whole courtroom thing*). So one can't help but grin and feel for these Wake Forest students who will be facing...that's right, the new Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. One wonders if this will prove to be an effective method for reducing the probability the poor mock judges will be subjected to ridiculous arguments by nervous students shaking in their heels (or tie). H/T The Corner.


*Hence the Best Brief finalist and not Best Oralist!

Further Up and Further In

My current rotation PI is fantastic: he kindly agreed to let me have today off from lab to study! This is rather generous indeed. I didn't start studying quite as early as I'd intended today, but doing OK so far, I think--I hope! Covering RNA stuff right now (aka rekindling the old love affair)...devilishly complex. Strangely enough, I'm studying in the law library. *scary music* Or mayhap not so strange: I'm pretty sure I wrote more than one Con Law or Civ Lib paper down in dear old Fine.

Here's the really funny thing that keeps percolating among the gray cells: as I work in the lab, it feels like the right thing to be doing. All right, not 24/7, mind you, but right on the whole. A little explanation is in order: since my very first visit to campus, with a stop at LTL, I was always fairly certain I wanted to be MOL. (This was reinforced by the unfortunate realizations during high school that things like physics, engineer, and math genius didn't quite seem to be in the cards.) And apart from a momentary flirtation with the idea of Comp Lit, everything was pretty straightforward. But I was always absolutely certain the lab rat life wasn't the way to go. Fortunately my advisor coaxed me into giving it a try; the rest of the story is evident. Now, the more I see and the more I learn, I realize that the components of an organism might be tiny, but the functional "world" they organize is immense. It's not enough to know that these things exist: I want to be a part of the search for understanding.

So, what do you think, friends? How does "Dr. Cot" sound? Or is this just temporary insanity...


...In other completely unrelated happenings, I am now signed up for broomball! (Minneapolis rec league)

A Cautionary Tale

We're on notice, folks: should we ever be appointed to a high office, our theses may also see the light of day. I'm only twenty-odd pages in thus far, but it's actually pretty interesting--interesting if you have a passing interest in comparative constitutionalism and governmental structures and the like, anyway.

Poor little verbs

Have my ears become more sensitive of late or is a proportion of native English-speaker biologists incapable of using correct verb tenses? Sends shivers down the spine, this does. (Er, in a bad way, as opposed to the Belgian chocolate my new PI brought back which induces good shivers.) I confess my restraints broke and I reflexively corrected someone today. It simply could not be helped; there was no other way to alleviate the agony of the poor, innocent verb!

Because maltreatment of verbs by biologists in Minneapolis is clearly news...

Alito!

Ben, you must be writing away diligently whilst disconnected from the Internet, because you've nary a peep yet...

There's little or no substantive commentary I can offer--plenty of others already have and will continue to do so--, but FWIW, Alito's nomination is a welcome, nay, outstanding, rebound from the Miers Debacle: the President's temporary loss of sense seems to have come swiftly to an end and he has continued in the vein of his previous appointments. <Peanut Gallery: Alleluia! Now, how about spending issues?> While almost everyone will have had his favorite Fantasy Nominee, I hope we can all agree that today's nomination of a respected practitioner and jurist indicates the White House's recognition of 1) the depth of the candidate pool, and 2) the importance and seriousness of the position of Supreme Court Justice. Bravo. (h/t TigerHawk)

I almost* wish I were back in law school at the moment, just to watch the hissing and spitting and frothing at the mouth during one of the great American blood sports, judicial confirmation hearings. Nevertheless, I'm mercifully waking up to cells instead and the complex world of signalling waits for no woman.

*take that with a salty ice cube or two...

You Might Be Obsessed When...

All I wanted was a Gryffindor Quidditch bumper sticker...and then I started thinking: have I completely missed something or does Wizarding Britain have only one branch of government? (In which case it wouldn't be a branch, now would it.) Seriously. Unless there is more than has been mentioned, the only recognizable arm of government I can recall is the Ministry of Magic, which appears to be an Executive of sorts plus a bureaucracy with legislative, regulatory, and judicial functions. I'm not even sure of the legislative powers bit, as most of what we see are variious types of regulations and agency/departmental rule-making. Wouldn't this type of organization create an expansive, essentially regulatory "state"? (Certainly seems to, anyway.) I find it all the more surprising that this state of affairs should occur in Britain, home of the Magna Carta, Parliament, etc.: no matter how separate a population, I would have expected more aspects of representative government to be present. Hmmm. Most peculiar. Hmmm...this could definitely have contributed to the mishandling of the pre-war/Vold War II crisis.

Right-o, off to bed to dream about electron pushing.

But before I do...for all the violinists out there: MPR just featured Itzhak Perlman playing the Seitz #2 Concerto. Brings back the memories, doesn't it :) The disc is Concertos From My Childhood; I've played the Accolay, Seitz 2, and Viotti, but neither de Beriot or Reiding.

Excellent Adventures in Science, cont'd.

Your Very Own Cuddly Microbe

To the best of my knowledge, it's been years since I've asked for anything for Christmas, but this year I may have to make an exception. May I present to you...ta-daaa... Giant Microbes! Another incredibly cool link that was pointed out to me a few days ago is the KEGG Pathway Database, which was such an exciting find that I ventured to call it "hot" (c-hot, even). To which The Chauffeur replied that my view of "hot" is clearly not normal. Not much I can do about that, I'm afraid!

In the same vein, it's been so good to be back (despite the stress and not having enough time to actually do all the studying work that needs to be done), that I've started to knock around the idea of switching from the M.S. track to the Ph.D. track...nothing definite right now, though.

My Fantasy Pick

Yes, I'm procrastinating whilst supposed to be drafting a presentation for Thursday (draft due tomorrow) and puzzling over metabolic mechanisms, but...PowerLine informs us that Michael Stokes Paulsen and John Yoo have an op-ed in the LA Times on how GOP senators ought to handle the Miers confirmation hearings.

Professor Paulsen, incidentally, is probably the best law professor* I've had so far (in a tie with Professor Matheson) and one of my all-time favorite professors in general, up there with Robbie George (the incomparable, and the source of my now-compulsive use of parentheticals**), Hadley Arkes, Lynn Enquist, William Jordan, and Theodore Ziolkowski.

Sadly, I did not have him for Con Law, but was able to take "War, National Security, and the Constitution" with him last Fall. He was intending to write a book on the subject, although I have no idea whether that project is still underway. I would recommend perusing his articles, even if the mere idea of reading law articles lulls you to sleep. Paulsen is actually on my SCOTUS Fantasy Short List (although his also holding a Divinity degree likely disqualifies him--so much for no religious tests...). The benefits of such an appointment would include, but not be limited to:

- a sharp, sophisticated legal mind willing to consider somewhat unorthodox positions in "sacred" areas (not attributes all Justices always display)
- questions from the bench that could push both counsel down their slippery slopes (I realize this is merely being a good jurist, but I just don't get the vibe that Miers would really do that)
- an interesting balance of both conservative and libertarian instincts
- age: he would be on the Court forever
- a real understanding of the principle Robbie George tried to impart to us in his classes: "consitutionalism and policy are not the same thing." Actually, he said it much better than that, but he's the brilliant and well-spoken one
- thoughtful opinions handed down on Starbucks napkins (perhaps up to three or four napkins, but rarely more than that)


*I should note, in case any Powers That Be of Mondale Hall ever stumble across this humble public diary of unsolicited opinion, that this reflects more the disconnect between myself and law school than it does on the actual school. My IP professor was also good, and our Civ Pro prof, Adam Samaha who unfortunately left for the U of C, was outstanding. That said, I will never actually get excited about law school; a highly limited assortment of legal subjects, maybe possibly perhaps.

** The rough guide to reading George: 1) Read it twice, 2) Check between the parentheses, the key points might well be hiding there... :)

A "Skewed Sense of Priorities"?

I would hope that this news item (reprinted in full below) would be a significant nail in the coffin of UN worship. I am not, however, holding my breath. You see, the Telegraph reports that the UN has flown Robert Mugabe, yes, that Mugabe, to Rome to address a conference on...world hunger!

A "skewed sense of priorities"? Perhaps if one were actively seeking the "Understatement of the Year" award.

Mugabe to speak at hunger debate as he defies EU travel ban

President Robert Mugabe flew to Rome in defiance of a European Union travel ban after the United Nations caused outrage by inviting him to address a conference on world hunger today.
Zimbabwe, once the bread basket of southern Africa and a major exporter of food, now depends on western aid to avoid starvation.

Four million Zimbabweans, a third of the population, need supplies from the World Food Programme.

Critics of the Harare regime are appalled that the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), whose mission statement is "helping to build a world without hunger", invited Mr Mugabe to address a conference in Rome marking its 60th anniversary.

Tony Hall, the US ambassador to the UN food organisations in Rome, said: "My government is excited about the FAO event which is organised to remind people about hunger.

"However my feeling is we shouldn't be inviting someone who has absolutely turned his back on the poor in his own country. He has made a mockery about the hungry and everyone should be upset about this."

Mr Hall said that since 2002 the US had donated almost $300 million [£169 million] in food aid to Zimbabwe.

He visited the country when the regime was engaged in bulldozing large areas of the poorest black townships.

This campaign, personally ordered by Mr Mugabe, destroyed the homes or livelihoods of 700,000 people and harmed another 2.4 million, according to a UN report.

A spokesman for the Foreign Office said: "Going to Rome to celebrate World Food Day whilst millions of ordinary Zimbabweans face food shortages as a direct result of his flawed policies simply emphasise Mugabe's skewed sense of priorities."

Zimbabwe's transformation from self-sufficiency to dependency coincided with Mr Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms.

He blames food shortages on drought. But critics say hunger is the direct and predictable result of his policies.

Tendai Biti, from the leadership of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change, also criticised the UN invitation.

"It's a tragedy," he said. "Inviting Mugabe sends exactly the wrong signal. He has completely destroyed the economic and agricultural fabric of this country.

"The UN shouldn't play ping-pong with the suffering of the Zimbabwean people." An FAO spokesman said that as a member "in good standing" with the agency Mr Mugabe was invited to attend.

"The UN does things sometimes," said Mr Hall. "They roll over backwards to try to be fair but someone like this really makes a mockery of what we are about."

Mugabe, a Roman Catholic, last travelled to Rome for Pope John Paul II's funeral when he embarrassed the Prince of Wales, reaching across to shake the royal hand during the service.

Mr Mugabe accepted the FAO's invitation on Friday and will speak at the organisation's headquarters.

He seizes any opportunity to visit the western world and defy a travel ban imposed on him by the EU.

This measure, introduced in 2002, supposedly prevents Mr Mugabe and 94 other members of his regime from visiting any member state. A similar ban is in force in America.

Yet Mr Mugabe repeatedly exploits a significant loophole.
The travel ban does not apply to UN functions because these are held to be above the jurisdiction of any individual state. So Mr Mugabe has frequently visited New York to address UN summits.

He uses these occasions to denounce his western critics and blame them for Zimbabwe's food shortage.

In June, Zimbabwe's state press blamed Britain for Africa's dry weather and claimed that Tony Blair was using "chemical weapons" to cause droughts and famines across the continent.

Today he can be expected to seize the opportunity to make another attack on the Prime Minister and the "western imperialists" who are, apparently, obsessed with overthrowing his bankrupt regime.


And this is the organization that I'm supposed to want to take over the internet, the US, and the Constitution? Right, I'm sure Kim Jong Il & Co. will give simply smashing conferences on free speech and human rights.

Oh, James...

This if true, would be a bit of a blow to the Bond persona:

Not only is the new 007 to be kept away from the cigarettes, but one reader tells me, there’s this:

“From what I've seen of the early press releases he cannot hold a gun very well, Mr. Stuttaford (the cup and saucer 2-handed grip is taught to shooters with very small hands, and even males with short fingers refuse to employ it because of the "stigma" of shooting like a girl)…”

James Bond, effeminate? James Bond, small-handed?

SMERSH is laughing.

Ouch, baby, very ouch... Being a medium-sized female with not overly large paws, I do in fact shoot two-handed, whereas Dad & the Little Bro shoot with one. Dad's always encouraged me to try a single-handed grip, but no luck so far. I wasn't aware there was a "shooting like a girl" issue, as I've always thought this was due in large part to arm strength: my complete lack thereof allows the muzzle to wander and wobble all over the place without the stabilization of both arms. (I'd have to check, but I think competitive women may shoot with one also. Correct me if I'm wrong.) Maybe James just needs to put down the martinis for a bit, leave the ladies to their own devices, and hit the gym.


Based on the couple of Bond films I've seen and the one or two I've read, I still maintain they're a bit on the ridiculous side. The invisibility cloak car in the last one, though, was supremely cool. However, The Chauffeur really wants to see Casino Royale, so maybe I'll be a good sport and see it too.

"A remarkable man melds faith and reason"

The STrib says something nice...
From the rest of the article, "remarkable" would seem to be something of an understatement:

...Aris is a scientist of dazzling brilliance -- a chemical engineer whose mathematical models revolutionized his field -- and a deeply devout Christian. From 1958 to 1996, when he retired, he was one of the University of Minnesota's brightest stars, a primary reason that its chemical engineering graduate program is ranked No. 1 in the nation by the National Research Council.

"Aris thought in a dimension that none of us ordinary folks were capable of," says colleague Lanny Schmidt, himself an eminent scientist. A mathematical wizard, Aris went straight into industry at 16 after graduating from high school in his home country of England. He never formally attended college -- getting his degree in mathematics with highest honors by correspondence -- and wrote his Ph.D. thesis in six weeks. As a young man, his groundbreaking papers made waves internationally. [Dios mio! -Ed.]

Remarkably, Aris held a joint appointment at the university in the Department of Classics and Near Eastern Studies. An avid lover of medieval manuscripts, he scoured French and Italian monasteries for his work on Latin scripts. Aris is a prolific poet, author of 16 books and author or coauthor of 300 technical papers.


Right, then, going to go meekly back to hydrolysis now....

Ah, Vanity

I've been hesitant to put this up, nor have I announced it widely, but since the print version will be out in a day or two, I might as well. Moreover, a girl's first publication opportunity is bound to be exciting--and an affirmation that in some very small way (lots of PCR, lots of gels) I've been fortunate enough to have helped in making a contribution to science, to understanding how the world works.