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)