When The Science Hits The Fan - Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize for medicine was announced yesterday. It was awarded to 3 Americans, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak. They collectively discovered the mechanism that chromosomes use to preserve themselves while they undergo countless rounds of cell division. They found that a stretch of DNA at the ends of the chromosomes (called telomeres) protect the chromosomes from unraveling kind of like the plastic ends of shoelaces protect them from becoming frayed (those plastic ends are called aglets by the way).

When I heard who won this year's pirze, I was happy for a couple reasons. First, it's 3 Americans - cheesy I know but I am still a patriot at heart even when the Olympics aren't going on. Secondly, 2 women were awarded the prize - maybe even more cheesy, but there is still some disparity between male and female scientists even today although it's getting better. Thirdly, Carol Greider was a graduate student in Elizabeth Blackburn's lab. This is cool because grad students are usually the workhorses of the lab and get little recognition for their contributions (however, this was not the case in the lab that I did my graduate work). I think it's awesome that someone's grad school work could potentially lead to the Nobel Prize.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

On Saturday, Rob, Harper, Katie, and I went to the pumpkin patch. It was an absolutely beautiful day for pumpkin picking and picture taking. The pumpkin picking went great. We got several perfectly shaped pumpkins. The picture taking, on the other hand, was much more challenging this year. Last year, I could just sit Harper down and she would look at the camera and smile. I would say that in 90% of the pictures I took this year, her head was turned or if she was looking at the camera, she was not smiling. These next 3 pictures are perfect examples:

I had slightly better luck once we got the pumpkins home:

While I didn't get as many good pictures as I would have liked, we all had a good time picking out pumpkins. I think the highlight of the outing for Harper was helping Rob push the wheelbarrow (there was much crying and gnashing of teeth when she found out that we couldn't take it home). All in all it was a successful trip. Yay Fall!

One More Day

We're going to the pumpkin patch tomorrow! I can't wait. I've been excited all week. We're going to the same one that we went to last year. When I look back at these pictures, I'm amazed at how my little baby has turned into a little girl. Look for new pumpkin pictures next week!

Batty

I can't believe it's October already. Where does the time go? In honor of all thing fall, I'd like to share some really cool pictures with you. They are of developing fruit bat embryos. Here's a link to the paper they were originally published in. The numbers along the left side of the picture represent developmental stages (12 being an early stage, 24 being a later stage). Check out how their little hands develop into wings. Developmental biology is cool.

Negative Reinforcement

The other day, I painted Harper's toenails pink. She says that they're blue. We're working on that...

Everything

This stupid video chokes me up every time I watch it. I hate it when things predictably choke me up - hence the title stupid video. I actually secretly love this video. I think it gets to me because it makes me think of all of the horrible stuff Harper may encounter in her life. Thank goodness she has a Father who loves her even more than I do. Please watch this video. I know it's over 5 mins long, but it is totally worth it.

When The Science Hits The Fan - Vampire Lamp

I read this story the other day and thought it was very interesting. I was always under the impression that the way to get people to care about something is to show them how it impacts their wallet. But, I think this guy may be on to something. Basically, a British designer named Mike Thompson has developed a lamp that runs on blood. It's a single-use device that requires the addition of blood to initiate a chemical reaction in order to light up. Taken from Thompson's website :

The average American consumes 3383kwh of energy per year. That’s equivalent to leaving the light on in 4 rooms for a whole year. The simple flick of a switch allows us to power appliances and gadgets 24/7 without a thought to where it comes from and the cost to the environment.

For the lamp to work one breaks the top off, dissolves the tablet, and uses their own blood to power a simple light. By creating a lamp that can only be used once, the user must consider when light is needed the most, forcing them to rethink how wasteful they are with energy, and how precious it is.

I realize that this is a little extreme but, the thought process is interesting. How do you think we can get people to be more conscious of personal energy consumption? How do you and your family conserve energy?