Reading Genetics Journals Is Hard

Obviously nobody should expect a 2nd year undergraduate genetics student who's barely finished his pre-major requirements to be able to read genetics journal with near the amount of proficiency of somebody who's actually in the field. I did think I could handle it though. So I sat down today and looked up some of the more popular journals in genetics (Genetics, American Journal of Human Genetics, Nature) and tried to look for some interesting articles to acquaint myself with.

I found that, with just the basic amount of knowledge gleaned through introductory courses and general interest on the side, that I basically had no idea what I was reading. I'm not sure if this speaks to any inadequacies in the teaching environment in today's undergraduate colleges, or whether I'm just not prepared to be reading these with any proficiency yet. I suspect it might be both.

What I did manage to understand was fairly interesting, and was found in the December issue of Genetics. The article was about population bottlenecking when a single HIV virus is introduced to a new host through sexual contact, and how it is contributed to by an initially strong CD8+ helper T Cell response that strongly selects for those HIV viruses that exhibit escape mutations in their antibody proteins called epitopes resulting in less Helper T Cell fixation to infected cells after an initially strong response.

I'm not sure how novel this research is, how important it is at this point in time, or even if I understood it correctly (perhaps one of my readers can tell me I'm horrendously wrong). But despite the fact that I feel like a 8 year old reading Descartes when I read these journals I still get pretty excited when (I think) I understand what I'm reading. It makes me excited for a future career publishing and reading these every day.

But really, somebody tell me if what I read means what I think it does.

P.S. Previous readers will note that I've changed the name of this blog to Oh. My. Genes. instead of Oh. My. Geek., this is because as I further my schooling I find that my interest in technology is waning and I read more about biology than I do tech and social media and the like. Cheers.

[Science] Antimatter! Hurray!

A closeup of the Magnetic Jar used in the CERN experiment
N. MADSEN, ALPHA/SWANSEA via Nature

In the top story for today from Popular Science Magazine, CERN physicists have announced that they've trapped antimatter, specifically anti-hydrogen, for a whopping 17 minutes; a feat that they previously were only able to accomplish for a few hundred milliseconds.

This is a great leap forward for the study of antimatter, which could potentially be the greatest producer of energy in the universe due to its ability to create energy from matter at a 100% conversion rate, a rate about 100 times stronger than a normal hydrogen bomb.

Anti-hydrogen, when coming into contact with hydrogen, completely annihilates the former, producing a huge amount of energy in the process. This exact interaction is what makes antimatter so difficult to store or produce, as any contact with the gases naturally present in the air would cause the antimatter to destroy both itself and the gases it came into contact with. Scientists got around this problem by, obviously, trapping the antimatter in a vacuum, as well as a magnetic field.

Scientists still don't know much about antimatter, they don't even know how gravity affects it. Which makes the success of this experiment all the more valuable and exciting. We're still lightyears away from producing large quantities of antimatter to power engines or the like, but this is a giant step in the right direction! BE EXCITED. I AM.

Why I Comment on Everything I see on the Internet

As a self proclaimed geek it's important that I be up to date on all of the internet happenings. Naturally I do this by browsing Reddit and Twitter, as well as news aggregates like Yahoo! and Google News.

Never 4chan though, 4chan forums are the bowels of the internet. We never go there. EVER. In fact, here's a handy infographic of the life of an internet meme/picture/what have you. (courtesy of Tosh.0)

I usually begin my troll---er I mean purveying at around step 2: Reddit.

Naturally being such a purveyor and connoisseur of internet memes I like to express my opinion on the content I happen to be looking at, and I leave a lot of comments. However not everybody likes to leave comments, or not everybody cares enough to leave a comment, and this is a terrible, horrible thing. Everybody should leave comments, even if those comments are just poorly spelled half-sentences that make no sense to anybody but the poster. After all, it's the thought that counts right?

Why do I comment though? And why should other people comment? Why it's simple Mr. Hypothetical internet questioner! I enjoy making my opinion known. I have a right, nay a duty to make sure that every single person who reads an article or watches a video knows my opinion. This duty extends to everybody who uses the internet too, I should think.

Sometimes it's not even my opinion! Sometimes I just try and think of the most offensive thing to say to the crowd that happens to read this article. Preferably I choose to enter this offensive little morsel in ALL CAPS FOR MAXIMUM OFFENSIVENESS. I ALSO INSURT AS MENY SPELING ERORS AS I CAN, BECUS THAT MAKS IT MORE PERSONL N SHIT. SUMTIM3S R3V3R71NG TO CH47 5P3AK 1S B3S7. 

Hi, I'm a troll. (Only on weekends though)

No but seriously, why do people comment on the internet so vehemently? It's dumb. Just stop. kthx.

"This is Where Geeks Turn Into Rockstars..."

"...and that's the game changer." 

Is being a nerd cool now? Well this is news to me but Nancy Conrad, wife of late astronaut Peter Conrad, and founder of the Conrad Foundation which (go figure) hosts the Conrad Awards, seems to think that it's becoming this way.

The Conrad Awards, awards given to those students who complete the program, are a way for educators and students to get involved in solving tangible and real problems in today's society. Combining competition, fun, and good old fashioned nerdyness, this 3 year old program has quickly become an unintentional international project.

Founded on the ideals of Education, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, the program that Conrad and her team has come up with is based on the touching tale of her husband's rise from troubled child to Astronaut extraordinaire. 

Watch the video to found out more, and visit the Conrad Foundation's website for more information on how to get involved. I wish I was this enthusiastic about science when I was younger, or at least more involved.

[Cool Stuff] Airbnb? Why haven't I heard of this before?!

Airbnb, probably the best website ever.

I have no idea how old this website is, but it seems to be very popular, there are listings for my podunk little home town of Chico, CA.

Everybody knows what couch-surfing is right? You go and stay in a stranger's house and sleep on their couch, sometimes in exchange for doing a few chores or just because the person likes the company. Well this site offers users a more structured way of finding people to couch surf on (that sounds dirty), and it allows the renters to charge a (usually) small fee in exchange for their precious house/apartment space. Airbnb even offers to send a professional photographer to your apartment to take pictures for your room/couch/whatever you're renting, completely free of charge! Now that's service!

Airbnb quite possibly might be one of the coolest things that I've ever found on the internet to this date, besides doodoocaca. It's a simple idea that holds a lot of value for both the renter and the tenant, and it opens up the world of couch surfing to a bigger group of people than would normally be interested in this sort of thing.

If I didn't live in a dorm with no way of renting out my space then I would be extremely excited to try my hand at this. Obviously with the lower rates you have to charge this can't replace your normal job or whatever, or maybe it can I don't know your life. Airbnb could probably be one of the greatest sources of supplemental income ever. Except maybe owning a bunch of candy machines, but that's hard to get started...

All I know is that as soon as I'm done with college and I have a place of my own, if this website is still alive and kicking I will most definitely come back and be the biggest and bestest home/hotel/bnb in my city. I'm so excited.

[Gaming] Play Station Network/Qriocity Services Down

Photo From NYTimes Blog

An external intrusion on our system has affected our PlayStation Network and Qriocity services. In order to conduct a thorough investigation and to verify the smooth and secure operation of our network services going forward, we turned off PlayStation Network & Qriocity services on the evening of Wednesday, April 20th. Providing quality entertainment services to our customers and partners is our utmost priority. We are doing all we can to resolve this situation quickly, and we once again thank you for your patience. We will continue to update you promptly as we have additional information to share.

 This short post is the only solace that PS3 gamers unable to access the Play Station Network got on Friday. At least Sony KNEW about the problem and they were trying to fix it.

It's interesting to note that this attack on the Sony network comes days after this story came out concerning the lawsuit against George Hotz and he hacked the PS3 hardware and programming. Obviously I am absolutely not saying that Hotz had anything to do with it, and he probably didn't.

But it is possible and it shouldn't be ruled out that those who support him and PS3 hacking in general have made this attack to show their support, or just stick it to the man.

In any case, thousands (millions?) of players being unable to access the PS3 network because of this attack is kind of a large price to pay just to stick it to the man.

Some of the gamers unable to log on to the PS network might actually resort to going outside, or doing homework, or actually doing their jobs (!!) and that would just be awful.

[Video] Russell Brand Is the Most Eloquent Person Ever.

"Blimey"

Jeremy Vine ends his interview with Russell Brand on the BBC show Newsnight with an appropriate exclamation. Especially considering that his interview with Brand was probably one of the most existential and well thought out, and yet completely genuine interviews I have ever witnessed coming from a celebrity of Brand's caliber.

Absolutely nowhere in this video did Brand exhibit any of the tell-tale insincerity and hubris that we usually find in the upper echelons of the popular elite. And although an American audience might be slightly confused around the middle of the video, as they begin talking about an offensive message that Brand left on Andrew Sachs' answering machine that got him in hot water with some BBC news outlets. Nonetheless this interview can be thoroughly enjoyed even by somebody who knows next to nothing about Russell Brand or British popular culture. I suggest giving it a watch, you might learn something.