Really, the children are our future? In that case, how about checking out this charity.

If the children are our future, perhaps we should invest in them. Just a thought :) Not only are they adorable balls of energy and constantly keep the adult on their toes, but if they were to disappear, many of the classic games like hide & seek, freeze-tag, duck-duck-goose, and four-square, would disappear too.  I mean a world without duck-duck-goose is a world I don't want to know. 

So if you can find a good charity that you like (you can check Google for example), please do what you can, there are lot of sick children that need your help. 

One such charity is CureSearch for Children's Cancer.  It is the goal of this non-profit charity to increase advocacy about childhood cancers, while also raising funds for research.  Check them out!  Also, checkout the site for the CureSearch Walk, and see if there are any charitable walks in your area.    

So does beer age like a fine wine? Let's find out!

Seriously does it?

I really don't know

I'm not much of a drinker of beer or wine.  I do love ciders, but that is beyond the point.  Will age really make a beer taste better?  Now we may get to find out.  CNN has reported recently that "World's 'oldest beer' found in shipwreck". 


I always had a soft spot for shipwrecks, hidden treasure, and whatever else that we have found that has given us a glimpse into our history, but now we can get drunk too!

So whose going to be the first to try it?

;)

The ever-changing world...Encourage science

With the ever changing world, and the ever-changing job market, science and technology are the wave of the future. The United States as once the leader in technology and scientific discoveries has fallen behind the much of the world. Our education system is a joke. Our schools have cared more about standardized tests; the image, the masquerade of success, more than they have actually cared about the students.

With the ever-changing world, we too must adapt. Often times we do what we must to protect the children of our future, but protection is not enough, we also must train them, to show them the way; the way to live successfully and honorably. We should them the way to live for something bigger than themselves, and to bring about a future that we all shall be proud. Not only for the better of our neighborhoods, our cities, even our country, but the world as a whole.

While science isn’t the only answer, it is an answer. It can be a great place for many to strive to do their part for the betterment of humanity. Please encourage our kids, and even our adults, for that matter, to approach a career in the sciences. Talk with local schools, donate money to science programs, tutor students, and help with a science fair. Whatever, it is, together we can cure disease, stop world hunger, and reach for the stars.

Obama-Biden or McCain-Palin. Choose Wisely

I don't really care who you vote for, only that people actually take a strong look at their values and not listen to the smear campaigns that are being played now. Read closely their stances on issues and choose from your heart on what is important to you. Also please, no matter what side you vote on, do not vote from a side of fear or of prejudice. Do not vote for Palin just because she's a woman, do not vote for Obama because he's half black, and do not vote for McCain just because he's white. But don't choose not to vote for them for these reasons either. Neither sex nor skin color should ever matter, and if does, then shame on you.

Personally, I'm siding with the Obama campaign. Do I think he's a perfect candidate? Hardly. But who is? For me, I'm willing to take the risk, on someone a little untested in hopes that things might change for the better. I'd rather take the risk, and then have things go on as they have. This is not a jab at McCain or Palin, I'm sure they have their validity as well; they simply are not my choice. In Palin's case, I have a real hard time trusting anyone who even would propose the idea of banning or censoring a novel. This hardly sounds like a very American act, nor does it even sound like a conservative approach to small government act. Family values are important, but government imposed family values are not. Patriotism is good, government forced patriotism is not. Personally, I don't like the Pledge of Allegiance, and it has nothing to with the phrase, one nation under God. I personally like the phrase; I just don't like the pledge. To me, constantly saying assurances of your allegiance and love of a country shouldn't be a requirement of patriotism. Patriotism is a sign of actions and feelings, not words. Words are needed to assure other people of your patriotism and there of yours. However, just like any relationship, trust must be absolute and personally, I feel that people who scream about anti-patriotism of people who don't share their own views, really are just saying that they themselves don't have confidence in America. Well, my America is confident. I love her and she loves me. We get each other, we just don't need to tell it to each other every moment of every day. Sometimes, I feel I'm more conservative than the conservatives. How is right for the Federal government to enter the homes of private citizens and tell them how to live their lives (At least this is what is often preached on the news and in the issues).

But don't get me wrong liberals are just as bad, telling people way to much how to live their lives. In their idealism, they often do as much damage as they do well. I'm choosing Obama for two reasons, the smallest of which, is that he's a different approach. I think change can be a good thing, especially in these tumultuous times. It's a gamble I admit, but it’s just as much of a gamble not voting for him. Me, I will always vote for hope.

The main reason, however, is i need to get paid. In the last eight years, science funding has been cut severely and I do not trust the conservatives to not keep cutting science funding. I also don't like politicians telling me how to do my job. I don't think anyone would like someone preaching how they should do their job (within reason of course, there are regulations to keep people honest and safe, but still...). Without this funding, science has been hurt, innovative research has all but stalled, and approaches to biomedical research are limited. If we go forward, science needs funding. Of course this brings up the idea of private funding, but as of now, this is rather few and far between, and has its own issues. As a researcher in biomedical therapies, I feel that my job may one day bring new treatments against cancer and other diseases, but if the government continues to ignore this important field, as well as other science fields, our country, our health, and our world will severely be crippled.

Please vote and choose wisely and understand your reasoning, and make science funding, no matter who is elected, a top priority. That is all I ask. Thank you

Impossibility--a cynical fad

A new animal discovered? This is pretty cool. It’s kind of cute too. You can see the pic and read the story here. This just again show us that every time we, as humans and scientists, begin to think we’ve seen it all, the universe, the world, nature, shows us otherwise. It is a good thing to remember, especially for the biomedical sciences. As much as we think we know, it doesn’t come close what actually is. Life and the genome are very complex. When attempting to find cures for cancer or any disease for that matter it is common for people to get trapped into their own paradigms, unwilling to rock the boat, even on their own discovery. Nothing is as simple as people want it to be. The weirdest, wackiest theory may not always be correct, but rarely is completely wrong either. Think out of the box, even if people laugh at you. My greatest discoveries in life and in the lab have been when I blaze my own path, rather than follow one that is always set and easy to tread. True sometimes I get lost, sometimes I fall and skin my knees, and I think more than once I was chased by mountain lion, but my victories and discoveries in life and the laboratory, far outweigh any failure. It definitely beats doing something that everyone else has done, or living to someone else's expectations rather than my own.

Bill gates once said “640k is all that we will ever need.” How wrong he was. Everyone laughs at that this obviously misguided prediction, but what is funny is that many people say that about the sciences as well. Every couple of years someone comes out and says that we know everything that we could possibly know. There could be no knew discoveries. Even a lot of scientist will claim this as well. But in reality, we will never know everything, there are always exceptions to the rule, things change, paradigms shift, and new discoveries are always made. Impossibility is simply a fad of cynicism.

Next, I will go into microRNA. A relatively new discovery that shows just how complicated our DNA is, and may provide a means for advanced screening of cancer and other diseases, as well as possibly a treatment option in the future (after far more research is done). Thanks and peace out.