Azileretsis

greek

Who in their right mind would choose to keep their money right now in Greek banks? The rumors of bank runs are a self-fulfilling prophecy if they aren't halted by reassurances from a higher power, in this case, EU and the ECB. The question is how risky is this to the EU. It is like watching two people play chicken. Will Greeks understand they can either live in the pain of austerity or watch the value of their currency and country continue to fall? Has ECB played its last hand?

misuse

Interesting discussion on biosafety protocols on a national level. I'm not as optimistic as the hosts are about the control or use of this knowledge. The truth is that what we learned from the recent Internet history is that knowledge is very powerful and becomes uncontrollable. J. C. R. Licklider and Robert Taylor couldn't think that their ideas would bring about social networks and revolutionizing how economy is done. They also couldn't have thought that this network supports terrorist groups or have created the largest database for child pornography that the world has ever seen. That trends like thinspo now exist, if not started, at least propagated by what they envisioned.

After this incident, I am less optimistic about the biosafety measures in United States. The truth is open knowledge also means acknowledging that there are people out there who believe that open means allowed and possible.

Interesting look at historical cohorts in US demographics.

The ones who are bearish here probably don't understand what's going on with the euro. Sigh. Will Greece fall again? Did you know about the Battle of Greece?

I hate NCBI in the afternoons. It's like watching paint peel. Searches take forever....

sick

If I didn't have norovirus this week, I can now imagine what it feels like. Basically, you are huddled on the ground, pleading for the pink stuff. I currently have very antagonistic feelings to all foods.

studies

Who else is reading this article hoping not to see their area of study? From Graduate School to Welfare

economy

This The Economist blog argues that the positives of China's economy are understated but its argument relies on the lack of transparency of the information. But it is the lack of transparency and the idea of corruption that would negatively impact the economy. Where is the tipping point here?

industry

Revolutions are only known by the general population after it has happened. Talk of a third industrial revolution.

Aren't people aware that not all web servers are the same? I've come across another site in two days that crashed because of press.

a man

I will remember Chuck Colson as the man who was a Christian who cared enough about prisoners to try to make a difference. I've heard so many stories of prisoners whose lives were changed from Prison Fellowship and whose children were impacted by AngelTree. So, I think it's a matter of perspective when you look over a man's life. I think this man will not be found wanting.

disease

I love this article about diseased fish in the gulf.

Last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration advised fishermen to throw suspicious-looking fish back, and fishermen say they have been doing that. - 2 Years Later, Fish Sick Near BP's Oil Spill

Curious to know if there are any viral diseases can be detected.

FDA's latest release say seafood is safe.

kickstart

Wow, yet another means for people to keep a track on you and tell you what to do. Has anyone bothered to noticed the watch only has a battery life of seven days?

Next, they'll just install a microchip w/ a speaker inside your head for all your nagging needs.

News from the NSF funding front.

Yet another article of pros and cons of grad school.

I would like a little more science and less "other".

Can you imagine peering out of your airplane and seeing the space shuttle Discovery? That Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just got a little more interesting.

cool

Cool facts about viruses:

Over 1016 human immunodeficiency virus genomes are produced daily on the entire planet. As a consequence, thousands of viral mutants arise by chance every day that are resistant to every combination of antiviral compounds in use or in development.

The HIV-1 genome, which is about 10,000 nucleotides long, can exist as 10^6020 different sequences. To put this number in perspective, there are 10^11 stars in the Milky Way galaxy and 10^80 protons in the universe. - Cool Facts about Viruses

reflection

Reflecting on my role as a student representative, I've realized two things: 1) it is easy to adapt to the establishment 2) people in establishment have a hard time understanding the need for diversity. Listening to a person talk today, I realized how easy it has been to be compliant. Even as I see the speck in another's eye, I forget about the plank in mine. The desire to please rather than to speak up can be greater. Second, certain groups may have a hard time seeing the incentives in diversity. People can be blind, even in a room that was definitely lacking in diversity while listening to a speaker reminisce about the separate bathrooms for separate races. I feel like I'm speaking until I am blue in the face. Yet, I cannot stop.

interpretation

Britain's interpretation of the Bo Xilai's wife's arrest. The Economist was not so incendiary. What is truly odd about the situation is why are Heywood's wife and children still there?

Something about this woman, Hillary Clinton, that grows on you. Oh yes, it's the easy way she can make fun of herself. Or, maybe, it's the political impasse that we will be experiencing for the next four years. I dunno.

Something more pertaining to my studies, it makes sense to study miRNAs in positive-sense viruses. RNA would be a great early tool in regulation of host response. It would also be interesting to study miRNAs in DNA viruses. However, this area doesn't pertain to my adviser's immediate research interests. A lot of miRNA work has been started in herpesviruses.

Back to the Bo Xilai news from the Western perspective. Something is said about a leader who cannot manage their own household (WSJ), political, economic, or social that resonates with people of all cultures.

addiction

The person who wrote this latest article on China's economy had some interesting insights but again, written from a flawed Western perspective. He or she opines for an addiction, consumerism equal to opium.

If one truly wants to the understand the stability of the West, it is to see how contentment pervades Western society. One doesn't seek one neighbor's harm because one is content with what one has. If this contentment (equilibrium) does not exist in the evolving Chinese economy, collapse is inevitable. China will be no better than the pockets of society that are found in West, where it was in the historical East End of London or currently, in the inner cities of United States.

info

What?!? Drugs are being stolen and nobody thought that was important information until now!

Cool. NHGRI + NCBI + Amazon Cloud. Now, if they could just pay for a bigger pipe and much better analysis tools.