Contribution over acumulation

Pirate Radio: Micropower broadcasting

Moving onto the Airwaves Micropower Broadcasting Primer

WooHoo! 96% on my first test! Great way to start out the semester! Lets get ready for the weekend.

first test!

first test of the semester! been studying my brains out, hopefully I do ok. Wish me luck!

Electronics 101

While procrastinating some important studying for school I found a youtube playlist (what can I say the internet is awesome!) that explains the basic properties of electronic components. I thought they were pretty well done so check em out!
I just wish the rest of my classes could be posted up on youtube! Back to sticking my nose in a text book...
Videos posted after the break

whew! School and work is getting in the way of blogging these days. Feeling super busy which makes it hard to sit down and make sure I have a blog posted every day. I think I might have to slow things down and post a bit less. Genetics is getting really tough, I need to get into a study group, but I am enjoying microbiology a lot. Also these days I am feeling a lot less inclined to post or discuss politics, which is interesting because I used to really enjoy discussing politics but now I think I might have just become too entrenched in my beliefs that I cant objectively discuss politics with others. I need to change that and make sure I stay open to other possibilities. I think part of the problem is that I have been studying too much science, because in science there is usually only one right answer whereas in politics there are many options to solve a problem

Ingenious Animalcules

Been putting off some Microbiology reading till tonight and I don't know why because let me tell you I am impressed with these little guys! Some of the reading included various adaptations of motile bacteria for sensing and responding to varying levels of environmental stimuli through a proccess called taxis. Examples of taxis in bacteria involve chemotaxis which is defined as the response to a chemical gradient of movement towards or away a stimulus. But there are many forms of taxis in bacteria some with peculiar attributes. For example take a look at this guy

Magnetospirillum magnetotacticum

take a look at the series of black spheres running through this bacteria, those are tiny magnetic particles and make up a structure called a Magnetosome which is to put it in simple terms a microbial compass! These magnetic particles actually strong enough to orient the bacteria along the magnetic fields of the Earth. This magnetosome helps the bacteria perform Magentotaxis, the movement in response to a magnetic field. 

The purpose of this structure is proposed to attract the bacteria downward into sediment where the oxygen levels are lower and more to its liking for growth. Its affinity for lower oxygen concentrations have been observed in the lab and fossil record which show what are called Magnetofossils which appear in formations deposited during the Proterozoic Era which saw a build up in atmospheric oxygen confirming the observation of its distaste for too much oxygen.

here are a few more pictures of our ingenious friend

New shoes!

Got my new shoes, some PRO-keds. They are PRO! Very cool. I want to get some new shoelaces for them. They came with grey ones and I had a pair of black ones so I thought I would throw one of em on to see how it looked. I think I am going to rock the black laces till I can get some new laces. But what color laces? Should I get some red ones or blue ones?

It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui. – Helen Keller

Fainting Goats

Nature has produced a lot of stunning diversity so we shouldnt be too surprised when things go "wrong". Take for example the "Fainting Goats", which have a condition called Myotonia. Wikipedia explains:

is a genetic, neuromuscular channelopathy that affects skeletal muscles (muscles used for movement). It is congenital, meaning that it is present from birth. Amongst other problems, it causes delayed relaxation of the muscles (myotonia) and rigidity. The disorder is caused by mutations in the part of an ion channel gene responsible for shutting off electrical excitation in the muscles, causing muscle fiber membranes to have an unusually exaggerated response to stimulation (hyperexcitability). Symptoms include delayed relaxation of the muscles after voluntary contraction (myotonia), and may also include stiffness, hypertrophy (enlargement), sluggishness of the muscles, transient weakness in some mutations, pain, and cramping. The disorder is caused by a genetic mutation involving the chloride channel of the muscles.

take a look at the results below

Unfortunately this disorder is not limited to goats and can also occur in humans. here is a cute video of some kittens who are afflicted with this disorder (but regrettably died not long after)

these kittens were so cute! it is so sad that they died...
here is another cute cat video to cheer you up.

ok just ONE more. I promise

.3 watts per search

Google is massive. With huge data centers keeping data safe and serving up each query to inquisitive visitors. Maintaining these servers requires quite a bit of energy but amazingly Google has kept energy consumption low.
Google has shown how to do more with less, and commentators have noticed that being green is not only good sense for the environment but good business sense

it is Sunday I am going to take a break from blogging