Random Thoughts
So…if you haven’t noticed in my blogs I like to ramble on about random things. So instead of doing a topic I’ll make this blog centered around my random ramblings. Over the past couple days I’ve been putting a lot more time in the lab. Since the program is only 8 weeks long, and the first two weeks we needed to set up a lot of bottles of the genotype of flies I am using, and we did as many trials of the experiment to optimize our conditions and get some very initial results. This was important because we started mimicking the conditions used by another previous paper doing a similar study, but since then we have made many changes to maximize the amount of eggs laid and try to control all of the possible variables that could affect results. Testing behavior is difficult because so many things can affect it. Little changes in light and odor could very be factors. Since the topic I am working on hasn’t been extensively studied, all of the effects of the conditions are not completely understood.
This week I’ve put in some significant time on the nights. It’s a lot more convenient if I leave and come back because at night and on the weekends I can park on the side of the road right by the building. Working at night is really different from the day. I kind of like a mix of both. It’s nice to be there for most of the time during the day because there are other people there to converse with and provide help and guidance. On the other hand, working at night is a little more relaxing, because I have most of my day’s work done and generally have a more predictable schedule. I often play music when no one else is in the lab. It can get a little creepy when I’m alone late at night, but I’m an only child and have spent my fair share of nights alone. Plus, my lab seems to be one of the safest places at Duke. To get in after 5 pm on a weekday (or on a weekend), you have to have an electronic chip to gain access to the building, and then an electronic chip to gain access to the specific lab I’m in. Plus, the area around my lab is well lit and it feels safe, even though it is a little ways from the heart of West Campus. Fortunately though, I am probably going to take tomorrow off! I made a bet with Lixian that there was a new virgin fly in the bottle we started about 10 days ago, which is about the time it takes for adult drosophila to lay eggs that develop into virgin drosophila. Even with all of the biology I have taken, it amazes me how quickly the worm-like pupae can change into the form of adult flies. Virgin flies are kind of like an intermediate form, because their body seems more simple, clear and wormlike, and when they are really young you can see their wings developing. Anyway, there were about 7 flies in the bottle, so I bet that at least one was a virgin, from looking on the outside. When we anesthetized the flies on the CO2 pad (cold temperatures also work; we do this after the flies have laid eggs in the plates and we need to take them out to count the eggs, however, this takes a little longer so it is not convenient unless transfer to the CO2 pad without high escape rates), and looked at them under the microscope, it was pretty clear that one of them was a virgin. So she has agreed to do a couple basic things for me tomorrow. I was a little wiped out anyway because I was in lab from 9 to 1 the day before, with breaks for lunch, faculty seminar, and dinner. I’ll have to work on increasing my productivity and efficiency to avoid having long hours such as these. Actually, I might run in for a little bit tomorrow shortly; I think I left my cell phone charger in lab and my phone is pretty low. Going in on weekends is pretty convenient because I can just drive and park right next to the building. Usually there are other people there during the day, but it’s definitely not as busy as a weekday. I think Lixian goes in pretty often on weekends; she is a very dedicated student!
Anyway, we’re giving chalk talks next week so hopefully that will go well. I still have to put some time preparing that. I taught an ACT class before so I have some experience writing stuff on the board and trying to explain it at the same time, although the difficulty. However, most of that job was helping to engage the students and explain answers and techniques; for my chalk talk, I will have to present my topic with enough depth to show that I have a pretty thorough understanding of what I have done so far. Also, since I am getting results every day I think I may have to modify what I plan to say in that regard every time I check the plates for eggs. Right now we’re testing some things we didn’t initially plan at the start within the context of our experiment. It appears the drosophila like to lay eggs predominantly on one side of the plate, even if both sides of the plate contain the same substrate. So by manipulating the conditions we are trying to figure out what causes the drosophila to make this decision.
Looks like Williams is going to win Wimbledon tomorrow! I haven’t been able to see a whole lot of play, but I’ve been following the scores pretty closely. Congrats to Roddick for making the final, but I’d give him maybe a 1% chance against Federer. My Detroit Tigers also won in 16 innings tonight; pretty awesome.
They re-did the basketball courts on central. Now they are painted blue with white lines. Unfortunately they also decided to move the 3-point line back to the line they now use in college, which I am not to. It is also unfortunate my shot seems to peak a couple steps inside the 3-point line. Hopefully if I have free time my shooting will improve this summer. So far it has not reached my expectations. Anyway though, the court surface is much nicer than the old version. I still have a scar on my left palm from a pretty nasty fall Arun and I took about a week ago because the court surface was so uneven. The new surfacing also means I can wear my new basketball shoes I got a couple weeks before the program started without damaging the soles too much. So far I really like them. Hopefully, they will put nets up on the baskets soon. I think they may have gotten stolen last time. Although I can’t imagine what you would do with a cut-up basketball net.
If you like hip-hop, check out Lupe Fiasco’s new single, Shining Down. I don’t think he’s officially released it yet, but it has been leaked and it’s on Youtube. Matt Santos does the chorus, which is really catchy. A contentious issue in contemporary hip-hop is the use of auto-tune technology by many rappers, which Lupe indirectly addresses; apparently, Lupe is in the Jay-Z camp and isn’t a big fan of auto-tune. The new Mos Def album is pretty good too, but I haven’t had the chance to listen to it a lot.
Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on one of the problems that really puzzles me: in what instances are customs, opinions and worldviews right or wrong, and when are they only relative to the individual and one’s culture? This is such a general question, but it seems to come up in a lot of discussions I have and things I notice. I could go on for a while but it’s getting pretty late.
Happy 4th of July! Maybe I’ll watch the movie Independence Day later tonight/tomorrow for like the tenth time. It’s one of those movies that isn’t that good but you still end up watching repeatedly.
