Science Cookies

There are some epic cookies that a member of the student organization, oSTEM, made for us. We get together every other week just nerding out. The ones in this picture are beaker, test tube, and flask cookies. There were some very pretty orbital-model atom cookies (you can see one on the corner) and others too. I think all science and non-sicence majors should be jealous!

Normal Life, Busy Day

It was such a long, busy day. Fortunately, I fell asleep last night early because I was too tired, so I have the energy the deal with everything today. I was also lucky enough to just wake up in time without the alarm. The day started with working in the lab at 9:30 AM on the dot blot analysis, and physics class, more work in the lab, physics exam review session, checked homework answers with a classmate, and got home by midnight. I still have homework to complete now, and I'm having midterms in a few days, but I'm back to my normal life. I slept especially sweetly last night and felt very happy today because my apartment is finally my own again. So good!

潮蟲娃娃

今天下午到State Street上去逛了一會兒解悶，看到一個約20公分大的潮蟲娃娃(就是鼠婦，很多隻腳，會蜷起來變成一個球的那種生物)，用柔亮的金屬光澤布料作成，還真的可以捲起來，很可愛，可是要$30，太貴了，而且我早就不玩填充玩具了，算了吧！

我買了一個特價的乳牛花色馬克杯，下面還有四個腳做成乳頭造型，寒假要送給Meika叔叔，還有一張Wisconsin風景的明信片要寄給張媽媽。

希望沒被傳染狂犬病

昨天是我第一次對L比較兇，因為當我熄燈後，她(雖然早就想睡)還是躺在地舖床上，不肯把音樂關掉，好像是在做幼稚地報復；反正我那時也不想睡，就開我的音樂，繼續做我的功課。半小時後我厲聲跟L說：「你知道，我早可以叫警察的。你現在做個決定：把音樂關掉，我就馬上去睡覺，要不然我就整晚醒著跟你耗！」她才把音樂關掉。

既然我們都約好了星期一她會搬家，她至少不會露宿街頭，我也盡量配合她父母的時間，為什麼她就不願意好聚好散？一定要一直濫用我的同情心、試探我的脾氣和耐性，讓她自己的最後兩晚待不下去？

她前幾天寄給我一封電子信，說為她對我亂發脾氣感到抱歉，並說她明白我可以隨時請她離開我家。我知道人要一時改變很難，既然她道歉了，也似乎學了一些東西，我就幾乎原諒她了。但昨晚她所說的顯示她其實根本沒有學到；她說，「你又沒有被踢出你自己的公寓」，好像現在是我把她踢出「她的家」一樣。

我不是一個喜歡計較金錢的人，但L除了給我帶來種種不便跟困擾(要我都配合她的時間和方便，到最後簡直把我當女傭一樣使來喚去，我當然不想理她了)，還有一堆已經算是「間接要錢」的行為。我真的不知道這個人是遲鈍看不出我的付出，還是都當成理所當然？我沒要她房租不算，她也知道我的水電費比上個月多兩倍。她常常用我的食材，最近還每天跟我借手機，只為了跟她媽媽說話；我有告知手機費很貴，請她長話短說，她也看得到每通電話後自動簡訊告訴她通話費。就算我付出的時間和精力她體會不到，她平常對自己花錢斤斤計較，會感受不到這些金錢和物質上的付出嗎？

今天一早我還沒起床，她就起來，弄出一堆聲音後甩門而出，連燈都沒關。三個形容詞：忘恩負義、笨到極點、又超沒教養。在她心中也許我才是殘酷沒教養的那一個，但她把我逼到原諒她很難。反正現在我是屋主，她是不可能把我趕出這棟房子的，我看她今晚還敢不敢回來睡覺，走著瞧！我一直覺得這是她的損失，因為可能沒有另一個朋友會對她這麼好了。雖然我妹妹不喜歡瘋狗這個字眼，但我還真是撿了一隻流浪狗回來，流浪狗本來是值得同情沒錯，但誰知時間越久越瘋、越囂張，希望這段時間內我沒被傳染狂犬病。

真正的「毛毛」蟲

Family: Megalopygidae

這真的是一隻蟲嗎？怎麼看起來像小雞帶羽毛的翅膀？

這一科的蛾來自美洲，盛產於中南美的雨林，秘魯是大本營。除了以上這一隻，牠們還有更多很「毛」的毛毛蟲。但牠們再奇特、再可愛，也是只可遠觀不可褻玩焉──如果你把牠們的毛弄斷了，斷裂處會放出有毒的化學物質，造成皮膚刺激紅腫、潰傷、甚至讓過敏體質的人呼吸困難。

這隻顏色好搶眼！

白色龐克頭，潮爆了。

兩隻不同種的排排站，好可愛。

這隻好像不怎麼可愛 ...

棉絮？ ...

連我都越看越無言了，這些真的是蟲嗎？

原來底下長這樣。

來看看成蟲吧！

不愧是毛毛毛毛蟲的父母，也是一團毛茸茸。

這隻艷麗不輸幼蟲。

好像長了翅膀的小狗。

這隻的長相也夠逗趣的！

German New Wave

I realized that several of the New Wave bands or songwriter-singer I've been listening to are German. I might have mentioned or posted about them before, but it's good to do a feature here. 80s music for the win!

Nena - 99 Luftballons

Well, it was a smash hit. I like the German version better than the English. It's such a good song.

Sandra - In the Heat of the Night

I adore this songwriter-singer. The first song I've heard by her is "Midnight Man" on the radio. If you love 80s music, can't get that song wrong. She married Michael Cretu, who is the musician of Enigma, and took parts in vocals of New Age music.

Modern Talking - Geronimo's Cadillac

Modern Talking might be better categorized as 80s synthpop and disco. They became Eurodance in the 90s. They remind me of the Bee Gees. Although their songs all sound the same, "Geronimo's Cadillac" is my current favorite, and also "You Can Win If You Want".

Alphaville - Sensations

A band that I've been listening to for a while. They have a variety of good 80s styles and are best known for "Forever Young".

The Camouflage - The Commandant

A good song I just found two days ago. As someone commented on Youtube, this song is reminiscent of Depeche Mode.

Peter Schilling - 120 Grad

I love Peter Schilling! Most of his songs were actually sung in German and it's hard to find them on the Internet.

There are more German New Wave bands out there. I feel like many songs sung in German had more distinct styles than what we're used to, like American and English music, though they're probably not as popular. I hope they are more available on the Internet and the majority of people are more willing to listen to lyrics that are not their mother languages.

終於了解我的實驗在做什麼了

昨晚想說有好多書要讀，卻因為忙了一整天而太累睡著了。今天除了物理實驗課之外，都泡在實驗室裡養我的細菌。直到現在我才比較清楚Professor G交給我的工作是為了什麼。在我之前有兩個學生參與這個計畫，他們完成改造細菌基因和初步嘗試提純juvenile hormone binding protein (JHBP)的部分，但還沒來的及找出要如何提純JHBP，所以我接手的部分是這個計畫真正的高潮。教授說每一個蛋白質的提純條件都不一樣，他研究JHBP了40年，從發現這個蛋白質、解開它的DNA、到它的大結構，還沒找出提純它的好方法。

實驗大目標：

在科學家解開JHBP和它的許多生化活性或活動之謎前，我們需要大量、純化的JHBP。可以在花費越少、越方便的條件下運用E. coli製造大量的JHBP越好。然後JHBP必須被提純，不變質且形成整齊的結晶。

我的近期實驗目標：

1) 前一個學生發現E. coli被誘導4小時候製造的JHBP比誘導24小時候多，她假設因為E. coli會自行分解JHBP。但只生長4小時的細菌數量很少，我要檢驗這個假設是否是真的，和誘導細菌4、6、8、和24小時做比較，找出誘導的最佳時間。

2) 我們的E. coli被改造對kanamycin有抗藥性，所以用添加大量的kanamycin來確保陪養液中只有純菌。kanamycin不但昂貴，還對人體和其它生物有害。Professor G在另一個實驗中餵Manduca幼蟲吃kanamycin來淨空牠們腸道中的細菌；雖然kanamycin沒有殺掉毛毛蟲，卻害牠們短命。教授的另一個學生提出kanamycin可能是我們的E. coli沒有辦法製造大量的JHBP的原因之一，因為kanamycin的作用是和rRNA結合，抑制細胞內所有蛋白質的合成。我們的純菌雖有抗藥性，卻可能為了要製造分解kanamycin的酵素而用光所有的能量，沒有力氣再製造JHBP了。Professor G說他認為4小時內不添加kanamycin應該也不至於生出雜菌，他希望我試著誘導E. coli，但不要加kanamycin，看看細菌會不會真的因此製造更多JHBP。如果可以不用kanamycin，不但可以替實驗室省下很多錢，也對未來的研究者的健康有好處。(換算，如果我要養一公升的細菌培養液，我需要3公克的kanamycin，這個劑量說不定毒的死人。)

我和教授一邊講著一邊踏出實驗室，因為太興奮居然把電腦忘在實驗室的抽屜裡，晚上還跑回去拿，還好成為實驗室的一員之後我有鑰匙可以隨時進出昆蟲系大樓。雖然我的未來生涯目標不見得是生化，我還是因為有機會參與貢獻世界的知識庫開心的咧！

Doebley

I found that my genetic professor, John Doebley, is not only one of authors of our genetic textbook. When my evolutionary biology textbook gave examples of artificial selection, it mentioned Professor Doebley and his research on the evolution of teostine to maize (corn) and made many citations from his published journals. He even has a Wikipedia page and Google search image. Wow, seems like he is famous!

Phyllodes Imperialis

Phyllodes Imperialis, the imperial fruit sucking moth, another amazing-looking caterpillar of the Noctuidae family.

Compared to its larva, the adult doesn't look as impressive.

Greg

I told my Professor G that I was going to name my Manduca moth character Greg. He frowned and asked me why. Greg is his middle name, but I didn't know it.

Probably, this name makes more sense now. Though Greg is smoking all the time but Professor G has quit smoking a long time since he was young.

I should totally have a Drosophila character too.

我不知道被當成什麼了...

 我想我有點對同學L惱怒了。今天說了一些 ... 算是實話吧。

一早起來她就哭喪著臉說，我好害怕！我說怕什麼？她說：「我會被當掉物理課和化學課，你一定要幫我！」我問：「你有找過校園裡的免費助教嗎？」她說沒有。「我建議你多找幾個不同的資源，因為我只能非常有限地幫你。有時我很忙，而且有機化學很多我也忘了；我絕對不是一切。」說實在，她抱怨教授不好，或是上課她總是無法專心，課本不帶回來，也不做自己的筆記，就腦袋空空地希望我「餵」她，或是用我的筆記，我覺得學習態度不是很好。

幾天以來她不停地問例如，牛奶可以保存多久？吃什麼比較健康？我要怎麼吃Kale？什麼食物鐵質含量比較高？今天我忍不住說：「你可以上網嗎？我又不是百科全書。」她居然答道：「我老是忘記你不是百科全書，因為你什麼都知道。」真令人無言。我也建議她上網找食譜，可是她覺得食譜上的菜都超級麻煩。我只好跟她說，其實食物只要是熟的都可以吃，食譜是要教你怎麼樣比較「好吃」，你不必完全按照做法。一個一點時間跟心都不想花在煮飯上的人，又想學煮飯，還真難教。

雖然我告訴L她可以自己隨時到超級市場買菜，她希望我陪她。在Farmers' Market一路上她還是不斷的抱怨菜價很貴。我說：「你一直說很貴，可是這就是市面上的價錢啊！」離開超級市場前，她問：「你覺得我應該買起士嗎？我需要買牛奶嗎？」我忍不住生氣了，說：「拜託！你一直問我我沒有辦法回答你的問題。我不能決定你要吃什麼。」她居然一臉無辜的說：「可是我需要忠告嘛！」為什麼有人連自己早上要不要喝牛奶都需要別人告訴她？我開始覺得奇怪她過去到底是怎麼過的？

在回家的路上她又一直說，我覺得住在宿舍有好多時間可以念書。住在外面我的時間被採購食物、煮飯(她根本還沒開始煮)、和走回校園(我家離學校才10分鐘步程)占掉好多，還要扛好重的食物回家。因為她每天都在念這件事情，我今天惱怒地說：「我喜歡自己採購和煮飯的生活。有些事是無法改變的。例如很多台灣學生到這裡來，冬天很冷。你可以選擇適應這裡的冷天，並快樂地玩雪，或是每天抱怨、哭、只想回到家鄉的氣候，然後每天慘兮兮。這就是每個人對自己心態的選擇。」說了這麼多，我不知道她了不了解我的意思是什麼。今天問過她打工的意願，她想都不想，因為她不肯讓任何事情占掉她念書的時間，也不肯暫時因為家庭因素而退學一年。

好吧，我也是在抱怨。當初我幫助並收留L只是不想看到一個同學流落街頭，並順便教她一些基本生活技能如炒菜，讓她可以快一點獨立。因為我也曾經到過一個谷底，我知道在谷底時，有人好心，哪怕只是輕輕拉你一把，是很重要的。因為我們其實無親無故，我也不要求回報。我只希望她不要把我當成理所當然，或是全知全能的角色，除了收留她，還要負責她的功課和心理輔導；早點面對現實，並在除了讀書之外用點大腦。

與我共住數日的同學L ... 另一個中式教育的失敗品？

自從上星期意外地「撿到」同學L，她就在我家打地鋪，共同生活了好幾天。這種情況會維持到她找到校外可以住的地方。L和我之前也不算非常要好的朋友，但她平日認真讀書，沒什麼朋友，走投無路下只好找我，我也不忍心讓她到露宿街頭的地步。相處幾天後，我才發現她的生活中似乎缺了好多東西。

照年齡算，L比我大一個月。現在遇到困境，卻像黏著大姊姊般希望我教她功課、教她煮飯、怎麼找房子、生活中的雜事等。雖然在校成績優良，跟我一樣是榮譽學生，但很多生活常識都要重頭學起，例如現在菜市場物價多少到食物是不是要放涼了再放冰箱？可以保存多久？

L不停地表示她覺得別人比較幸運，街上的每一個人都看起來比她快樂。像她看我的話就覺得我的命比較好，父母比較有錢，我的成績好是因為我天生資質就好，簡直是天才，平常運氣也比較好；她也老是覺得別人修的課比較輕鬆、有趣 ... 雖然很多不是真的。我提醒她，人們通常看起來快樂或強是因為他們把自己不快樂或弱的一面藏起來，每個人都有煩惱和不幸的地方；我也不是天才 ... 說著說著我開始覺得，怎麼好像都沒有人跟她說過這些？

我懷疑L的學習不得其法？她平日把大部分的時間花在坐在圖書館裡，從來不運動，常常也不好好吃飯或睡覺，連別人勸她休息一下下、走一走都不肯，這樣真的有效率嗎？她請我教她有機化學的NMR。NMR是一個完全靠經驗和推裡來拼湊出分子結構的方法，但L總是靜不下心，好好地把分子構造一步步地畫出來，總是想一下子畫出整個分子，然後自己在畫什麼都不知道，解不出來就大叫，完了！我考試要怎麼辦？我覺得這就像很多中國學生想在數學解題上找「捷徑」，不是真的想懂，只想在考試上拿分。也許是這樣，當需要理解的東西越來越多時，困難就出現了。

因為L在物理課也遇到困難，想申請進學校的物裡學習中心卻被通知名額已滿，我前天到學習中心去說情，跟助教說我認為她比我更需要幫助，幸好學習中心接受她了。有一天晚上，L絕望地跟我說：「我好想退學回家算了。」
又說：「可是沒有學位我會找不到工作。」
我說：「世界上有很多人沒有學位也工作著、生活著。」
她說：「可是我媽說，你不是要長得漂亮，就要聰明，不然你就沒有未來。怎麼辦？我什麼都沒有，我的未來完蛋啦！」
我答道：「文憑不是你的聰明才智的代表。」
講著講著她好像也不能接受，因為她總覺得我和她是不平等的。前天晚上我為了遺傳學期中考通宵，也拒絕在那時教她化學，她說：「你那麼聰明，樣樣都好，為什麼還要那麼拼命？」

我有時被L弄得又好氣又好笑，有時又很同情她。她的很多表現也不能怪她，畢竟家裡突然出狀況，她發現自己根本沒辦法照顧自己，功課又漸漸跟不上，嚇壞了。我只是在想，她能不能算另一個中式教育的失敗品？她的學習一向都不是為了樂趣，而是父母期望的。多年來被逼著讀書，被期望每個科目都A，結果缺乏生活中的常識，沒有可以讓自己開心的興趣，還換來一個不健康的心理；現在唯一讓她不退學的理由是，我父母會氣死，和我會找不到工作。這樣的教育模式還真可怕。像L到這個年紀，再來想要鼓勵她的學習動機(例如我勸她，可以不喜歡現在修的課，但試著不要討厭它們，和找到自己覺得有趣的部分)，或改變她的人生觀好像有點太晚。我只希望她可以好好的度過今年這一關，也慢慢改變認為「別人都比較幸運」的假象，不然不是要怨天尤人、不快樂一輩子？

What A Geneticist Thinks ...

What a geneticist thinks when he/she sees pairs of striped socks ...

 What a geneticist thinks when he/she sees pairs of nucleotides ...

  

In spite of that love triangle with uracil.

New Discoveries in the Human Genome

Two articles that my evolutionary biology professor wanted us to read:

Getting to Know the Genome
Only 1.5% of the human genome codes for proteins. Other sections of the DNA were regarded as "junk DNA" that has no known function in the past. It's not true now. Scientists have found that some sequences code for important RNAs, some sequences can bind to proteins and regulate the expression of other genes, and many gene-gene interactions were uncovered. The functional regions of the human genome can be over 80%, or even 100%! No more junk DNA!

Father's Age Affects Mutation Rate
My genetic professor also informed us about this new discovery. People used to think that genetic disorders are more associated with the mother's age, now scientists have found that the mutations contributed by older fathers is 4 to 7 times than mothers', especially mutations that cause autism and schizophrenia. The difference is due to how sperm cells and ova are produced.

I think I can't love my evolutionary biology professor more now.

President Obama's Visit

On Thursday, Oct. 4, President Obama visited UW-Madison and gave a speech. Thousands of students crowded and blocked the street in hope to just get a look at the president. I was preparing for the physics exam and I don't care about politics; I didn't want to go at all. So, it was just another normal day for me, but it's pretty cool and Obama came here! Many schoolmates are Obama fans so they were excited the whole day.

Dot Blot Analysis

I created notes on some concepts and techniques that the past student worked or that I'll be working in near future in Professor G's lab. This one is about dot blot analysis (Of course I won't do it from the very start. I'll start with Step 4 because Professor G already obtained the antibodies.) I just uploaded this here as a record in case if I lost the paper version.

I Just Need to Calm Down ...

1 hour count-down to my physics exam. I've done several practice exams on my own. Normal test time is about an hour. I actually finished one of the practices in 30 minutes and got 100% right. This week, I even started teaching other people who didn't grab the fastest way to solve problems.

The Physics Learning Center did an excellent job teaching me. The director even taught us to solve problems with pure logic, without memorizing formulas and doing tedious calculations. I'll probably do fine on the exam but I just feel so nervous right now. I just need to calm down ... probably a walk and some food will do me good.