Interview With A Post-doc

Fresh Brainz is thrilled to bring you yet another interview with the people behind Singaporean science. This week I am chatting with a post-doc who has a bubbly character and is often cheerful in the lab.

How does she sustain her optimism? Let's go find out!

She prefers not to reveal her identity, so I will call her A*Na for this interview and I've drawn an anime cartoon that is my best representation of her personality.

Heh, I'm not very good at drawing anime.

On with the dialogue!

A*Na: *sees my clipboard containing prepared questions* Wah, so 夸张(exaggerated) ah!

Me: *tee hee* This won't take long. How did you decide to do scientific research?

A*Na: Because I have nothing else to do mah. Just joking lah! My father wanted me to get a PhD. The best option for me is science.

Me: What is your favourite part about doing science?

A*Na: I like to analyze things, I'm the thinking kind. I like to prove my hypothesis correct.

Me: What if your hypothesis is wrong?

A*Na: If wrong, then reformulate the hypothesis lah. I like to plan the experiment and then do it.

Me: What if other people plan the experiments for you?

A*Na: Don't like. If other people plan the experiments then I will not be as enthusiastic.

Me: What do you hate most about doing science?

A*Na: When I do stupid things during my experiment. Because of a stupid mistake.

Me: What about some external factors?

A*Na: I hate it when people keep trying to prove their point.

Me: You mean like confirmation bias? When people selectively fish for evidence?

A*Na: Yes, that's right.

Me: Do you remember your happiest day in science?

A*Na: Oh, there were two actually. When I got my first first-author publication after my PhD. And also when somebody from another group postulated the same hypothesis as me.

Me: What about your most unhappy day?

A*Na: When another group published part of my work during my PhD. At first I felt like giving up, but later I became happy because they showed the same result that I found. This means that my research work is solid.

Me: Which is more important - family or career?

A*Na: Family come first. But luckily my husband is supportive of my career.

Me: Your husband is an endangered species!

A*Na: *laughs*

Me: What is your favourite comfort food?

A*Na: Ice cream. I like Ben & Jerry's ice cream, especially Chubby Hubby.

Me: What flavour is that? I don't eat there...

A*Na: It's caramel with peanut butter and pretzel bits.

Me: What is your favourite chocolate?

A*Na: Belgian chocolate... what you call those?

Me: You mean like praline?

A*Na: Yah, praline.

Me: Is there a fashion accessory that you cannot do without?

A*Na: A watch. I must wear one, usually a digital watch.

Me: To tell the time?

A*Na: Yes.

Me: I mean for a purely fashion purpose. Not for a practical function.

A*Na: Purely fashion? Then it would be earrings.

Me: Is makeup more important or dress more important?

A*Na: Dress is more important for me, because my skin is sensitive. I try to avoid makeup.

Me: OK, last question. What is the most important thing in the world for you?

A*Na: Family ties.

Me: OK, thank you!

A*Na: Can I see the cartoon now?


Would you like to know more?

Other Fresh Brainz interviews:

- Interview with a PhD student
- Interview with a scientist

Only Seven???

Watch this:


















Only SEVEN???

I can't believe the sloppiness of their methodology. I mean, what if the blokes were put off by her coquettish expression?

Or the fact that she is facing them would discourage them from sneaking a peek?

Or the fact that those cheating bastards counted multiple hits for one guy who was obviously turning his head to check out the woman's face?

Such flaky "science".

*slaps forehead*

Sadly, to tell you the honest truth - my straw poll of a few random guys at the lab also confirms their results.

To sum up the sentiments of most guys (clearly excluding me!) :

Boobs = no ogle

Bum = go ogle

Wait... something doesn't sound right.


Would you like to know more?

- More video clips from Brainiac

Fracking Painful Ulcer

I accidentally bit myself last week while stuffing my face with a bowl of fishball noodles.

So now I have a big, fat ulcer that hurts like hell.

Since you didn't ask to see it, here's a big, fat photo of it.

Heh.














It's approximately twice as painful as it looks. Give or take maybe 20%.

Veteran Fresh Brainz readers ("Freshbrainiacz" perhaps?) know that I hate ulcers. I detest them so much I wrote a whole Uncyclopedia article on them.

The problem is that I get them so fracking often. One of our postdocs says that he never gets ulcers. That can only mean that I lack a cogwheel in my head that prevents the teeth from clamping down when other mouth parts are in the way.

Or maybe all the gears are loose anyway.

Speaking of "fracking" suddenly reminds me of fractals: did you notice how my ulcer resembles the Mandelbrot set?




















In the case of my ulcer, the X-axis is facing down towards my finger. It has two round shapes just like the Mandelbrot set picture - the larger wound (cardioid) inflicted by my super-sharp upper right canine.

Well I'm not a mathematician, so I'll leave the detailed explanation of fractals to the professionals.

I'll just comment that the fractal concepts of repeated functions (iteration) and self-similarity are also important to biologists.

One major mystery of biology is: how does a multicellular organism assemble itself during the embryo development process?

A large mammal has to grow from one cell to several trillion cells in a matter of months. This process must be tightly regulated so that the animal forms correctly.

However, mammals only have tens of thousands of genes. One trick to "fold" more complexity into a limited number of genes is to repeat the genetic programming during development.

The same set of genes are used to form both the forelimbs and the hindlimbs. They are then used again in a different orientation to form the digits of the hands and feet. In fact you can consider a finger as a self-similar component of the whole arm. In this way the animal can develop many parts using fewer genes.

Just like the diversity of structures that you can make using a small selection of Lego bricks:















And the myriad ways that I can make my teeth punch through the inside of my mouth.


Dammit.


Would you like to know more?

- How long is the coastline of England?
- Fish with the ancestral genetic program for tetrapod limb formation

How NOT to do CPR

Just watched Casino Royale (2006) on DVD with my family, and despite the rave reviews that Daniel Craig received, I must say that he just doesn't jive with my mental picture of how James Bond is supposed to be.

Let me explain what I mean:













I thought that James Bond is supposed to be a suave, charming and sophisticated ladykiller.

Pierce Brosnan certainly oozes charm, has a disarming smile and a relaxed composure that makes it easy for women to warm up to him.

Daniel Craig on the other hand looks so craggy (sorry), creepy and intense that I find it more likely that women would run away screaming when he approaches.

Try as I might, I can't feel any charm emanating from him. When the Bond girls throw seductive glances at Daniel Craig, I feel that they are just acting.

In fact none of my family members really believe that he is James Bond. My father thinks that Daniel Craig looks more like a Russian spy. My mom thinks that he doesn't look like the "real" (read Pierce Brosnan) James Bond.

As for the movie, James Bond's trademark cheesy humour and double entendre one-liners have been replaced by a lot of frenzied chasing, leaping from immense heights and brutal bloody brawling. There is so much running around in the first half that my sister commented that it felt like a Jackie Chan movie.

I understand that the filmmakers are trying very hard to revitalize this old franchise, but in the process they have removed many fun elements that the brand name represents.

If you really want a serious, gritty spy thriller - watch Jason Bourne.

Hey I just noticed that their initials are both J.B.! How cool is that!?!

Ok that doesn't mean anything.

Anyway the pace of the movie was quite uneven, frantic in the first half and slow in the second. The tone was super-serious and intense throughout...

... until one scene which made my entire family burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

Heh heh. What an anti-climax!

*SPOILER ALERT!*

I don't want to spoil your fun so scroll down only if you have seen the movie.

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James Bond tries to perform CPR on Vesper Lind to save her life. Unfortunately, he is so clumsy with the procedure that he fumbles around and accidentally grabs her boobs instead.








Compare the above screenshot with this diagram of how CPR is supposed to be done:











Maybe it wasn't accidental.


Would you like to know more?

About Cardio-pulmonary Resuscitation:
- Introduction to CPR

About Movie Nitpicks:
- Nitpickers.com (About Casino Royale 2006)

Evolutionary Biology: Recent Highlights

Sometimes I forget that Fresh Brainz is supposed to be some sort of science blog.

Truth be told, that part is easy to forget. It's tough to write anything fun about serious science since 99% of the original research that I read is about as exciting as watching mud dry.

In slow motion.

Luckily for humanity* there is still some cool science out there that must be highlighted in this blog!

Here are three of the finest findings in evolutionary biology so far this year:

1. Planet of the Apes. Now with Spears.

Human beings have been killing each other (and small defenseless animals) with evil, sharp implements for so long that we believed no other animal can do it.

Actually they just don't want to do it, being the nice, peaceful animals that they are.

They'd much rather puncture your juicy jugular with their amiable teeth and slash your abdomen open with their friendly claws.

However, a group of researchers have noticed that some chimpanzees in Senegal prefer to hunt their prey using sharpened sticks, just like early humans.

Scientists already know that chimpanzees can use tools for a number of years; the chief novelty of this study is the detailed observation of the tool sharpening process.

Which actually involve the use of teeth.

Now that chimpanzees have learnt how to use spears to hunt, we should all shudder in fear of ... "Death by Britney"!

Seriously, we've all had enough of that Spears.

Click here to read more.

2. Mice with Better Colour Vision than Some People.

The worst enemy of most people is some people. Some people rob. Some people kill. Some people like country music.

Some people write science blogs.

In addition, some people are red-green colour blind. Mice are also red-green colour blind because they lack a type of photo receptor that are found in the eyes of most people.

When researchers inserted the human gene for this receptor into mice, the genetically modified mice could now distinguish the difference between red and green much better than regular mice.

This demonstrates that the mammalian brain already has sufficient flexibility to adapt to modular changes in colour vision. You don't need to change a large number of genes and rewire the whole brain to allow the mice to benefit from this enhancement.

Just one gene will do.

Another nail in the coffin for Irreducible Complexity.

Check out more details here.

3. Do Dinosaurs Taste Like Chicken?

Why does everything taste like chicken?

Is existence merely a massive game of virtual reality where powerful supercomputers manipulate the lives of millions of innocent victims?

But enough complaining about taxes.

Scientists have successfully isolated protein fragments from the inside of a 68 million-year-old T. Rex bone uncovered in Montana, USA. They sequenced these fragments and found that it resembles a similar protein found in modern chickens.

Direct molecular evidence of the close evolutionary relationship between dinosaurs and birds.

The principal investigator of this study, Prof. John "Jack" Horner actually mentioned the project last year when he came to Singapore during a dinosaur exhibition. So I am happy to see that they have produced spectacular results in such a short time.

More stuff can be found here.


Would you like to know more?

About other forms of fun research:
- Boob Physics

*The term "humanity" includes all Fresh Brainz readers, most dolphins and some bonobos. It excludes most other human beings (especially Brad Pitt) and any talking cats.