Follow the sun

Overshadowed by endless debates about Global warming and the furor about Ben Stein's movie "Expelled" which was as much predictable as it is ridiculous was the most important (in my book, anyway) scientific news of last month: The decoding of the Platypus genome. Well, at least the story made it to the title of Nature's May 8th edition which should be tribute enough.

Platypus is probably one of the funniest looking vertebrates there is. It's a furry animal that carries a beak. Apart from this immediately apparent characteristic it combines a number of other reptilian and mammalian features. It is classified as a mammal because it expresses the name-giving mammary glands and the mammalian epidermis together with the characteristic fur that some mammals like rhinos or humans have lost again but which is an original feature of mammals.

On the other hand Platypuses lay eggs like reptiles. Male platypuses sport a venom gland near their tale which, too, is a reptilian feature unknown in this form in mammals.

Platypus belongs to a group of mammals called Monotremes. The name was derived from the fact that these animals only have one posterior opening that serves as an exit for the intestinal, urinal and genital systems. Monotremes were the first group of animals separating from the mammalian branch about 166 million years ago (Bininda-Emons et al.; 2007) which is why their genome may contain some information about the genetic properties of early mammals.

The genome analysis yielded much expected data and some surprises. Researchers compared the genome to that of chickens, mice and a few other animals of the reptile and mammal families. First of all the genome contains segments typical for mammals as well as segments which are otherwise only found in reptiles such as birds what is exactly what one would expect of a creature that looks like a mixture of the two groups.

Some parts of the genome, however, revealed sequences and genes that were unique to Monotremes (or Platypus) which shows that over the past 166 million years this group has taken an independent "road".

For example, the sex of Platypus seems to be determined by a set of ten (!) chromosomes. Which is unique among mammals and also sets Platypus apart from birds (Warren et al, 2008) Some of the sex chromosomes however, are similar to those found in birds.

In spite of the platypus- specific sequences, the genome of Platypus may yield further insights into the details of mammalian evolution. It's a great achievement on many levels

 

 

 

Warren, et al; Nature. 2008 May 8;453(7192):175-83.

Germany has introduced regulations that make it compulsory for online providers to  monitor the internet use of their customers and store the data for half a year. Worse even: the same rule applies to telephone and mobile phone companies. Officially this legislation is supposed to stop criminal activities and terrorism. The same argument was used for wiretapping and the reading of thousand's of private emails in the US a few years ago (and nobody can tell me that this practice has stopped). The stored data is going to be available for German police services, secret services and the ministry of the interior as well as Inter- and Europol and (get this!) foreign intelligence agencies. The legislation came into effect on the first of this month.

Since we are living in a world where political and business interests are increasingly entangled. Where arm's dealers sit on government defense advisory boards, private security firms participate in fighting international wars as "private contractors", railways, communication, mail and water are supplied by government subsidized multinational corporations and "security firms" are increasingly used for policing tasks there is no telling what this may lead to. How many people will be able to read my data and what will they do with it?

But there is more: It is bad enough that some secret service agent in Burkina Faso or the Maldives has now got the right to know  when I called my girlfriend or my drinking buddies and for how long the conversation lasted. But the fact that effectively uncontrollable companies are now not just officially licensed but officially required to store data about my online behaviour and my telecommunication is an outrage. Even if those companies handle the data "responsibly" (which I hope they all do) who can give us any guarantee that there aren't third parties who use these various databanks for their own purposes be it by legal or illegal means. The more databanks there are the higher the risk of data spills or misuse - that's just a statistical phenomenon.

I'm sure that other Western Democracies will follow this example (if they haven't introduced similar or worse legislation, already). What's the point of all this?  Well, it's obviously about control ... but why? And who is really going to profit from it? Many questions and no answers. The so called "elite" of politicians and their corporate overlords have hijacked the terrorism scare and are using it to take away our freedoms in front of our eyes. Democracy is rapidly turned into a post- Stalinist tyranny (only without communism).

How long are we going to take it and where will it all lead?

It has to be said. I hate winter. I hate having to wear ton's of clothing outside. I hate leaving the house in the dark and returning home in the dark. I hate slippery roads and pedwalk.....I hate the whole lot. Occasionally I hear people say: "yes but snow looks great doesn't it?". I tell you what snow is to me: It's perfectly ok when it lies around somewhere in beautiful landscapes but any pleasure stops when it comes to my house. Shovelling snow in the morning has got to be one of the greatest pains in the arse known to human kind. And as far as towns and city goes: here is what snow looks like: A greyish mash with tyre- and foot imprints in it. Yellow in paces from dog - pee and a health hazard because it constantly melts and freezes again making every step on it difficult.

I could easily adapt to the green and grey that winter without snow looks like in these areas if it would rid me of snow - shovelling and the fear of falling over on the street.

But actually I want summer! Right now!

This morning, I handed in my Diplomarbeit (Master-Thesis). Until the early hours of Thursday I desperately tried to get the formatting done (about five o clock if you want to know). I'm sorry to say that: But when it comes to formatting documents even the classic mechanical typewriter is miles ahead of Microsoft Word.

They've got all of this features in this programme and none of them work properly. So here's a heart felt "Fuck You!" for Microsoft!

Well, that's it for me, from now on it s all out of my hands. It's up to the professors to decide how good my thesis is.

On Monday I start work at my old job to make some money which I urgently need after one year of exams and Lab work. I'd preferred it if I has a few weeks off in between but life's often not about what you wish but what you can get.... so there you go.

Anyway. Tonight it's time for a lot of booze....

 

 

 

 

 

A fortnight ago, I went to a theme park. It was my first visit to a theme Park in five years (far too long, if you ask me, but I just couldn't find the time)

The Heide Park is one of Germany's biggest theme parks and pays host to the second largest wooden rollercoaster in the world (I don't know how the biggest one's called but I've heard there are arguments on wether that one counts as a wooden rollercoaster, because it contains a looping element made of steel) and allegedly the highest free - fall tower.

I don't give much about those claims though because no matter which theme park across the world you go to.... They've always got the biggest "this" or "that" in the world and there is no way you can really find out wether it's true.

I posted some photos here.

My favorite rides are rollercoasters with loopings - and the park sports two of those one normal one and one "hanging" rollercoaster - and I'm also very fond of spinning rides.

Of course the ultimate thrill was "Scream" the free - fall tower. And the wooden rollercoaster called "Colossos" due to it's size.

The Heide Park also has a model of the statue of liberty and of the White House. You see, over in America theme parks have models of "old world" buildings and over here we do it the other way round. That#s probably because the grass is always greener on the other side.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun and a massive adrenaline rush plus the opportunity to emit a death scream on the free - fall tower. At least, that's what the person sitting next to me on that ride said about the noises I made. They themselves admitted to having been too scared to scream...hmmm....

I'm always left wondering what exactly it is that makes these things so fascinating to me and to many others. Because some are not really fun in any "conventional" sense of the word, anymore - they scare you to death. But it's probably the rush afterwards that makes it all worthwhile.

Some people may say that in today's society these things are among the few "adventures" left to us and that there lies the key to their popularity. But that would imply that people in the past had more exciting lives. And I doubt that. I presume that they were as miserable as any one of us today.Only with the added stress of having to worry about famines and the inquisition.

To me some of it is, of course, the thrill of overcoming fear  But much of it is just about the feelings in your stomach.....

Yeah, that's it. :-)

Today is the first anniversary of me moving into my current home.

Is share this flat with a female student form my semester. But apart form living in the same flat (apartment), sharing the kitchen and the bath we have no further "bonds". It is an odd sort of relationship but it is a way of life millions are familiar with across the world.

It doesn't have to be two people either. Depending on the size of the flat in question you can live there with three, four or more people.

In fact there are people I know who live in a flat shared by twelve people. That's almost a "commune", I think.

I don't know how many of you ever ever lived in a shared flat (no, living together with girlfriend/ boyfriend or close relatives doesn't count. Friends count, however). But for students in this country - as in many others - it is the way of choice when it comes to housing.

And not only students have taken up the habit: Flat sharing is growing ever more popular among the general public, especially in big cities where rents in central areas are astronomical. What used to be the realm of "alternative" folks has become so mainstream that in some cities there are areas which are dominated by flat - sharing.

Tonight my flat mate and me are going to have a beer to celebrate this anniversary. May be her boyfriend is going to join us, too.

 

 

 

"Now that it's raining more than ever
Know that we still have each other
You can stand under my Umbrella
You can stand under my Umbrella
(Ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(ella ella eh eh eh)
Under my umbrella
(ella ella eh eh eh eh eh eh)...."

....goes the refrain to Rihanna's "Umbrella". The song is currently high in the charts across Europe and  will probably be the best selling record, this summer.

And how fitting this is.

I reckon, everyone has already heard about the severe flooding in England. It's not that severe elsewhere but for most parts of Northern and North - Western Europe this summer has been marred by rain, so far. Wether it was open - air festivals such as Roskilde or Scheßel ("Hurricane") or other popular outdoor events. Rain has been a constant feature everywhere.

But an end is in sight, According to the weather forecast we are going to have a warm second half of the week. Not really summer but at least up to 26°C and sunny.

Looking forward to that! :-)

 

This morning I binned two thirds of the Oocytes I had injected with RNA the day before because they hadn't survived the night. There went the best of two days of work.....
And that's not the first time this has happened! :-(
I know it happens to everybody but it still gets on my nerves (as it gets on everybody else's when something like this happens to them). You have to have a very high tolerance for frustration if you work in science. That's one of the things I've already learned since I started working on my thesis, this spring.
This is not a PH.D. thesis but only a "Diplom" (German equivalent of a Master). That means it doesn't matter wether I have any interesting results or not, I can still write my thesis when my time is up.
But I'd rather write about something interesting than having to write about all the things I didn't find out. And work is a lot more fun when stuff works than when it doesn't.

It's now half past seven and I'm still in the laboratory writing this Blog entry while waiting to take a blotting membrane out of the blocking - buffer. For those who don't know what I'm talking about. What I do here is trying to verify wether my injections worked - even if they yielded no result because the oocytes died on the way.
Outside it is raining cats and dogs. It's a pretty wet summer this year, so far.
But as long as I have to stay inside and work all day and thus don't have time to be outside I don't mind the weather.
To the contrary - why should the weather be good when I haven't got the time to enjoy it?
That would be unfair, wouldn't it?
Still, I wish it was Friday and I wouldn't have to get up early tomorrow morning. But unfortunately, it isn't.
I have to admit that this last phase of my studies, beginning with the final exams and lasting as long as my thesis lasts, is a lot less fun than the rest. But that's probably just the way it is.
So, until the weekend, I remain frustrated.
See you later.