My Birthday

Another year older and another year… erm wiser? Ok so I’m not so sure about the last bit but I’m definitely can vouch for the getting older bit, lol. To be honest as I get older, I’ve found that I’m not really that bothered about having a big party or having a fuss made over me every year. In previous years getting everyone together was such as hassle and now these plans just seem to fall into place each year without any effort on my part.

On Wednesday, my actual birthday, I had to prepare for presentation at uni so didn’t really have anything arranged. The day started off with my mum and little brother showering me with presents early on in the morning… ok so it was hideously early but it was a nice gesture and I appreciated it :) Spent the rest of the day at uni, attending lectures (guest lecturer - a nobel prize winner no less!) and workshops (with some amusing incidents along the way) only to be surprised by a birthday lunch with some friends that I hadn’t seen in a while. I had such a lovely time just talking and catching up with the girls and was pleased that everything just felt right. Got home and as I stepped through the doorway I was greeted by a birthday cake complete with sparklers and candles (bless my little brother!). Thursday I spent most of the day stressing about presenting (as I usually do) and after my presentation – which went was fine by the way – I finally had the chance to go home and just chill out my family. Later in the evening, I was pleasantly surprised by Farhan bhai and phupho Kulsoom who popped round with my birthday present, which was nice of them. I spent the evening chatting to mum and phupho whilst Bilal and Fari bhai proceeded to play on the Wii… very competitively might I add ;) Friday was my prearranged shopping day (amongst other things) with the girls. Going shopping, catching up on news and just spending time in the company of some good friends – it was fun. The weekend so far has consisted of a birthday party which took place on Saturday – kind of a joint one for Bilal as well – that was attended by my close family and friends. As I currently write this, it’s early... very early in fact on Sunday morning and I have a day of family visits planned accompanied by some chill out time. But before all that starts, I just wanted to take a moment or two to take a time out and share my thoughts with you over this past week :)

Birthday's always serve as a perfect time for me to reflect on the year that has passed and perhaps mentally list some of the changes that I'd like to make in the future. Recently I've been thinking about the sheer number of people that we meet as we go about our lives. Some of those people may go onto become very good friends whilst others we eventually lose touch with. Personally I believe that all those people are all special in their own way and there is a reason why I met them; a lesson to be learnt from each and every one. The reason may not be known to you or I, but that doesn’t mean that isn’t one and the lesson may not be obvious at that moment but it seems to become clearer as time goes by. In my life, those people I meet get sorted into groups; high school, part time work, uni, placement year, uni again and so on. I would say that I've met a very diverse population of people and not necessarily the type of people you might expect me to associate with. Alright so that sounds a bit strange but what I meant to say was that most people would expect me to hang out with the science/medical crowd or just asian girls with maybe a odd tech geek (sorry!) here or there, which is fine because that’s what I am… an asian girl that does science and has a bit of an interest in technology. However a fair few of my friends are actually lawyers and accountants – careers that my father would have loved me to pursue by the way – and lately I’ve realised I’ve made quite a lot of photographer friends over the years - something for which I have no plausible explanation, lol. At least I have all bases covered right? – a friend in every profession… pharmacist, accountant, lawyer, even a mechanic :P

Friendly acquaintances – definitely. Best friends – I’m not so sure that applies to all of them. What is the ideal number of friends to have? And by that I mean actual friends, not just acquaintances. In complete honesty, I would say that I have about 10 friends maybe less, that I am really really close to. These are the people that I can tell my secrets to, share my worries with in complete confidence and hopefully they can do the same with me. Recently another article which sort of links back to one of my previous post’s about social networking, was brought to my attention. The article initially describes the effect of Twitter, which has been mentioned a lot lately and the use of online social networking sites. It describes how we are becoming more and more dependent on online tools to network with people. It’s a great way to communicate, but we should also the take the time to make time for those special friends and have real conversations… not just an exchange of IM messages with unknown faces. I found the article an interesting read and agree with the message the writer was trying to put across... Quote: “Don’t just fall in love with the tool. Fall back in love with having real conversations.” :)

Ambition

Ok so it feels like I’m just plucking random words out of the dictionary at the moment and writing a whole post on em’, lol. Seriously though, what is ambition?

Definition: an ardent desire for rank, fame or power; desire to achieve a particular end.

I’ve never thought of myself as overly ambitious but like everyone I have many goals and ambitions to that I would like to fulfil in my lifetime. I feel lucky to have been provided with so many opportunities. Opportunities that my parents never had and in a way I guess I kinda owe it to them as well to succeed and be the best I can. I don’t think I’ve ever really been held back in my life, perhaps there have been some difficult circumstances where I’ve had to reconsider things, but I’ve never been held back, well at least not to my knowledge :)

Talking to a former classmate from high school, I discovered that some people see ambition differently. Upon telling him about my plans for the future, for my career, he seemed slightly taken aback. When I enquired as to why this was; he replied by saying that he had expected me to settle down fairly quickly and start my own family. I laughed and replied saying that it was the 21st century and that women were actually allowed to do both. He replied that had I been born in my parent’s era or in another country that wasn’t considered as part of the western world; then the thought of ambition would never have entered my mind. I would have assumed that having a family was the only thing that I could do in my life and that would have been my ultimate goal. Having a career or being an independent woman would not have been my top priority. I did understand the point he was trying to make but at the same time I couldn’t stop the look of disbelief from appearing on my face. How could my friend be such a sexist person? Some might say that I shouldn’t be surprised as he is a guy at the end of the day but still!

He explained that he found it hard to compete with women as well as men in the professional world. Apparently I was a major cause for concern during our A level’s as he saw me as competition and yet we still became friends, lol. He also commented that looking for a potential other half would also be more difficult as women just didn’t accept that you were the best match possible. They don’t just settle for whoever they first meet but instead think about their decisions, (heaven forbid!) :P I commented on how insecure he must feel and how a tiny part of him must now know what women have to put up with in a man’s world. I did actually laugh out loud (sensitive I know!), listening to my friend to paint such a sad picture of life. Basically my friend saw ambition as a curse for women specifically asian women I think. I know of many people, especially my fellow girlfriends that would be outraged at his point of view. I do get what he talking about but at the same time I just think that you have to move with the times. I mean the guy is in his twenties but thinks he’s living in the dark ages.

It’s funny that some people see ambition as a curse whilst some may see it as a blessing...

CASE STUDY: Athene Donald

Have no clue who she is?

This lady is a British physicist and a professor at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physics. She became the only second British scientist to become a laureate of the “For the women in science” awards. Her work on neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease showed how brain proteins could be used to contribute to the development of diagnostic tests and treatments. Physics is usually perceived to be a male dominate area of science; science in general is thought to be male dominant. Therefore had she not been ambitious in her professional life, striving to be the best then she would not have been able to achieve all that she has.

So back to the question ... is ambition a good thing or bad thing? Does it depend on what gender you are, when you were born or does none of that have any bearing on it?

Seeing is believing

Back in 2005 I think, US and German scientists collaborated to produce a bionic eye. It worked by using a chip that contains tiny electrodes, that is placed at the back of the eyeball. The chip is linked to a video camera that is built into a pair of glasses which the individual wears. The images from the camera are relayed to the chip, which are converted into impulses that the brain can process. Basically the implant stimulates the viable cells by bypassing diseased cells in the retina, which can occur from a number of reasons such as macular degeneration. The work was to be tested in humans later on in the year and if successful, it meant essentially that the blind would be able to see again.

Forward to 2009 and a man that lost his sight 30 years ago can now see flashes of light after being fitted with a bionic eye, developed by the US company ‘Second sight’. 18 people across the world have been successfully fitted with the bionic eye so far. Although still in its’ trial period, the progress made by the patients is promising and scientists are now looking at how they can improve the level of vision for patients. Ron’s progress is discussed in more detail on the Inside out documentary on the BBC – Wednesday 4th March at 1930.

Linked to issues of vision, I’ve recently been contemplating laser eye surgery. Currently my vision is classed as short sighted and I’ve had a stable prescription for many years now. Although I like my glasses, I used to find them a hassle sometimes when working in labs/theatres, as I had to wear protective goggles in addition to my glasses. As my time spent in labs/theatres began to increase, I took to wearing disposable contact lenses on the days I knew I would need them and felt content with this arrangement. However recently I was offered the opportunity to have a free consultation about laser surgery from a well known company with the cost being picked up by the company itself in return for me to be included in some PR /prize draw stuff or something along those lines. I remember wanting to have laser surgery when I was 18 years old but was scared witless after being informed by one of my biology teachers that there is a slight chance that I could end up being blind. Ok maybe he was being extreme but still it scared me and I didn’t think it was worth the risk. The effects of the surgery were not known as many people were not having it done at the time and it was also a very costly surgery, something that my father would not have been pleased about.

Time passed and now four or so years later, I’m contemplating having surgery again. This time it is more affordable and more and more people are having it done, yet the long term effects are still not clear. Also I have issues with myself… I’m pretty sure that I’m not doing it for cosmetic reasons but more for the fact that I’ll have the freedom of not having to wear glasses again. Well at least for 10 years or so – the time that the surgery is guaranteed to remain effective for. I mean in terms of vanity, just by removing my glasses will not suddenly make me pretty – to think that would be ridiculous! So now that I’m sure about why I would like to have the laser surgery and that my reasons are not purely cosmetic… why is it I ask myself that I still haven’t made that call back yet?

Diseases I invented

The disease necrotizing fasciitis (a flesh eating disease caused by a number of bacterium such as Clostridium perfringens) was being discussed at a family party. Yep we’re a fun bunch I know :P Ok so I admit it, I'm the one who started it but then I got accused of making the disease up! There’s just no trust sometimes, lol. It then got me thinking about diseases and conditions that have been made up. For example a lady called Elaine Murphy (now a baroness) back in 1974, as a young doctor got together with her husband John Murphy and made up a condition. They called it ‘cello scrotum’ and err you can take a guess as to what it concerned… or Google it :) The condition was then widely reported in a number of medical journals. After 34 years, Baroness Murphy finally admitted her hoax by writing a letter to the British Medical Journal – the same journal where she revealed her amazing discovery. You see if you're gonna make something up, that’s the way to go about it. I started wondering about other ridiculous sounding conditions… but those which are actually true, not hoaxes. Anyhoo here’s my list of odd sounding conditions:

1) Tennis elbow – small tears of tendons attaching the forearm muscles to the bone at the elbow.
2) Housemaid’s knee – friction between the skin and the patella, causing inflammation.
3) Jogger’s nipple – soreness created by friction between skin and layer of clothing.
4) Fiddlers neck – skin irritation caused by contact between the skin and the instrument.
5) Bird-fancier’s lung – lung inflammation caused by contact with bird faeces. Causes chills, fever and cough.
6) iPod finger – doctors say using the same finger to operate your MP3 or texting can cause RSI.
7) Phossy jaw – white phosphorous (found in matches) causes brain damage and makes the jaw waste away.
8) Hatter’s shakes – Mercury used in hat making caused nerve damage and shakes.
9) Baker’s itch – rash on the hand caused by allergies to flour and other bread making ingredients.
10) Scrivener’s palsy – neurological condition that causes cramps/ spasms due to repetitive movements such as handwriting; aka writer’s cramp.

Most of these are now quite commonly known but they still sound a bit ridiculous and made up. Also I'm pretty sure there are more than 10 but I can't think of any right now. Feel free to add away any that come to mind. Meanwhile I’m going to go away and make up a ridiculous sounding disease now. Look out for me in the next issue of the British Medical Journal :P

Love on the brain

Biological anthropologist, Helen Fisher, has used evolutionary neurology to identify four broad personality styles that are linked to different chemical systems in the brain.

• Explorer = Risk taking and impulsive. Artisitic - Artisan temperament. Neurotransmitter – Dopamine (orange). Looking for a playmate. Loves exploring/ having adventures and needs someone to share it with.
• Builder = Cautious and loyal. Sensible - Guardian temperament. Neurotransmitter – Serotonin (gold). Looking for someone to help them. Help them build a home, a family, a social network.
• Negotiator = Imaginative and compassionate. Intuitive - Idealist temperament. Neurotransmitter – Oestrogen (blue). Looking for a soulmate. Wants to know how you think and feel and vica versa.
• Director = Analytical and decisive. Reasoning - Rational temperament. Neurotransmitter – Testosterone (green). Looking for a mind mate. Someone to share their ideas with.

I know what you’re thinking… it’s like those love quizzes that you come across in girly magazines like cosmopolitan etc. Yet Fisher has some serious data to back up her theory. By working with Match.com, she produced a questionnaire to assess people and their dating habits. 7 million people in 39 countries took the quiz and she found that the results followed a pattern. Explorers go for explorers, builders go for builders but the director goes for the negotiator and the negotiator goes for the director - regardless of whether they were male or female. Fisher also conducted other experiments such being able to tell whether a group of people were in love or not just by analysing their brain activity via a brain scanner.

Fisher states that Mother Nature has patterns for choosing a mate; the differences in brain make up lead to different partners. She also acknowledges that other factors such as intelligence, looks, religion, social background and so on also play a role in choosing a partner. Even though biology is the starting point, Fisher believes that understanding these patterns can also help with relationship psychology. People have slipped into clinical depression and have even killed themselves and others for love. Now there is a genuine biological basis to explain the extreme behavioural patterns of people. Love is a powerful mating system and this evolutionary theory is supported by literature. Poets have often stated how romantic love is truly an addiction and it seems that science has proved this to be true.

Sceptical me is not afraid to admit that I actually signed up to Match.com just to take the test and satisfy my curiosity... and I deactivated the account straight after, lol. I re- took the test a few times to see what the results would say but each time I put my myself into the mindset of friends that I know quite well. The results were interesting :) I wondered if that’s how people really see me. My problem now is that I want to compare everyone’s brain activity to see if this corresponds to Fisher’s theory. I guess that’s the problem with being a science person, lol.

By the way - my result – I was a negotiator :)

UPDATE:

I found this link on Twitter and I suppose it ties in with my blog post above. Fisher strikes again with a complex kiss.

The Science of luuurrrrve

Well what with it soon being Valentines’ day and all, I just couldn’t resist. Whilst doing some research for a uni assignment, I came across a website called Scientificmatch.com – a DNA dating service. It does exactly what it says on the tin – a service that allows you to find a partner by matching your DNA; like match.com but with science thrown into the mix. Some of the selling points include heightened chemistry between a couple i.e. body fragrance etc which would be a much better match and help to create a much more fulfilling and lasting relationship. I can only imagine how annoyed perfume shops would be if this takes off, lol. Another selling point was that if you and your new partner were to have children in the future they would be less disease prone and so forth.

Science has been used to develop numerous things such as improving the world’s food supply via GM foods, producing life saving treatments, IVF and so much more. And now we are able to choose partners that will have compatible DNA. Part of me thinks, great idea – less chance of complications in our children and in a way we would be looking out for a future generations by reducing the risk of illness. But part of me also thinks – oh my god, we’re getting way too ‘frankenstein’ about the whole thing and it is a bit frightening. Test tube babies for example - it feels like we’re interfering with God’s will. But leaving religion aside for a minute and thinking about it from a logical point of view. By interfering with the natural process; we may complicate things further i.e. mutations etc – the full extent of which we still don’t know yet. Also by eliminating disease, it would mean that people would live longer and wouldn’t that increase the burden on our already strained resources? Yet the opposite could also happen. By eliminating disease, we would no longer have a collection of antibodies to fight off disease and so it is possible that a majority of the species could be wiped out by one single illness/ bacterial infection/ virus.

Anyway back to the main point – DNA dating. Do people really buy into this stuff? I wondered how many similar services existed and if people actually used them. Using Google, I found numerous related links and some fantastic taglines that made me giggle. Yes I know… I have way too much time on my hands. But come on, admit it… you know you’ll be googling away as you read this post :)

25 things

Another product of Facebook. 25 random things about me...

1. I love my family and friends. I mean they can be trying at times but who isn’t.

2. My favourite flavours are mint and orange (separately)

3. I love cooking, especially baking as I find it relaxing... but not when it is panic induced. I’m quite good at domestic stuff... although my mum will never agree – we work in different ways :P

4. I can’t work in a messy environment and as a result I have developed a cleaning obsession similar to Monica (from Friends). Ok slight exaggeration perhaps?

5. I love medicine/ science and techy stuff – honest!

6. My all time favourite teacher (who kind of inspired my medical career choice) is my biology teacher – Mr Parkinson.

7. Ambitious and determined, I have many plans and goals that I hope to achieve (iA). Whether it’s in my fate that they work out or not is a different matter.

8. I’m a bit of a prankster at university

9. People describe me as cute even though I’m no longer in high school.

10. I see dead people. No, really I do! Regularly. In the hospital lab.

11. I love going on long drives as it gives me a chance to clear my mind. Which reminds me I almost killed a rabbit once. Rabbit survived, car died! ;(

12. I love travelling and have a huge list of place I would like to go and see.

13. I can be a little sensitive sometimes. People can say hurtful things, but I never respond. I just hate confronting people as I believe it’s nice to be nice.

14. Losing someone close to you is the most awful thing to go through and overtime I’ve realised you never really get over it.

15. Most people I meet tend to love my Yorkshire accent. I mean if it’s not from Yorkshire it’s _ _ _ _ (fill in your own choice word ;)

16. I can be a little sarcastic at times (!) – some may say that is an understatement!

17. I love to sing and dance (in private!)

18. I practise ju-jitsu... not telling you what belt though.

19. My favourite sports to play are volleyball and netball.

20. I’ve kept a diary since secondary school (about 10/11 years old) and now I can’t bear to throw them away as there are far too many memories in them. Also the first flower I ever received from a guy is dried and pressed between the pages of my first diary.

21. Apparently I have a ‘type’... or so my friends tell me. Personally I don’t believe them but I do look back and laugh at my choices.

22. Major Keanu Reeves fan :D Ok. So he can’t act as well as the others but so what? He’s pretty :) Also Shahid Kapoor is very pretty as well ;) Yes I know I’m a shallow person ;)

23. My favourite Hollywood movie is The Matrix (for obvious reasons). Bollywood it would have to be split between Veer-Zara/K3G (good family movies) and Jab we met (Shahid Kapoor). Lol.

24. I would like to have twins as it would help towards the optimum family number I have in my head. Also how cute would it be dress them identically, imagine the fun they would have?! (Ok, I’ll stop now)

25. My ultimate aim – a simple happy life, loving hubby, successful career, 4 kids (2 boys and 2 girls) and a fabulous house (ameen). Err, not asking for much then, eh?

Twitter gone crazy

People are going Twitter crazy! Over the last few weeks I’ve heard it mentioned on the return of Jonathan Ross show, almost daily in the Metro newspaper, being used in the courtroom, by politicians, fake twitter accounts for various famous celebs… even the Dalai lama was not spared! lol. I joined Twitter back in 2007, mostly just to keep in touch with my family members. I don’t regularly update my account but I do like reading about what everyone else in my family is up to… my family plus Stephen Fry for some strange reason :)

So I guess this micro-blogging service has really taken off. People do really want to know what we had for breakfast this morning! Ok so I’m being sarcastic but honestly I do think it is actually a neat little service and I really like it. I guess the development in technology and services like Twitter seem to bring out the reporter in people with many news events being covered by everyday people and it allows the collection of data in one go-to site. For example the landing of the jet in Hudson River or the snow spell that recently took place in the UK; people were twittering pictures of such events back and forth.

But sometimes things can spiral out of control - people inventing solutions to problems that weren’t really there to begin with. Something that caught my eye in the paper today was the introduction of a twitter service that tells you when you need to water your plants via a sensor placed in the plant pot. It detects changes in moisture and then via twitter sends you a message to say that your plant is gasping for a drink. OK that’s fine, people are busy I accept that… but to charge $99.99 for such a service is ridiculous, we’re going through economic issues as it is! So quite useful or utterly useless – you decide.

In all honesty, Twitter does get a lot of flak in the news, being ridiculed on a regular basis. So later this week Twitter will try to prove its’ worth. Twestival as it is being called takes place on 12th Feb. Twitters in nearly 200 cites will come together to raise £700,000 for charity and have a good party while they’re at it. Sounds like a plan, lol. Hope it all goes well and I’m sure they’ll all be twittering like crazy on the night to keep us informed ;)

Gritting – where does it all go?

For the past week or so, the unexpected snowfall has been the major talking point in the news. However this has now been taken over by the news that stockpiles of grit/salt are running dangerously low, something that could bring certain roads in Britain to a standstill. Who knew salt stocks would become such an issue in Britain? Looking back salt has always played an important part in our lives. Many years ago salt was used as a preservative for foodstuffs but over time we’ve been educated in the dangers of excessive salt consumption. Increased levels of salt can lead to illnesses such as hypertension, ulcers, osteoporosis and even death. With the recommended daily allowance (RDA) set at 6g per day, recent government initiatives have been aimed at reducing our salt consumption via the use of Sid the slug and so forth. So would it not be fair to assume that excessive levels of salt would also have a detrimental effect on our countryside and wildlife?

When grit is spread over icy roads, the salt dissolves the ice to form salt water (brine) that is a mixture of sodium and chloride ions.

This brine then flows from the roads into the countryside. As well as seeping into the land, passing vehicles can throw brine up into the air allowing it to become airborne and spreading over a larger area. The gritting trucks themselves scatter the salt with great force which causes the substance to bounce off the road surfaces into adjacent areas. These chloride ions can move through the environment and are resistant to natural decomposition, which can cause upset in the natural balance of things.

With the Romans, once they conquered a city they would often plough the fields with salt so that nothing could be grown. High levels of chloride in the soil can alter pH levels, which may kill micro-organisms and change the structure of the soil. This coupled with increased levels of heavy metal pollutants means that the soil is unable to support growth. In plants themselves, chloride ions can prevent absorption of water and nutrients causing dehydration which eventually leads to the plants dying.

Like humans, wildlife is also affected by salt. Wildlife such as rabbits and so forth are attracted to the roadside pools of salt water and are often killed by passing vehicles. Those that aren’t killed outright are poisoned to death by extreme salt levels. It has been found that some birds are left in a haze which affects their reactions times, again leading to their death. Certain amphibians have permeable skin and so the influx of salt can cause changes in the homeostatic levels within their systems. Going back to Sid the slug, we all know what happens when he is exposed to salt. It has also been shown high levels of salt can kill frog spawn and newt eggs and changes in their breading areas can also cause problems.

Finally coming back to humans again, high salt levels can cause pipe corrosion which can release toxic metals such as lead into our already saltier drinking water. Looks quite bleak all around! I’m not saying we should stopping gritting the roads as that would be chaos – something that we’ve already seen this week. Alternatively, I could also just be making things up – a few equations and plausible science can be quite convincing, lol. But it does make you wonder where all that salt does go.

Britain can’t cope with snow?!

My snow covered garden

Yes shocking I know. A country commonly associated rather gloomy weather (where snow is seen as a given…) discovers that it can’t actually deal with consistent snowfall. To be fair, over the past decade or so, we’ve not had much snow – probably due to global warming – and so we’ve not really thought about it much. Therefore as snow started following on Sunday 2nd February, we just assumed that there wouldn’t be much. Roll around Monday morning and everyone was taken aback.

Now usually it’s the north that gets the worst of it, but this time it was the south of the UK that got taken by surprise. The roads were not gritted and blocked by numerous car accidents, people couldn’t get to work due to lack of public transport, flights were delayed from most London airports, schools were shut and so parents stayed home… basically it was chaos! For the first time ever, public transport in London came to a standstill. As the week has progressed, we’ve found ourselves facing depleted stocks of grit for our roads further adding to our transportation problems. Experts reckon that with all the people being off work, it has had an adverse effect on our economy, whilst hospital A&E departments are struggling to keep with increased numbers of patients – mostly being told to rest and drink plenty fluids. The snow is expected to stay until next Monday, but I’m guessing that the novelty of snow will soon wear off for most people.

On bright side, due to the weather Dad took the day off work, Billy’s school was closed, I was off from uni and mum did her usual cooking/ baking thing… all my family were at home together :) We played in the snow till our hearts were content, Bilal and I building an army of snowmen, which looked rather sinister in the dark, lol. It must be the child within me, but I do actually like snow and by that I mean proper snow, not the horrible slushy grey stuff that we usually get. It has this amazing ability to cover everything in sight making it seem clean and bright. Even the ugliest thing when covered with a blanket of snow makes everything seem so much prettier. Just thought I’d share some pictures of my snow - man/woman/people? building attempts… I have to say they are rather erm… unique, lol.

Coo - blimey

ARTICLE:
Australia holds ‘pigeon smuggler’

Smuggling pigeons

A man has been caught with two pigeons stuffed in his trousers after he got off a flight from Dubai to Melbourne.
Australian customs officials say the live birds were wrapped in padded envelopes and held to the man's legs by a pair of tights under his trousers.
Officials also found two eggs in a vitamin container in the man's luggage.
Australia has strict quarantine rules on the importation of wildlife, plants and food. The man, 23, could face up to 10 years in jail.
The nation's quarantine regulations are designed to protect health, agriculture and the environment.
As well as 10 years' imprisonment, the maximum sentence for wildlife smuggling includes a fine of A$110,000 (US$70,480; £48,902).
Customs officials say they also seized seeds in the man's money belt and an undeclared aubergine, following the flight on Sunday.
They add that the pigeons were not endangered and that the case, as well as the birds, eggs and seeds, has been turned over to the country's Quarantine Service to assess the health risk.

Whilst reading the news, I came across this article on the BBC News website and it made me giggle. Firstly of all the things you could smuggle why pigeons? And secondly why hide them down your trousers - did none of his fellow passengers hear any strange noises coming from his trousers? Lol! Also the picture accompanying the article freaked me out… how hairy are this man’s legs? Eek!

Computer chips + neurons = Nerve repair?

Nerve's grown on a silicon chip

Edinburgh University has developed a technique where they are able to grow neurons in a fine detailed pattern on the surface of tiny computer chips. Sounds a bit science fiction right? Actually it’s a process that has been constantly researched and refined over a number of years. The ability to grow neurons means that damaged tissue can now be repaired or replaced in the body –possibly used for prosthetic development. For those that are further interested in the exact details of the research, it can be found by following the link stated below or it can be located in any suitable science journal.

Paper – Delivopoulos E, Murray AF, Macleod NK, Curtis JC. Guided growth of neurons and glia using microfabricated patterns of parylene-C on a SiO2 background. Biomaterials. 2008. 30 (11): Pages 2048 – 2058.

Just to provide a quick overview, the chip is imprinted with a certain pattern on the surface of the silicon chip and is then dipped in a specific mixture neurons and components such as proteins, growth factors that are needed for growth by the nerve cells. The use of circuitry can guide the growth of the cells and the tissue grown can be tailor made to suit each individual. It also means that the use of chips may eventually replace animal experiments – something which a lot of the general public object to but which is a necessary part of scientific development until a suitable alternative can be found.

As I am currently working in the neurosciences area, I think this could potentially be used to treat neurodegenerative disorders, where the nerve cells cease to function. A lot of research and perfection of the technique would be required before such ideas could be put to the test. But a part of me does wonder whether people will be open to such ideas and more importantly will the government provide funding for such ventures? I guess only time will tell.

Social Networking

It may come as a surprise to you but I’ve actually always been one of the more techy people in my group of friends throughout high school, college, work, university etc. Not sure if this is because;

a) I’ve been influenced by family members of whom most are involved with IT related stuff, with only a handful of people breaking away into different areas or

b) I have a natural curiosity for technology and don’t mind changing my lifestyle to adapt to new stuff. Basically I see it as a help rather than hindrance.

Reading a newspaper article on social networking, a few of my friends stated that they don’t get social networking and to some extent I do understand their point. Why stay bound to your PC when you could be out meeting actual people in real world, face to face… a method which I much prefer to the virtual world. There are even concerns for our health as more and more people turn to the online world on a daily basis for work, communicating and so forth. The reference given below is for one of the papers by Dr Aric Stigman. Dr Stigman suggests that a lack of real social networking can actually have an adverse biological effect on our bodies. The rise of electronic media such as the web, TV etc is not a good thing and it means we spend less and less time actually communicating with real human beings. Please follow the link below to read his paper in full.

Paper – Stigman A. Visual voodoo: the biological impact of watching TV. Biologist. 2007. 54(1)

Human interaction is a fantastic thing and it is what sets us apart from the other mammals – the ability to relay emotions with our speech. It is great to be able to feed off another person’s body language or facial expression when having a conversation as it makes it more enjoyable and you better understand where the conversation is going. It’s nice to be able to actually see a person smile (or frown, whatever you prefer! :P), to hug or nudge them or hear their laughter rather than having it conveyed to you by an emoticon. Also there is usually no room for misinterpretation as often is the case in instant messaging (IM) conversations. Whilst conversing with people, I often find that my mind takes a snapshot of that moment in time – the colours, sounds, smells, my emotions all contribute to the memory. Therefore sometimes I find that I am able to recall face to face conversations better than the ones I have online. But then on the other hand, some social network sites do have their advantages. For me, they allow me to keep in touch with the family and friends that I can't always meet up with due to differences in geography, working times and so forth.

Numerous social networking sites such as Hi5, Bebo, My Space etc have been introduced over the years; some have been and gone whilst others have stuck around. As each of the new social networks has been launched, I’ve found myself joining up only to find that the initial attraction wears off. As the number of users increases, the quality of the service on some sites decreases or the service then starts charging for its’ services. Fair enough if the site is good then I don’t mind paying, however more often that not, it is usually not worth it. A newer more attractive site pops up over time and you find yourself joining that one instead. My preferred social networking site… after testing out numerous others is Facebook. First introduced in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook celebrated its’ 5th birthday today and I can’t believe it’s been around that long. I like the fact that this site allows me to connect with my friends old and new via the usual messaging and sharing of pictures. But also the use of various applications helps to pass time when I’m bored or when swamped with work and need a bit of break. Therefore I recently went through a culling program deactivating/deleting my profiles and information off the numerous sites that I had joined over time. And it felt good :) However there are some sites that I just can’t bear to remove as I may need them in the future. I mean I wonder how long Facebook will be around for. What if Facebook eventually ends up following the same fate as its’ predecessors? I need to have a back up plan, lol.