Selectively wiping out memories

The BBC broke the most exciting science story this month: "Working with mice, the researchers found that a particular protein has a crucial role in the formation of memories.

Making the mice over-produce this protein while recalling a specific and painful event caused the memory to be completely eliminated.

The scientists say that in the long-term it should be possible to develop a pill that wipes out traumatic and fearful memories in humans."

I should finally watch the Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The selective memory wiping is at the core of the movie.

Project 10^100 submission's form as a business plan template

Google's Project 10^100 sounds promissing. I missed the deadline to submit my ideas, but I am taking the opportunity to "borrow" their entry form questions in creating a business plan proposals template. Here are the relevant questions: 8. Your idea's name (maximum 50 characters): 9. Please select a category that best describes your idea. Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures? Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families? Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy? Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem? Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives? Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education? Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live? Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don't fit into any category at all. 10. What one sentence best describes your idea? (maximum 150 characters) 11. Describe your idea in more depth. (maximum 300 words) 12. What problem or issue does your idea address? (maximum 150 words) 13. If your idea were to become a reality, who would benefit the most and how? (maximum 150 words) 14. What are the initial steps required to get this idea off the ground? (maximum 150 words) 15. Describe the optimal outcome should your idea be selected and successfully implemented. How would you measure it? (maximum 150 words)

A nice compliment on my Python skills

Mike Pumphrey wrote an entry in the GeoServer blog on batch importing Shapefiles into GeoServer. I got a nice write up from him: "Stoyan Shopov from LISAsoft, a geospatial software and consulting company, was in the same situation as I was.  He created the script, as he says, “by my own initiative and out of frustration,” which pretty much sums it up.  His script was, of course, miles ahead of mine in compactness and sheer elegance." 

Thanks Mike for the kind words. 

DNA Computer Works in Human Cells: Scientific American

DNA Computer Works in Human Cells: Scientific American

Researchers have designed a new type of DNA computer that works in human cells, perhaps paving the way for a distant technology capable of picking out diseased cells from otherwise healthy tissue. The system runs on a process called RNA interference (RNAi) in which small molecules of RNA prevent a gene from producing protein. The goal is to inject human cells with DNA that can determine whether a cell is cancerous or otherwise diseased, based solely on the mix of molecules inside the cell. Sensing disease, the DNA might trigger a pinpoint dose of treatment in response. That technology, however, is a long way off. For now, researchers are testing different ways of turning DNA into versatile computers that can detect certain combinations of molecules and respond by producing other molecules.

Demo

Demonsrtatsia na performancing (pic taken with Dimity's new Razr):

Lots of fun suggestions to try on a unicycle

Fun things to try with your unicycle

Hopping up stairs Idle/hover parallel to the steps, and hop up sideways, one at a time Rotate either direction while hopping. Crush coke cans by hopping. Try to do several in a row, hopping from one to the next. Juggling There are many possibilities here - anything you can do with juggling, you can try on a uni - except maybe picking up clubs with your feet! Hills - up or down. Short, steep hills can be a challenge to climb - see if you can get up enough speed to power to the top before losing momentum and falling off. Snow! Snow and Hills! Uni basketball Especially fun with a giraffe on each team. Uni diving, etc.

Random things heard on the radio

-many countries of the Commonwealth, e.g. South Africa and Barbados do not have indexed pensions, which means that retried people get paid in local currency, but without the conversion taking iflation into consideration. However, if they go to the Phillipines or Jamaica or back to the UK, they'll be all right.
-retirement villages' contracts can be pretty harsh on their residents: e.g. you may move in with your pet, but if it dies you don't get to have a replacement; you can't resell you retirement appartment at the market price, you have to sell it back to the village organisers at the price you bought it; you may get kicked out to a nursing home if the village organisers decide that your "condition" is no longer good enough for the village; privacy is out the door, since people can just waltz in your appartment to "check for things that need repair"; etc.
-the new Wembley stadium will cover 2million square feet. It will have "something for the whole family": museums, bars, gyms, restaurants (including the 4 biggest ones in London consisting of 800 to 2000 seats each).
-a theory has been proposed to use the socio-economically disadvantaged schools in Australia as the proverbial cannary in the mine. If they are not coping then the whole thing is about to explode.
-aggression in children is observed at ages as early as 17 months old. Since such traits seem to be unavoidable, the suggested approach to combat onset of violence is to teach kids (as early as possible) to control the aggression in order to communicate better with their peers, i.e. a form of emotional intelligence.
-word of the day: excoriate: to express strong disapproval of; also, to flay.
Hopefully the word of tomorrow will be flay.
-quote of the day by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: "Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking." and so we keep watching our TVs. Also let's not forget that looking is not seeing. I wonder where seeing rates in his scale. I think that it's close to thinking, so we've gone a full circle.

Tennis balls for resistance training in canoeing

World of Endurance | | Article

So how does one go about resistance training? The traditional resistance device was like a small parachute, made from canvas or plastic, which was hung off the back of the boat (tricky if the boat has an understern rudder!). This created the required drag off the stern of the boat, but pulled the boat off trim. The modern thinking has evolved to tennis balls slung under the hull on a piece of string or elastic. This transfers the drag to the centre of the hull under the paddler, and is far more effective. Simply take three tennis balls, drill a hole right through the balls, and thread then onto a piece of string or bungee cord, which is then tied around the hull behind the cockpit, with the balls directly underneath the hull. The drag created by these balls is quite surprising. Three balls is a tough resistance training session, two balls is moderate and one less demanding. So adjust the number of balls according to your needs. It is also a clever way of training a group of paddlers of differing abilities. For example, a good senior male paddler, with three balls resistance, could have a junior boy with two balls on one wave, and a junior girl towing one ball on the other wave, quite easily. Set up the training session so that 75% of the training time is done under resistance, and the final 25% without the resistance, when you can really appreciate the speed, power, and, importantly the “feel” of the water. As you get closer to competition, cut down the resistance portion to 50%.