FF - Will Using Superpaper Get You Into Harvard?

Friday Fragments is back to help you get through the last day of the week....

Superpaper...is scissors it's kryptonite?

-Superpaper to the rescue!  It's magnetic, waterproof, antibacterial, and will do your taxes.  Well 3 out of 4 of those our true, I'll let you figure out which is false.

-For those of you who like video games, specifically Portal, this mini-golf course was made just for you. I got to be honest, the Portal hole looks incredible!

-The first time ever, am organ (kidney in this case) was transplanted TWICE.

-I absolutely love this take on trying to get into college. (Note, comical not serious).  I am curious what would happen if you used that superpaper to write your entrance essays?

-This is a little bit random but some Little Leaguers wore throw back jerseys recently. This throw back fad is becoming an epidemic (and how do I get to be a part of it???).

-Lastly, take a look at this video below...it is total destruction of household stuff in super-slow motion!  Pure awesomeness!

You Play To Win The Game!

"You play to win the game!" - Herm Edwards


One of the most classic and iconic lines from a professional sports coach.  And it really sums up why we play sports and games.  Those of us who have that competitive nature instilled within us find ourselves playing to win at everything we do.

For those of you who know me, I enjoy playing sports (and games but this post is about sports specifically).  And you also know that I am a very competitive person.  I love to win and hate to lose.  For the past six years of my college career I have participated in intramural sports at Purdue but last night I finally won a championship and got my IM Champs t-shirt.  For those of you outside of Purdue you probably won't care.  But as you walk around campus you see the distinct IM Champs shirts and really the only emotion you get is jealousy.  I wanted a championship so bad and I have been close in the past but finally, Team IPPH won 4v4 Sand Volleyball last night.  Look at my past teams...

I have played intramural basketball every year since Junior year of high school.  Starting way back in high school when Team 4.0 (as in GPA) beat the "Dream Team" assembled by now MLB closer Drew Storen, I knew I wanted to win intramural championships.  It is the ultimate who wants it more playground.  And basketball has been elusive for me to this day.  I have been on teams where I was nothing but a bench player who scored one bucket a game, to this last season when I led the team in scoring 15 ppg. But every year something goes wrong.  One year we lost to a team called the "Backstreet Ballers" and every player had nicknames that were Backstreet Boys' songs. A couple years we had a guy named Stu who accounted for 90% of our offense and we thought we couldn't lose if we get him the ball.  Turns out Stu can only do so much when it feels like he is playing 1v5.  Another year we had to play 4 on 5 in the tourney because of exam conflicts.  It just never worked out.

Justin Siller - Purdue QB and WR.
Also, intramural QB and center fielder.

I have also played tablet tennis, walleyball, and ultimate frisbee.  I made it to the finals of the team table tennis championships my freshman year and this last year made it to the final 8 in men's open table tennis. And my overall record in the BPPL (Brownsburg Ping Pong League) was 93-27.  So I take my table tennis seriously but so do a lot of people around here.  Looking back, walleyball and frisbee were just for fun, but at the time I really wanted to win.  I played flag football for four years and had a couple good teams.  My Junior year, my floor team from McCutcheon made it to the semi-finals of the dorm league before being upset on the second to last play of the game.  And my Senior year I played center for a team that had a guy at quarterback named Justin Siller.  Yeah, the same guy who led Purdue to a win over Michigan in 2008 and finished his senior season this last year as the leading receiver for the Purdue football team.  Evidently that wasn't legal for him to play and they waited until the middle of the playoffs to tell us (we were 5-0 and if I remember correctly were beating people by an average of about 30 points).

That same football team with Siller got me the closest I had been to wining a championship in a while the following spring in softball.  I was by far the worst player on the team and currently 4-5 of those guys now play for the Purdue Club Baseball team.  We lost in extra innings of the semi-finals of the Men's Open league. Since then I have been playing more and more softball, and starting this summer I will play in an actual Men's league in Lafayette (read as much more serious with an 18+ game schedule and sponsors and such).

Team IPPH - GFS Champions

That brings me to last night.  Our rag-tag sand volleyball team went undefeated and played a team in the finals that hadn't won a match in 3 years until they won 3 straight to get to the finals last night.  Honestly, there wasn't much drama outside of a 2 hour rain delay.  We handled them from the start and took care of business.  But I finally got that IM Champs t-shirt!  I remember writing about my softball team one of the first posts in the blog.  Well, better late than never, right?

This summer our department here in the College of Pharmacy (IPPH) is going to be playing sand volleyball again, basketball, and softball.  So the opportunity to win is there, but I the pressure is finally off of my shoulders and hopefully that will lead to more wins (and of course more fun).

"Live Life to the Fullest"

Time flies when you're having fun! That is partially the reason for not keeping up with this blog. But mainly I have been dealing with a great bit on uncertainty with my grad career (nothing bad just uncertainty) and that has made it hard to focus on writing for this blog.  Also, I feel as though I need to walk the walk for how I say you should "Live life to the fullest!"  Thus I have been trying to live each day with gusto and that leads me to put some things on the back burner, like this blog.

Don't let obstacles get in the way of your goals!
You can overcome anything you put your mind to...
no matter how cold it is!

However, my school picture is clearing up (it looks as though I will be at Purdue for the summer) and my first seminar is in the fall (the day after my birthday, ugh).  My research projects are taking shape and personally, I'm moving into a new place in June which I hope to call hope for a few years while I finish up school. Thus I believe you will get to see a return of  your my favorites this summer (Friday Fragments, Behind the Bench, and Under the Hood).  I know I still have the 5 medical breakthrough articles, three of which are half-baked right now.  I really appreciate all the love and support through everything even when I cannot find the time (or motivation) to write a blog entry.  But if my blog continues to be empty as the days pass, please take that as a sign that I am out living life and you should come join me!!!

As each day passes I feel more and more blessed to have the opportunities that I have and to know the people around me. No matter what life throws at me, I feel as though I can tackle and overcome it!  The take home message for today is a huge thank you to my friends and family AND that you can achieve anything you set your mind to! Please go out and let the people you care about, know that you care about them.  Life is too short to leave things unsaid or to spend time thinking about what you want to do, rather GO DO IT!

Pseudo-Spring Break

The weather has finally turned for the better and spring is in the air.  People are outside running again and crack of baseball bats break the silence of winter. It is spring break here at Purdue and like it is for all students, it is a much needed break...kind of.  As a graduate student, it is pretty much an unwritten rule that you do not get to take spring break off.  That's not entirely true because we can take the week off but you have to get permission from your major professor and sometimes even the department head. So everyone sticks around and we all spend time in lab gathering data and running experiments.  But that doesn't mean I cannot enjoy the break from classes.  Actually, I have already had a great start to my pseudo-spring break and I have a full week of plans outside of the basement laboratory.  So below is a quick summary of my week and I hope you can find some inspiration for your own pseudo-spring break. Even if you aren't in school anymore you can designate a week as spring break and step outside the norm for a while.

Last weekend I made the trip up to Chicago to visit the Museum of Science and Industry.  And since I hadn't been since I was 10 or so I was really looking forward to it.  If you enjoy science even the slightest bit or just like hands on activities then this is the place for you.  I won't spoil anything in the actual museum but it is a great place to visit, discover your inner scientist, and spend the afternoon...especially with a friend!

This week, our department has planned a couple softball practices which is a great way to get outside and enjoy the nice weather finally.  We are going to try our hand at sand volleyball as well.  Outside of that, with the nice weather I am going to go on at least one "midnight run."  And that is exactly what it sounds like, going for a run around midnight to enjoy the nice weather and since I live out of town a little bit, the stars give the perfect motivation to dig out that extra mile.  There is also $1 bowling night this week.

And let's not forget that March Madness begins this week!  So I will be watching the games either in the office with a couple other grad students or making my way down to Harry's for an extended lunch.  And this weekend is St. Patrick's day so I will hopefully be meeting up with some friends to drink green beer and try not to get pinched too much.

Overall, I don't necessarily need the week off to have a Spring Break.  It is more of an attitude to just do what you want without reservations about the "work week."  One week of staying out past your bedtime and adventurous weekend excursions can be just what you need to keep you going strong this spring!

Friday Fragments - Breaking Barriers

So I am out of excuses other than I am busy.  My research projects are starting to take off and the couple classes I'm in are quite humbling because I really haven't felt this lost in a class since Mrs. Byrnes W131 high school English class.  Also, I have been choosing to have an active social life traversing around the local midwest, rather than spend time writing blog posts in my spare time (and I am currently watching The Wonder Years on Netflix and until I finish that my downtime is pretty full).  But, I will try and give you all a few fragments to get you through the afternoon, mainly because I am about as motivated to get stuff done this morning as a 90 year turtle at the zoo is to move for the little children.  My hope is that this will start some momentum for the afternoon. Enough rambling...

-Here is an excellent article explaining how close we are to a couple MAJOR physics breakthroughs.

The single atom transistor.

-Moore's Law, ha!  The single atom transistor breaks down that barrier without batting an electron (<--terrible joke, I know).

-If you are Windows user, like myself and 99% of the industrial and business world, you can get a "consumer preview" of Windows 8 right here!  Essentially, it is the Windows Phone 7 OS for PCs.  It looks great, and is getting good reviews thus far.  Let's just hope PC companies don't f*%$ it up...I'm looking at you Dell.

-Assassin's Creed III will be coming out in October and they have released the cover art...AMERICAN REVOLUTION!

-Lastly, John Mayer released his new single Shadow Days, for his upcoming album Born and Raised.  He is starting his Spring tour soon which just so happens to go through Purdue. 

Flavors of the Month - February 2012

Again, the month as flown by me.  My other posts deserve more time to be polished but I can keep my Flavors of the Month going without too much trouble...

Personal Flavor of the Month - Drake

Although my mother does not consider this to be music I really like his Take Care album.  I once agreed with my mother in that rap wasn't really music. But as I have gotten older I have realized that music is any form of melodic expression of one's self.  So Drake is about as musical as it gets once you start listening to the lyrics.  [Warning Explicit at times, NSFW] I really enjoy Shot for Me and Headlines.  It doesn't compare with my all-time favorite Drake song Forever.  I mean can lyrics really get better than; "Last name EVER, first name GREATEST! Like a sprained ankle, boy I ain't nothing to play with!"

New Flavor for February - Ellie Goulding

So she isn't that new in that she is pretty big in the UK.  But her song Lights is just too catchy to warrant any other artist for this month.  The UK has been giving us some decent artist latest like Adele and The Script so Ellie could be the next one to big it big here in the states as well.

Friday Fragments - With Commercials

Well, 10 days of February have literally by as I was pretty sure today was only the 3rd of February until someone informed otherwise during class.  Anyway, being busy is not a bad thing unless you want to try and keep up with the writing of your blog.  Enough, here are a few fragments to get you through the last hour of the day.

-All the Superbowl Ads in one place...if you can't waste at least 15 minutes looking at these then maybe you need to stop and smell the roses.


Personal Favorite - Nissan NSX


-Self-guided bullets.  Like missiles only with bullets.  Now the AI of every first person shooter should have no excuse to miss you when you are shooting your way through some 3rd world country.

-SpaceX had a test of their rocket which could one day send people back to the moon, or even Mars.  Sign me up!

-This awesome website shows you the scale of the universe, enjoy!

Flavors of the Month - January 2012

All-Time Favorite Album

I not only aspire to be a scientist one day but I will continually aspire to be a well-rounded individual.  And if you know me at all you know that I enjoy music, pretty much any kind of music. I played the saxophone for 7ish years between elementary, junior high, high school, and even a little in college.  Now I enjoy learning guitar and soon bass.  I also enjoy trying to pick out new artists before they hit it really big.  For example, I picked up the "Harder to Breathe" single by Maroon 5 back in 2002 and never put it down.  I think you may have heard of them. I also stumbled upon some European singles by some artist named Lady Gaga back in 2006.  A band by the name of Fall Out Boy released a weird concept video for "Sugar We're Going Down" which almost nobody remembers, and most recently my favorite artist to make it big has been Mike Posner, who's One Foot Out the Door mixtape is one of my all-time favorites.  So towards the end of every month I will present two Flavors of the Month.  My personal favorite for that month and an artist to keep your eye on to make it big.

Personal Flavor for January 2012 - Mutemath

Having just released their third studio album, "Odd Soul,"  I have dusted off their old stuff too and been listening to them a lot this month. Their self-title debut album is still my favorite but their newest album offers a synthesized take on rock/pop. It's definitely worth a listen if you haven't heard them before. And I'm pretty sure you've heard their best song Typical before...



Co-New Flavor for January 2012 - Cady Groves
She is very unknown and I have only heard her songs on XM radio for now but I first caught wind of her in a duet with Plug-in Stereo (Oh Darling), when I was looking for good songs to practice finger-picking on the guitar.  She has since released a song called "This Little Girl" and it is getting a ton of playing time on the pop stations on XM.  I originally thought this girl was about 16 years old but her bio says she is 21.

Co-New Flavor for January 2012 - Cher Lloyd

A huge success in England she is coming stateside with her song "With ur Love" ft. Mike Posner (hence how I came across her).  Classified as "Swag Pop," whatever in the world that is, it is similar to Mike Posner's style.  She is young but has a great voice (youtube her).

Only time will tell if either of the new flavors will have the same fate as some of the other people I have found on the brink of stardom. 

Friday Fragments - Quantum Lasers using Teamwork?

After about a month hiatus the Friday Fragments are back.  For those of you who are new to my site, the Friday Fragments are just a collection of interesting stories and links that usually are centered around science but can offer a wide arrange of info.  Enjoy!

-First, my shameless "Plug of the Week."  The Bucket List is a new blog that my friend Rob started to document his experiences trying to complete his baseball bucket list. It's the off-season now but head on over, slap a bookmark on it, and check it out from time to time if you're a baseball/sports fan.  It may inspire you do check off a few items on your bucket list as well.

-Fun with Lasers and Balloons!  Always love a good laser video, but wait and see what happens when they pull out the white balloon!




-Now while the jury is still out on the whole breaking the speed of light theory, scientists have recently published a paper about the quantum speed limit (which I thought would be the same as the speed light but once again quantum mechanics throws me a curve ball).  If you like physics, read this quick summary of their findings.


-This kid got lost inside a computer....granted it was in the 1950's when computers took up the size of whole rooms but still.


-This week I came across a small article about pharmacies and the controversial Plan B birth control.  A new study has found that some pharmacists are taking the moral issue into their own hands and not allowing girls of legal age to buy the emergency contraceptive (17 years or older) even when they have some in stock.  Now whether or not you agree with Plan B and whether it is morally and ethically alright, pharmacists do NOT have the right to deny someone of a medicine if they are legally allowed to purchase it.  I'm just saying!


-I hope you're all ready for the massive solar storm coming our way.  Wait, it's happening as we speak.  That's right, one of the largest solar storms in the last decade is bombarding our planet right now and fortunately nothing major has been affected.  Unless you are traveling in space or use precision GPS (down to the foot) for your job, you probably wouldn't notice the effects at all.


-I'll leave you with one of the best displays of teamwork...

All this work just to play the Demo of Mario Kart 7?  Worth it!

Five Medical Breakthroughs that Could Change the World - Introduction

Each day I spend a little time reading about the latest news in medicine and health. So I felt compelled to make a list of five medical breakthroughs that I believe not only are going to happen in the near future, but would also have the largest impact on humanity.  Instead of writing one really long post I have decided to reveal the list below (for those you like spoilers or don’t like reading much at all).  I will give a brief overview of each and then in the next five weeks I will address each one of these in a more in depth post with links so you can scour the internet yourself.  So I present my “Five Medical Breakthroughs that Could Change the World!”

5) Artificial Organs and Blood without Rejection – The first artificial organs were invented back roughly in 1885, so this is not a new concept.  However, every organ transplant (artificial or not) is essentially rejected by the host because of immunology issues.  The newest trick would be to make new organs and blood using the patient’s own cells thus eliminating the rejection and donor aspects of medical transplants.  We already have some of this technology with synthetic blood and spray on skin on the horizon. (Warning this involves stem cell research so be prepared.)

4) Systematic Streamlining of Medical Information – More of a political viewpoint, I have heard and read about this concept many times but it never seems to get enough steam to become a reality.  However, with the growing number of drug interactions and how small the world is becoming between travel and technology, this database may become a necessity.  I’ll look at both the pros and cons, but this will inevitably always become more of a political debate than a medical one.

Our understanding of genetics
grows every day!

3) Personalized Medicine (Genetics) – Using our DNA to find a predisposition to a disease is nothing new but using your DNA to actually make a drug that caters to your needs is a very real possibility.  A very expensive but real possibility.  Imagine being sick, going into the doctor to give a blood sample and walking out of the doctor’s office a few hours later with a drug that only works for your genetic make-up.  Awesome right?

2) Cure for Cancer – I have a caveat for this one.  Cancer inherently cannot be “cured” because of the nature of how cancer works.  That doesn’t mean that our treatments aren’t getting close to essentially curing many types of cancer.  I promise I will explain, if you’re patient.

The most detailed model of the HIV model to date.

1) HIV Cure – The Holy Grail of 21^st century medicine is hiding somewhere right around the corner.  And what’s even more promising is that the research into an HIV cure seems to be leading us to a cure for almost all viral infections such as the common cold (quick example).  Yes, developing both a vaccine and a treatment for HIV is becoming more and more possible and hopefully scholars in the future will write textbooks about the great HIV outbreak much like the Black Plague; meaning it is over!

There you have it.  I will giving a more in depth look at each of these with the possibility for a few bonus breakthroughs along the way.  

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!  Wait, January almost over already?! Well, time just flies when [fill in your own lame metaphor here].  Anyway, I'm back and have some cool posts coming up soon.  Friday Fragments, Ask a Scientist, and Under the Hood are all coming back along with some new perspectives on both pharmaceutics and life in general.  I have no excuses for why I have not written anything lately other than I have been busy.  Honestly it goes with one of my New Year Resolutions (number 2 below).  To kick off the new year I am going to give a few of my resolutions, give a little incite behind why make resolutions, and maybe inspire someone to commit to their own resolution.  Let's get started...

Let's do it!!!

The reason I want to share my resolutions is because I believe telling someone else of your goals is one of the best ways to stay true to them.

Matt's 2012 New Year Resolutions

1) Go Skydiving - Yes, I want to jump out of a plane and free fall back to earth.  It is way out of my comfort zone and I will probably piss myself once that airplane door opens, but I want to do it because you only live once!

2) "Carpe diem" - Or "seize the day" for those of you who weren't cool like me and took Latin as a foreign language in high school.  Basically this boils down to living each day as though it was your last.  Don't hold back and don't put something off to tomorrow if you can do it now.  Be spontaneous and adventurous and life will come to you!

3) No more pop - That's right, I have completely given up pop, soda, coke, whatever you want to call it. It's a great place to start to try and get you diet in order if you have been struggling to eat better.  I actually started giving up pop back in August of last year, but it took a while to completely give it up.  Now, this doesn't mean you will never see me drink a Dr. Pepper again.  It just means that pop has become a special "treat" to celebrate the good times.

I believe this is the exact watch I had in Jr. High.

4) Wear a watch - Another small change but I have tried to wear a watch daily since I was 12 years old and it has never lasted more than a few weeks.  Granted it was a Mickey Mouse watch followed by a cheesy Purdue watch.  Well, we are three weeks into 2012 and I am still wearing a watch like an adult, and it looks like an adult watch too.

5) Commit to my blog - Self explanatory!

There is a small sampling of my resolutions that I made at the beginning of 2012.  Now let's discuss why resolutions are important. The new year, however arbitrary it may be, is a great time to commit to new things.  Why? Because we are creatures of habit and until something pulls us out of our ruts we will continue on the same path.  Does that mean that if you fall off the resolution or didn't make any resolutions that you have to wait until 2013.  Absolutely not!  Do it today!  Write the resolutions down with the date and call it "Dan's New Year" or "Cathy's New Year."  (Obviously use your name instead of Dan).  And much like a Chinese New Year which doesn't coincide with the calendar year, commit to your new ideals for an entire year.  It's unique and creative which will in itself allow you to mature as a person. Plus you just made up a holiday for yourself, so I will be doing this sometime soon for myself!

All in all, resolutions come down to one fact; only you can make them happen.  Do it for your family, do it for your friends, but most importantly do it for yourself.  Each and every one of us is worth putting effort into ourselves!  Best of luck and Happy New Year!

(Also, anyone wanting to go skydiving hit me up!)

My Year in Review

Merry Christmas!

No worries, I'm still alive!  But seriously, I'm sorry I haven't posted anything lately.  With the end of the semester, finals, projects, and life I have been quite busy since Thanksgiving.  I feel like I blinked and it is five days until Christmas!  And to top it off, a lot as come forward in the name of science and news not to mention just the normal current events.  I have a folder of links to items that either I find really fascinating or I feel could use discussion.  But I feel with the end of the year I should give a little perspective on this past year.  It will probably be more of a personal review than that of big events but we will see where it takes us (it's kinda like a Christmas letter from me to you without the hassle of buying a whole bunch of cheesy Christmas cards with puppies in Santa hats on them).

The beginning of 2011 brought about changes much like the beginning of any new year seems to do.  It is ironic that just changing the number we associate with the year can cause such dramatic changes in life because of our symbiotic relationship with time.  I was beginning my second semester of graduate school and looking forward to enjoying a few more months of college with some of my best friends.  Now life doesn't always work out the way you think but in the end I believe everything happens for a reason.  I struggled with moving on in my life without my close friends always by my side.  But I am so proud to be friends with each and every one of you in our unique relationships!  The rest of the spring was a typical school semester with finals and the normal ups and downs of school.

The SC wolfpack!

The summer however is where I believe 2011, for me, began to take an identity for itself.  It began with possibly the best trip I have every taken with a few of my closest friends.  Spending a week on the beach in South Carolina, literally shooting the breeze (it was really windy all week) was amazing.  Thank you goes to my grandparents who set us up with the awesome condo next to the beach.  It was a very fitting way to  bookend that chapter of our lives!

Once back from the vacation, I began the summer at Purdue working on research.  I was able to really get my hands dirty for the first time and begin interacting with other students and professors in the lab.  I essentially used the summer to gain momentum towards my work in the next few years; learning my way around the lab and how the system works so I can just focus on the science of it now.  Outside of lab, I spent the summer trying to find my new identity.  I was at a crossroads in my life, a quarter-life crisis if you will. And so I made it a mission to challenge myself in every way I could think of.  Socially, physically, mentally, I spent the summer stepping outside of my comfort zone and I can honestly say that I have grown as a person since then.  Life isn't always easy or perfect, but understanding the big picture is important and I am much more confident person because of it. Between destroying "Droids" with the guys from MCUT to running around the state of Indiana with my pharm friends, I had a ton a fun with friends old and new!  I challenge you reading this to step outside your comfort zone at least in the coming days.  It doesn't have to be a large step but do something you normally wouldn't.  For example, go visit a friend in another city on a whim with no set agenda or arrangements; or try a new cuisine with co-worker who you haven't connected with yet. Obviously anything that you feel is outside your comfort zone will work those are just a couple examples of the many things I did this summer. Remember, you only get one life to live so you should do the things you want, be with the people you want, and be where you want to be! Don't wait for tomorrow!

Tough Mudder team!  You all are so awesome!!! Hoorah!

The momentum of the summer literally threw me into the fall school semester.  I began following a friend around the state as he expanded his stand-up comedy routine.  That is a totally new scene for me and I appreciate the opportunity to be a very small part of that.  It gives me a sense of perspective from my sheltered lab life.  Tailgating and weekend excursions seem to highlight my fall.  Can I say that I didn't make mistakes during the fall?  Absolutely not!  But you learn the most from mistakes and failures.  In all areas of my life I have learned a lot about myself and carried those experiences, good or bad, with me everyday.  Oh and let's not forget the 4 month adventure that was training for Tough Mudder!  I hope anyone who wants to see what they are made of as a person has the guts to try TM, goes for it.  I truly believe anyone can succeed if you put your mind (and body) to it!

Overall, I enter the holiday season with a new perspective on life and myself.  I am far from perfect (not that I thought I was before) but understanding this concept has led me to develop my confidence and expand my horizons.  The take home message from this post is that in the course of a year, I have been on a roller coaster of emotions and experiences.  But if you can open your heart, you can come out the other side with a smile and know that you are living life to the fullest.  You can do anything you put your mind to!


Writer's Note - Obviously I couldn't fill in all my 2011 experiences into this post as it would get unwieldy.  But I promise if you want to trade stories about your year I'd be happy to tell you about the rest of the shenanigans and professional experiences that I had this year! (Evil Laugh Here)

End of an Era - Lipitor goes off Patent

This is a great snapshot of the pharmaceutical industry. And it's the end of the reign of Lipitor as the best selling drug in the world! I will probably go into more detail about this situation soon but for now this will have to do.

Why There Will Never Be Another Drug Like Lipitor - Forbes:

'via Blog this'

Real Quick

Hey all, I just wanted to get a few quick things out there...

-First, if anyone is at all interested in running the Tough Mudder Indiana in March please let me know and we can get a team together.  I am about 75% sure I want to run it again (left knee and right foot need to heal).  

-Second, Bryan I have started on a post about the "next big thing" in pharmaceuticals and I hope to get to that political question before Christmas.  And Aaron, fire is a little trickery than pudding but I'm working on it.

-Lastly, anyone who wants to do a little shout-out exchange for their blog let me know.  I will gladly give a plug for someone's site in return for a shameless plug towards mine.  Honestly, I see no shame in that!

I'll leave you with a link to the Layover by Mike Posner.  It's a pretty sweet mixtape with some original stuff and some awesome remixes (like Rolling in the Deep and Rocket Man).

Friday Fragments (11/25/11)

Thanksgiving is upon us and I for am thankful for a few days of rest and relaxation.  Here are some interesting links for you to check out on this Black Friday..

-First, I want a pair of these blinds in my office and in our lab, considering neither of them have windows.

I suggest something like this for your
friends that remind you of characters
from "The Big Bang Theory" show.

-If you know someone in your family that is either a science nerd (like myself) or a sci-fi geek check out io9.com's gift guide.  I particular like the books section (hint hint)!

-In France, doctors have successfully bone marrow to create new blood and give a transfusion to another person.  It's a matter of time before blood drives will be obsolete and we can just grow blood for people.

-Chances are that you are reading this from a computer (or phone) that has a dual-core processor. Maybe even a quad-core and six-core machine if you are an avid computer builder.  But now AMD has outdone itself with it's new beast of a processor with 16-cores!  I can't wait to play 16 simultaneous games of Peggle!

-Scientists have put out a new APB for a giant gas planet missing from our solar system.  New calculations suggest that we may have lost a gas giant to the universe early in the development of our solar system.  So anyone with information leading to the safe return of this giant planet please contact NASA for a job so that you may utilize your talents appropriately.

-I've mention spray on skin but this is truly innovative.  Take a healthy sample, give it 20 minutes and presto...new skin to spray on to the patient!

-Lastly, I want a pair of these contacts.  They come with a built in LED "interface."  Sure it's just one light that blinks right now but soon it will be the internet controlled by your brain!

Ask a Scientist: Is Pudding a Solid or Liquid?

For the first installment of "Ask a Scientist," I will diving into the world of pudding.  But first...

Pudding takes the shape of it's container so it must be a
liquid, right?

I went back and read my original "Ask a Scientist" post and I wanted to clear something up first.  I never intended for the post to sound arrogant or snobby.  My only intention was to try to find some new interesting subjects to look into and write an informative post on them.  I am not saying that I know all the answers or that I am a genius.  I just enjoy researching all kinds of science and I also love to share fun science (such as quantum locking)!  So without further delay, let's get back to pudding.  Which is an awesome topic to discuss!

So is pudding a solid or liquid?  Short answer, it is a liquid.  Long answer, it is hydrocolloidial gel.  I'll explain...

Milk is another example of a colloid,
because the solid fat molecules are
dispersed in the water of milk.

Short answer; if we look at pudding like we were in grade school again and try and determine it's state of matter we would classify it as a liquid.  It has no definitive shape (it takes the shape of the container it is in) but it will not diffuse out of an open container.  So by all accounts it is a liquid.

Long answer; when making pudding there are essentially two phases that make up the pudding.  The first is the powder mix (or raw ingredients if you happen to be a grandma or Paula Dean) that consists of a starch, sugar, flavorings, colorings, and probably some preservatives.  This comes in the form a of solid powder.  Then we have the liquid phase, usually water or milk (which is essentially water for our purposes here).  Now when these two phases are combined and are not completely miscible they form a colloid.  Miscibility is the ability for two things to coexist as one medium (like when you dissolve sugar in warm tea to make sweet tea).  Colloids are when one phase is dispersed within another phase.

Pudding is the same state of matter as hair gel!
A liquid dispersed within a solid.

Here, the main two ingredients that determine the overall state of matter for pudding is starch and water.  Because starches have variable molecular weights and consist of chains of sugars, they tend to form amorphous solids, solids without a definite crystal structure and have a little liquid like properties.  Once the water is dispersed within the amorphous solid of the starch, this increases the liquid like properties overall.  This type of colliod is called a hydrocolloid because it specifically uses water.  Lastly, this is considered a gel because the water is dispersed within the solid.  So thus the hydrocolloidial gel!  Which is actually more like a solid.

So to answer the question is pudding a solid or liquid, it is both!  I hope that helps and you can impress your friends at your Christmas parties!  Thanks melpels for the question!

PS - Tapioca pudding is the easiest example of this hydrocolloidial gel that is both a solid and liquid, because there are literal chunks in that pudding, ugh.

Tough Mudder: Making the most of my Sunday!

How did your weekend go?  I spent Sunday romping through 10 miles of mud, fire, ice, water, rocks, swamps, and obstacles with a few other crazy people at a little event called Tough Mudder.  If you haven't heard of it, click this link to watch a quick video and then come back to reading this entry.

First and foremost I want to say I am so very proud to have the teammates that I had for Tough Mudder.  The Perpetual Motion Squad as we were called really came together to finish the event and I could not have done it without you all.  So congratulations goes out to my fellow teammates; Glenn, Hillary, Beth, Anne, and Jenny! And a special shoutout to our cheering section Hiba and Annie who followed us around and took pictures while we "played" in the mud.  Next, a huge pat of the back goes out to all my fellow Tough Mudders from Indiana this weekend.  That course was grueling and the sportsmanship and camaraderie that was exhibited was the best I'd had ever been a part of!  I definitely can't wait to do this again because of all of you who participated or helped with the Tough Mudder event.

Now, I have been training for this even for a little over 4 months and many of my friends and family knew that I was going to be participating in the TM. I want to thank all of you who supported me through training and you know who you are!  But for all of you who laughed at me or doubted me at all, I want to say a big thanks to you!  Without the motivation to prove you wrong and silence the naysayers, I don't know if I would have completed even the training for the event let alone the TM course itself.  It was the fuel to my fire! It was by far the hardest physical and mental event I have ever been a part of and I so proud of myself that no one can say or do anything to take this feeling of accomplishment away from me.  So again I say thank you to all that both supported me and doubted me because you all helped in one way or another.

As for the course itself, I conquered some of my own fears throughout the duration of the day.  Some of the obstacles included; jumping off a 15 foot platform into a freezing lake and swimming over a 100 yards with all our muddy clothes on, climbing under barbed wire in the mud, scaling 10 foot walls with nothing be my teammates, traipsing through mud that was waist high, a mile of running in a creek, climbing up one side and down the other of a 15 foot cargo net, running through fire, crawling through ice well barbed wire was over top of you and it was set to electrocute you if you touched it, the worst monkeys of your life, and finally running through hundreds of live wires set to hit you with 10,000 volts while you jumped over hay bails.  Now that is only about half of the obstacles not to mention we covered 10 miles throughout the race.  My knees are pretty banged up but otherwise I made it out alright.

All in all, TM was one of the most exhilarating events I have ever been a part of and I really cannot wait to do it again!  And I say to all of you who don't think you could do this to go out there, get off your butt, and do something with your life!  Whether it is a Tough Mudder or finishing that college degree, you can do anything you put your mind to!  I was able to use this event to motivate myself into getting back my confidence in myself and now I know without a doubt that I can achieve anything I set my mind to! 

Can I get a Hoorah?  HOORAH!

Hit Me With Your Best Shot!

Recently I haven't had any passionate subjects to discuss on my blog here and today I find myself altering the layout of the blog instead of trying to write something.  I could chime in on the Penn State scandal but I am kind of tired of hearing about it.  And I could talk about how I am glad that college basketball is back or how Purdue beat OSU for the second straight time at home, both resulting in the students rushing the field. For the record, I was not a fan of us rushing the field this time.  Come on people, act you have been there before!  But neither of those would be thought provoking and insightful, which is what I am striving for.

I have recently posted about my friends and about my career, both of which seem to occupy a lot of my spare thoughts. I think that's understandable at this point in my life.  And I have tried to keep up with posting Friday Fragments for those of you who get your science fix from me on Fridays (I have few cool links already for this Friday).  

I figured this was appropriate because it is no-shave
November and my face looks a lot like his does!
But no, I do not own any purple pants like that.

My Under the Hood series is kind of on hold as I was going to write a piece about LLPS, liquid-liquid phase separation, but we are looking at some novel theories in our lab and I don't want to compromise the integrity of that research until I have a better grip on the subject.  And I'm not sure how I feel about my Behind the Bench series at the moment (Jeremy your post was great, I have other reasons).  There are a couple big political topics regarding science that are coming to front, such as the increase in the NSF budget for next year (HELL YEAH).  Or how people here at Purdue tried to allow students to carry concealed weapons, seriously?! But if you know me at all, I am not a fan of politics because of the partisanship that accompanies it.  If we were able to intelligent debates where both sides are open minded and respectful, I'd be first in line to jump into politics but for some reason people allow broad mindsets to dictate all their responses.  

So I am kind of in a low point for the blog.  I have nothing particularly interesting to write about and with the semester coming to a close, we have finals and the holidays which put a damper on research.  And even though when I have opened up this blog to "audience participation" I haven't gotten much of a response, I am going to try something new...

"Ask the (future) Scientist" will be your opportunity to ask me any question regarding pharmaceuticals, physics, chemistry, biology, math, etc.  Even if I am not an expert in a topic, I would love to do a little background learning and put together a few posts regarding anything your heart desires!  These topics can be as simple as What is a neutrino? or Why is blood red? to ask specific and complicated as What do new brand drugs cost so much more than generic? or How does quantum locking work? 

So leave you questions in the comments section or email them to me at pharmjack29@gmail.com and we will see how this goes. If all else fails, I am pretty sure my mom will have some sort question to get us started!

 

Friday Fragments (11/4/11)

Alright, no screwing around! Here are some fragments to get you through the afternoon...

-A study out of Yale University has mathematically shown that there is such a thing as a "hot hand" in basketball (or as NBA JAM won't put it, "He's on FIRE!!!").  They don't have any proposed mechanisms per say but they have uncovered some statistically significant results from years of NBA data.  Although anyone who has played basketball, or any sport for that matter, can tell you there are times when you are just in the zone. I tend to get that way for table tennis but that's another story.  Here's a summary of the study, rather than the actual research paper.

-1996...I was 9 years old and the internet was still very young too. I remember going to the computer lab to work on bulky PCs and even a few MACs, using programs like Creative Writer and Oregon Trail 2.  I happened to stumble upon this pro/con list of the internet circa 1996.  Sadly, much hasn't changed!

-I really like this footage from the moon taken in 1971 that proves Galileo was right about gravity.  Watch the video below to see a hammer and a feather fall at the same rate.

 

-Crystal skulls are always fascinating....period.

-Here is a list of 10 common food myths.  I particularly like the one about tryptophan and I cannot wait to challenge this answer in Trivial Pursuit (I'm looking at you, Mom).

-And lastly, stem cell research took a small step forward recently.  Scientists were able to produce stem cells from an unfertilized egg using someone else's DNA.  However (there's always a catch) they had to leave the native DNA in the egg as well which produce essentially worthless stem cells, as the donor would reject the stem cells for having some native properties.  But it is a step in the right direction, and for those who are sensitive about the whole embryonic stem cell debate, this is a good step in the right direction.

"So what do you want to do with your degree?"

I get asked that question a lot. Rightfully so since when all is said and done I will have spent 9+ years at Purdue studying pharmaceutics (I'm on year 6 for those of you keeping score at home).  Well it turns out I have a very specific answer to that question..."I have no frickin' clue!"

Usually I will give a nice overview of my options and explain that during the course of my grad work I hope to be persuaded toward a specific career track.  Let's look at the options, shall we?

-Industry.  This is biggest and most obvious answer. Within Industry there are many paths such as big pharma companies, small pharma companies, consulting, clinical trials, and sales.  Now if I am to go into Industry I believe I would want to work as a Senior Scientist in R&D but honestly at a certain point, any job within the field works for me.

-Academia.  Get a post-doctorate position at a University, then apply to become a professor and continue up the academic chain.  I really enjoy teaching and I believe I will end up here someday.  However, I also believe that the best teachers have some industry/real life experience with pharma companies and I would want that experience as well.

-More school.  Yes, believe it or not I have not ruled out the possibility of more school. Most likely Law School to work on patent law with pharmaceuticals, but I wouldn't rule out Med School either (in order to be the top dog of a pharma company, a Ph.D. and M.D. are almost always required).  This could be in the form of night school while at a job or a mid-life go back to school "crisis."  Regardless, it will be an option for me until I figure out what to do.

All that said, I have really only realized one thing since starting grad school.  That is, I am way to interested in so many other things that I can guarantee that I will not get a position right out of school and keep it forever.  I enjoy trying new things and exploring areas which I may not be the most suited for (example is the comedy scene that I have been following my friend John around in for the last couple months, as I am not really that strong in the Arts...shout out to him, good luck at the Michiana Contest this weekend)!

Moral of the story, you could ask me, "So what do you want to do with your degree?" every time you see me and I will probably give a different answer.