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).

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.

Killing Time

After the long weekend I found myself motivated this morning to get "stuff" done.  So after reading a couple papers on LLPS (that's liquid-liquid phase separation for those of you keeping track of all the abbreviations), getting some homework finished, and preparing to teach lab this afternoon I have found myself with a little time to kill.  Unfortunately I am no longer as motivated to start a new project and I figured I would write quick blog post.

If you haven't noticed, the frequency of my posts has decreased since school started back up a couple of weeks ago.  Things are settling down a little school-wise and I hope to get back to some regularity.  Enough with formalities...

This last weekend marked the beginning of the college football season and our Boilermakers somehow squeaked out a win against the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State, 27-24.  Yep, there are no typos in that sentence and it was actually a really good football game as far as excitement value.  I believe Carson Wiggs is my favorite player this year because if the ball is in the stadium, he can put it through the uprights.  If you happen to make it to West Lafayette for a game this fall, look me up because my friend and I are planning on tailgating (front row) for as many games as we can! October 1st is the night game for Notre Dame (hint hint)!

Also last week I went to dinner with the guys from 105B.  They are the guys from the Taylor Lab group and we are starting to do some male bonding as the rest of the lab group in the basement are girls.  Anyway, it was my first major experience with authentic (or as authentic as you can get in the US) Indian food.  Not too bad!  I recommend going to an Indian buffet with someone familiar with the cuisine and customs.  There is a post-doc from India who was able to show us around the food and it made the whole experience enjoyable.  I do like learning and trying new things, especially from other parts of the world.  This week I believe we are going disc golfing and possibly playing some table tennis, and if you know me you know how I feel about table tennis.  But as a whole we have a really nice, diverse group of guys and it has already made working in the lab more comfortable.

Classic Design Fender Acoustic

Lastly, I am looking into getting an electric guitar this month as a birthday present to myself.  I have an acoustic (Classic Fender) but I think I want to give electric a try.  If you have any suggestions for guitars or amps for both quality and price that would be greatly appreciated!

Speed of Sound

Do you ever feel like your life is moving at the speed of sound?  Well, the last two weeks or so has been just that for me.  My summer was definitely fun but also took patient.  Now, everything seems to be happening at once.  This is not a bad thing because I function at my best when my plate is full!  Call me crazy but seeing my calendar look like two rainbows got busy on top of it just adds to whatever motivation I have at that time.

With that said, here a few new items of mine for you to ponder upon…

The NQAD instrument

Last week was culmination of a few weeks working with a Sales Rep for a new instrument in our lab.  The NQAD for HPLC (Nano Quantity Analyte Detector for High Performance Liquid Chromatography) will hopefully allow our lab group to measure micro and nano quanitities within our projects.  Well, I arranged for the rep to come give a presentation and assist with the installation of this new instrument.  The overall installation process was almost a complete failure. The hardware works fine, but the software needed to actually gather data has been a real pain in my butt to say the least.  It has been a week since the rep was here and it is still a work in progress.  But, I learned a lot about research through the process.  I really appreciated that the sales rep, who is an analytical chemist not an actual sales person, took the time to know me and offer advice for a young graduate student.  I learned that as long as you have a passion for what you are doing, the rest will fall into place regardless of where you think it may or may not be going.  Not to mention I got a free lunch out of it (thanks again)!

Last Monday marked the beginning of yet another school year here at Purdue University.  Here are my observations.  The freshman look so young that I keep thinking there might be a middle school field trip on campus.  Parking on campus remains to be a complete disaster.  And I find myself laughing at people as they walk around campus (chasing busses, being in the wrong classroom, yelling at Robbie Hummel, etc).  Even though those things seem to be all negative, I really do enjoy that everyone is back on campus because of the closeness of Purdue (see this link if you need to know what I am talking about). 

Since the school year has started that means call-outs and club meetings have begun again.  I am a part of the student chapter of AAPS (American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists) here at Purdue.  This year I have been “elected” as the President Elect.  Essentially we have a President, Vice President, and President Elect and each year the Vice moves up to President, and the Elect moves up to Vice.  I believe that setup is used for consistency within the club.  Anyway, my one outlined role in the club right now is to make sure the bulletin board is up to date and looks good.  And I thought I had finished with bulletin boards after my Res Life days!?

Counter as of Friday (8/26/11)

Lastly, the Purdue starting QB, Rob Henry, tore his ACL at practice this week.  I just want it to be known that I have not torn my ACL yet but I will be taking extra precautions as I train for the Tough Mudder Competition schedule for November.  That being said, anyone associated with Purdue should immediately begin wearing knee braces on both legs to be safe!

Bush League

Good example of 'Bush League' play!

It is the peak of summer, which means only one sport dominates the news...baseball (and softball but they are similar enough that we can consider them one entity for the sake of the opening line of this blog entry).  Being from Brownsburg, IN, I hold baseball to a higher standard than most people.  I believe in playing the game the right way; with sportsmanship and class.  Now I remember playing Frosh and JV ball in high school and I had a coach who coined the term "Bush League" for me.  Now I know he wasn't the first person to use it, but it was the first time I was introduced to it.  Bush League refers to the minor leagues of the old days where non-conventional and unprofessional play dominated games.  Now, my coach would refer to a play or strategy as "Bush League" when the other team did things like;

-Steal bases when up by 10 runs
-Try gimmicky plays to pick a runner off second or third base (hidden ball trick)
-Run the score up
-Walk on  and off the field
-Bunt every guy because they couldn't hit our pitcher
-Bunt every guy because our pitcher was slow
-And my personal favorite...excessively taunting our pitcher as a runner on base

There are many other examples but you get the picture.  Now that coach (Coach Stayte) was a great coach for many reasons but the one thing I took away the most from him was that you should always play the game the right way.  Run on and off the field, respect the other players, always give 110%, etc.  A few years later when I coached little league baseball, my main philosophy was have fun and play the game the right way.  In three years as a coach I hovered around a .500 record and never won any championships.  But I believe we had more fun and learned more about the game of baseball than any other team.

Of course by now you are wondering, "Matt, why the hell are you talking about this?"  This week is the final week of the my summer softball league.  My team played in the Winner's Bracket final against the powerhouse of the league.  We lost and have to beat another team Thursday before we get another crack at the powerhouse.  But having played the powerhouse twice, I can honestly say they use some pretty Bush League tactics.

First of all, their pitcher wears a batting glove on his throwing hand.  Now, I know that is a little judgmental but my coaches would never allow that to happen and I would need a pretty serious reason to allow it on my team (he's been wearing it all summer and claims he was recruited to play baseball at Purdue; I call shananigans).  He also is the slooooowest pitcher I have ever seen and he talks to the batter everytime.  I took one practice swing while approaching the plate and he said, "Ready when you are batter!"  Then, once in the batter's box, I waited. And waited. And waited for him to pitch.  I was so mad I tried to hit it right back at him only to line out to the center fielder.

Second of all, they have a former minor league baseball player on their team.  Now I am not sure how he is related to Res Life but anyone who has their own baseball card should not be playing in this league (or at the very least should prevent Bush League play).

Next, the team takes advantage of some DH rule which I don't understand.  This allows them to bat their best players two or three times before their worst players bat at all.  I tried to say something about it, but because this is for fun and the scorekeeping is sloppy at best, I had no ground to stand on.

Lastly, and probably the most annoying thing of all is that their team is huge but they only play the bare minimum of players.  They have at least 18-20 people is shirts and probably 15 or so that bat...but only 10-11 play the field.  And at any given time they have 2-3 people in the coaches boxes by 1st and 3rd base, regardless of who's up to bat.  Between that and all the talking they do to each other and the other team, by the end of the game you just want them to 10-run you so we can all go home.

I understand that this is a Summer Softball league.  But no where in this alledged rule book is there a rule that says you cannot play the game with some dignity and class.  Going into to tomorrow's final games they are the heavy favorite, but they have already lost my respect.

Rockstar Status

A few days ago I was sitting around with some friends just hanging out and talking about random stuff.  Of course I was bringing up about every “fragment” that I have linked through this blog and got asked a sarcastic question, “Where do you get all this stuff?”  Good question.

Popular Science is one of my favorite place
to find the latest and greatest scientific
en devours.

I believe every person needs to be well-rounded and that includes having hobbies.  Now I enjoy playing guitar and playing video games (I can’t wait until Assassin’s Creed Revelations comes out), and I have always played sports like baseball, now softball, golf, and table tennis.  But one of my new hobbies has got to be reading about science research and breakthroughs.  Not necessarily the entire research articles but I like perusing the latest news sites for interesting stories.  And that is where I get all that stuff.  Being well versed in all disciplines of science can only help me in my career and life journey through science.

[Side note: I love science and learning how things work.  And I always have believed that everything has an explanation, a reason.  However, the explanation is not always quantifiable.  The best way I think I have heard this described is in The Script song, Science and Faith.  Take a listen and judge for yourself.  If this blog was a myspace page, that song would be playing in the background.]

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are in the elite group of
innovators who have made it into "Rockstar" status.

As I continue to fuel my new found hobby, I have found a whole world of discoveries that the mainstream media misses.  Every once in a while a big discovery makes onto the news, but all the war, politics, crime, and money seems to dilute any opportunity for good news in the research front to make itself known to the world.  My wish is that one day scientists and doctors are held to the same “rockstar” type status as celebrities and athletes.  Not because I secretly want to be a rockstar (that would be pretty sweet), but because they are the ones who deserve some attention for their contributions to society.  And like with all celebrities, the scientists who make great breakthroughs will have both crazed fans and irate objectors…but that’s why it’s fun, right?  Even though it is very unlikely that doctors, scientists, and inventors enjoy the same luxuries as all those artsy folk, we must at least acknowledge all areas of progress before the drive to find the "next big thing" is stalled by the complacency to play basketball or yet another super-hero movie.

Friday Fragments (7/22/11)

HPLC Instrument...looks like fun, right?

I have to keep it short this week but here are a few fragments to get you through the day.  Also, I have been working on a few new ideas and thought I'd give a quick preview...

Under the Hood: High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) - I'll be using this a lot in the near future so writing about it not only relates to my work but also serves as a good refresher course for myself!

New post coming soon - "So you're gonna be a pharmacist? Not exactly."

Reboot of my original series "Behind the Bench."  I am revitalizing this idea to be a little more Q and A and a little less cheesy.  Also, it will hopefully feature both future researchers and pharmacists (so if you are interested let me know).

New post coming soon - "My Top 5 Medical Breakthroughs and How They Can Change The World!"

Alright now to this weeks fragments;

-At a convention in Europe a grad student from Berlin gave a presentation of the shape-shifting cell phone.  Watch the video (about 5 min) but it you are short on time fast forward towards the end and watch the part about bringing your cell phone to "life."  It is particularly entertaining!

PEG can be modified and made in
variable lengths depending on the
task at hand.  

-A team of researchers from Harvard and MIT have developed new synthetic vocal cords from a polymer.  Cool thing is that they used Polyethylene Glycol (or PEG for short) which is already approved for multiple health medical technologies and drug formulations.  Again the video is actually quite neat!

-Completely unrelated to science, Rick Reilly wrote an article on ESPN.com about welcoming Nebraska to the Big Ten.  Unfortunately Reilly used very few actual facts and just proceeded to belittle everyone associated with the Big Ten.  Read his article here, but for a more entertaining (and Boilermaker bias) read this breakdown of his article on HammerandRails.com.

-Rock-paper-scissors statistics. Yeah, it's that important that we do research on it!

Have a great weekend!

The Rest of My Life

I strive to keep a science tone to this blog because that's what my main interests are in.  However, I also believe in trying to be as well-rounded of a person as possible.  So, I have a few short "perspectives" on other aspects of my life for your reading enjoyment, if you so choose.

First up, softball.  For the second summer in a row, I am playing in the Res Life summer league for McCutcheon Hall and we start the tournament tonight.  Now personally, I am hitting better than last year (roughly .950 compared to .500 last year) and I have been playing shortstop instead of pitching which is awesome for me.  As a team, we are just starting to come together and play well as a team, but the tourney starts NOW.  Anyway, I have been asked to come check out the Men's softball league of Lafayette because a couple guys think I would be a good addition to a team there.  Basically, I am being recruited to play softball.  All I have to say is, "Show me the money!"  Just kidding, but seriously.

UPDATE:  Last summer I wrote about my intramural softball team and our chances of coming back next year to win it all.  Well, I had other commitments that made me unavailable to play with them. And they did win it all, called it!  Congrats guys!

My new car...2011 Toyota Corolla LE

Now, onto a much bigger life event...purchasing my first car.  Over the 4th of July, I purchased my first car.  Brand NEW Car!  It had 9 miles on it when I drove it off the lot.  It's a 2011 Silver Toyota Corolla LE.  Well, I'm leasing a new car but it's all the same, kinda.  Originally the thought of buying a new car never even crossed my mind.  And I know a lot of you people that I am blessed enough to call friends told me never buy a new car.  However, I believe I may be in a situation worth hearing out.  So after spending weeks searching for a used car and after a few hours looking and test driving used cars throughout the area on the 4th, I made my way to the Toyota dealership in Avon honestly ready to call it a day.  After browsing a few new Toyotas, the salesman came up and asked if he could help me.  I explained that I was looking for a used car in a certain price range for a certain amount per month.

Now, the salesman who I will refer to as Jay, could have sold me a used Toyota without even suggesting a new car and probably gotten rid of some P.O.S. they haven;t been able to get off the lot in months.  But he then explained to me the idea of leasing a brand new car.  After three years of making payments I will have the option to buy out the car, re-finance, or give the car back.  I will be paying the same (actually less) per month as a used car and I have all the perks of a brand new, safe car.  The reason this makes sense to me is because Toyota Corollas (and Camrys) hold their value very well.  To make a long story short, Jay took the time to understand my situation and suggested a car that made since for me.  Not to mention, I have had my fair share of car troubles and it will be so comforting not to have to worry about my car breaking down.  So thank you Jay, and if you are considering purchasing a new car and want to ask me more questions about my car and lease, feel free to give me a buzz/drop me an email.

New house!

Lastly, I am moving for 6th time in 6 years.  Even though I lived in the dorms for multiple years, I always had to move my stuff home in between years.  So now I am moving into a two story house west of Purdue with a couple friends and I can honestly say I hate packing.  I don't think it would be as frustrating if I was moving towns but moving in the same time over and over again gets really redundant.  But when it's all said and done I am pretty excited about the new place.  Fenced in backyard, three care garage, and lots of space.  I'll put up some pictures soon once I get all moved in!


So there you go folks.  There is a little extra incite into the life and times of me!

You know you're a nerd when...

Last night, the mighty Boilermaker basketball team decided that it didn't want to play the Ohio State team that awaited them on the court.  Thus, my day which I built up to epic proportions in my head ended before it started.  Literally, my cable company is based out of Michigan so I was stuck watching a crappy SEC 2OT game, and I never saw Purdue within 15 points of OSU.

With Purdue trying to hang on to their dignity I had to escape.  I am a loyal fan, but I was already pissed at my cable company and needed to take my mind off of the thrashing that OSU was giving Purdue.  (Every team has off nights and I liked the headline on the student newspaper this morning, "Not Even Close!")  I digress...so I turned the channel to comedy central for tosh.O and started looking for something else to do.  After checking my email and Facebook accounts I decided to tackle some Particle Design homework.  Yes, I choose to do homework to blow off some steam.  I actually got on a pretty good role until Excel decided that probability distributions were too hard for it.  And yes, I installed the Data Analysis add-in, but unless you know how to graph histograms with variable sized bins don't be hatin'! See below.  I finished 2 problems of 7 and felt somewhat better.

The x-axis numbers relate to the beginning of a bin.
They are clearly not the same size!  The overall area should add up to 1,
but it can't because of the unequal bins...damn you Excel!

It was not until I was laying in bed and thinking about the last problem that I realized that I had foregone watching Purdue basketball, however bad, to do homework....and I felt better about myself.  That got me thinking of the things I like to do for fun that are just plain nerdy.  For example;

-I own 3 types of Trivial Pursuit (Pop Culture, Wii video game, and the new Trivial Pursuit Steal) and have on more than one occasion had friends over just to play Trivial Pursuit.
-My top websites that I visit include PopSci.com, Gizmodo.com, io9.com, and pharmtech.com.  They rival my time spent on ESPN.com and facebook.com easily.
-Every sci-fi movie is ultimately interesting to me because I ponder the reality of the situation.  Could something like this happen? You never know.

The list could go on and I know I'm going to get that comment that says, "Hey Matt, you are nerd!"  I understand that I just thought I would share that little insight with you all.  So, if you want, send my your "You know you're a nerd when..." story and I'll post it in the Friday Fragments!

Back from Break

It has been awhile.  Last time I wrote that it was before finals and that I would get back to posting after the Holiday break.  Well, it is now two weeks into the new semester and this is my first update.  Let me explain.

Over the break I anticipated outlining my graduate studies and getting started on a research project.  As it turns out, this process takes longer than one semester.  I have begun "laboratory" hours but this consists of reading research articles and papers within the my field of study in order to narrow my project focus.  Basically I will be doing background work for this semester before I actually start to outline my thesis work this summer.  How this relates to my blog...I fully intend to write about the every activities of a graduate research assistant.  Having worked with a grad student toward the end of his grad work, I know that I will have plenty to write about eventually; such as internship opportunities, guest lecturers, research symposiums, and interactions with the leaders in the field.  I want to share my experience with everyone and maybe even inspire a few people.  Unfortunately I am not quite there yet but for now, I will continue to write about any and all things relating to my experiences as new grad student at Purdue.   So....

Most recently College Gameday was here on campus.  It was an awesome experience and it was great to see the student body come together with alumni to cheer our Boilermakers.  Although the actual game revolves around the team, there was something very fulfilling about screaming my lungs out with 14,000+ other Boilermakers for 6 hours (4 for College Gameday and 2 for the game).  As a Purdue sports fan we our conditioned to support our teams through thick and thin.  We've been there when Drew Brees led us to the Rose Bowl and when Kyle Orton had "the fumble" when the football version of College Gameday was here on campus.  We supported out basketball team when the Big Dog, Glenn Robinson led Purdue to the first of three straight Big Ten titles and when Gene Keady had a farewell season to forget.  Overall, I personally believe the Purdue fan base and alumni are some of the most loyal and enthusiastic fans in the country and it is an honor to be apart of something as special as College Gameday.

In other news, the College of Pharmacy is starting a new mentoring program for undergraduate students.  Basically, they are matching up graduates students in the three departments (Pharmacy Practice, Industrial and  Physical Pharmacy, and Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology).  Now I am very excited to be a apart of this new program because I was essentially a mentoree for a grad student a few years ago, and it was because of that experience that I am in grad school today.  The interesting thing is that the undergraduates can either ask to matched with a grad student based on discipline or they can select the grad student based on a short presentation we give.  And when I say short, I mean short.  See the following powerpoint slide....

Yep, that's all they want from me.  I assume that at the end of the meeting this week, the line up us grad students like we are being picked for dodgeball teams in Jr. High.  It should be interesting.  (And yes, I am using a picture of my adorable nephew as a selling point, DON"T JUDGE ME!)

Be on the look out for the Friday Fragments (short bits on news in science).  I hope to keep updating the blog daily (or every other day).  Also feel free to email me at pharmjack29@gmail.com if you have questions about grad school, pharmaceutical sciences, Purdue, or anything seen in my blog.  Thanks for all the support!

Friday Fragments

Last week I published a post on "Quick Random Thoughts."  I liked the idea of weekly putting together a bunch of little stories that I like.  So I introduce to the world my...Friday Fragments!

1) Movies!  The new Aliens prequel title was released (Paradise) and it was announced that it will being shooting next March.  I would like to see a new Aliens movie since Alien vs. Predator 2:Requiem was soooo good!  Next, the first trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and it features the famous Purdue astronaut, Neil Armstrong.  Check it out!



Lastly, I found a viral movie called The Tunnel.  It looks a bit like a crossed between Blair Witch and Cloverfield.  And it's only going to be released on torrents (which I despise).  However, I'm intrigued and will decide whether to get the movie once more trailers are out.  Oh and Inception is out on DVD!

2) Private Space Flight took some major steps forward as of late.  The Dragon Spacecraft became the first privately operated ship to reach orbit AND return to earth safely.  Owned by SpaceX, this is the future of space exploration since the Space Shuttle is retiring.  I will be working on a full write up with my opinions on the subject over the Holidays.

3) I believe there is a Boilermaker curse upon us.  Even the invincible Chris Kramer has suffered a knee injury in his first season with the NBA D-league Ft. Wayne Mad Ants.  This whole knee injury stuff is just getting annoying now!

4) And lastly...an 11-year old who can dunk.

I hope everyone enjoys the first Friday Fragments.

Quick Random Thoughts

My mind is scattered today so I have a few short tidbits for you all today...

1) NASA found "new" life.  It is actually a really, really, REALLY big deal.  NASA announced it today at a press conference that had people buzzing about alien life.  Basically these new microbes use arsenic instead of phosphorous.  This includes their DNA and ATP (or it should now be renamed ATA I guess).  They are found in the Mono Lake, California and it is quite the discovery.  Get a quick run-down here.

2) I finalized my class schedule for next semester and I will be taking three classes along with beginning lab research.  The classes include Physical Chemistry, Particle Design and Process, and Computational Chemistry.  Currently I am taking Statistical Models, Organic Spectroscopy, and Linear Algebra/Differential Equations.  I believe whatever my research is specifically it will have a much larger emphasis on mathematical modeling of solid systems, as that is something the Taylor Lab group wants to pursue.

3) I played Wallyball last night and as I was watching some NBA highlights earlier today I wondered what it would be like if instead of professional basketball, we watched, cheered for, and celebrated Wallyball teams.  That stuff is exciting and I think people would watch it.  Kind of like Slam Ball, where the heck did that sport go?

I hope this is enough to occupy your time for at least five minutes today.  I know it did for me!

All I Want For Christmas...

With December looming, and a new Christmas tree in my apartment, I can't help add a couple things to my holiday wish list. Besides new bed sheets, video games, and a new lamp I would really like a sports team that wins! Purdue sports is plagued by torn ACLs and blatant disrespect. I will continue to be a die-hard fan until then end, but I just want to catch one break as a fan. My patient with the media is wearing thin. Plus, my other football teams, the Colts and Boise State Broncos both are looking dim (well Boise State is still a damn good football team but any national title hopes have been demolished). The Reds gave me a good jolt in October by getting to the playoffs, but they made Philly look super human and honestly it was embarrassing to watch. And if the Pacers somehow make it into the playoffs and win the NBA finals because they did just beat LA, I might just give up sports all together. Actually I will never do that, but I will question the basketball Gods sense of humor in destroying Indiana college basketball (see Gordon's half-court shot, Robbie's torn ACL, and even the fact that IU has been one of the worst teams in the country lately) to watch a Pacer team full of overachievers win. It makes my brain hurt! Oh well.

Oh, and I would love a new Merck Index, too!