Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sports. Show all posts
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.
-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.
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!
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.
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| 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…
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| 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).
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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!?
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| 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!
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