Thursday, January 28, 2010

Scientific Journalism

I have been meaning to write this for a long time.

Figure: Upper graph represents the growth of the slime mold and the bottom graph represents the actual Tokyo railway. See how strong the resemblance stands, particularly of the nodes.
Reference - Tero et. al., "Rules for Biologically Inspired Adaptive Network Design", Science, 2010.



Figure: This is THE snail's shell. Check out the layered exterior that was meant to break upon predator's assault, and fleshier interior to absorb the shock.
Reference: Yao et. al., "Protection mechanisms of the iron-plated armor of a deep sea hyfrothermal vent gastropod", PNAS, 2010


I have been caught up in a series of science blogs, especially after my publication being reported by some blogs. That led me to a whole new world of scientific news beyond my scope of research: I saw how slime molds grow akin to the transport system in Tokyo, from Ed Yong's, and also an entry about natural armor donned by a snail deep in the sea near volcanic ashes. These rekindled my fascination with nature's way of generating wonders that man, a weak anomaly of nature, is only starting to fathom. Although nature takes probably millions of years to perfect those, which Man takes only a span of centuries to accomplish, the notion that our inventions (that we are so proud of) are still within the cosmic design (rather than something extraordinary) is a rather ambivalent mix of feelings of superiority and inferiority.

While many superb science blogs brought us amazing news in layman, there are certainly some others who try to deride such news, or twist (knowingly or unknowingly) the ideas behind discoveries in order to fuel their own arguments and prejudice. Most of the time the works of scientists' implications are rather benign and only contribute to turn the gears of science research itself, except instances when one shouts "I have found the cure of cancer", until then, these papers are not meant to stoke any bias.

There was one I read, about J's publication in Nature, her publication was on unraveling important functions of a plant protein that could possibly boost crops yield, spawned responses that tell scientists to stop plant genetic engineering because it will destroy the environment (HUH!?!). It makes people wonder at how lacking in understanding the general public is on certain issues.

No doubt, science is a double-edged sword. Agree that there will be repercussions if wielded wrongly. But if we stop it altogether, we can all might as well move back to the caves and start scratching the walls with charcoal marks. I have trouble believing we can actually stop science from moving forward, hence tools such as scientific journalism are out to educate the public and increase awareness of science in a truthful yet layman manner. So that people move forward as a whole, with science. So that while we use Science to our advantage, we also understand the collateral damage and/or lessons that it can give. While there are also good AND bad journalism, we should simply enjoy a good read or take extreme arguments with a pinch of salt.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Outlook 2007 Setup: Alumni Account + Hotmail

Ever since I got my KS20, I started to think Microsoft Outlook is really convenient. For one very huge plus, it serves as backup on my contacts and my email accounts: NUS and Hotmail. Then had wanted to add GIS account into that as well, but apparently that infringes on security issues of the company.

I always find it a pain when I format my laptop to reinstate the things back into their appropriate places, especially those settings I have painstakingly tweaked for my personal use. So I am going to post here, for all NUS Alumni out there, the steps in setting your Alumni account up on Outlook 2007 (the blardy Computer Centre gave me instructions that were slightly wrong LOLX, thankfully I have a techno-geek of a brother; that was meant as a compliment btw LOLX):

For Hotmail set up, just download 'Outlook Connector' from here. And follow the installation walkthrough. =)

Steps for NUS Alumni Account on Outlook setup:

1) Open Outlook 2007, find under 'Tools' menu, 'Options'.

2) Under the 'Mail Setup' tab, 'Email Accounts' section, click on 'Email Accounts..'.

3) Under 'Email Accounts', click 'New'.

4) Click 'Next' after ticking 'Manually Configure Settings...'5) Here, enter the Name you want to appear on all your mails, your Alumni Email Address (this is your username too), with the password to access that email. If you cannot remember, visit http://www.nus.edu.sg/, go 'myEmail', and contact them for a new password or to find out your account name.
At the same time, you need to set the Server Information with EITHER of the following:
If you set:
a. POP3: pop.nus.edu.sg
b. IMAP: imap.nus.edu.sg
c. SMTP: smtp.nus.edu.sg
Try to 'Test Account Settings ...', before clicking 'Next'.
Ok, then you are done!!

Well, nothing to be overexcited about, but just that you've got contacts, tasks, notes on your smartphone, emails on your Hotmail and NUS alumni account all at your sweet convenience,; properly archived and backed up and ready for any rainy day to come. LOLX. Not forgetting, whenever, you are offline, or in a rush to locations with limited Internet access, you still have your important emails to read through, after synching at the last location.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

WATCH THIS SPACE

(Picture modified from http://wallpaper-s.org/33__Chuck_and_Snoopy,_Peanuts_Comic_Strip.htm)

I think I get some of my most fantastic solutions on issues or ideas or sudden revelations while I am on the move or when I am busy. Busy talking or busy eating, or busy reading or busy with work. Suddenly a light bulb *ding* lights up in my head.

So I have decided to pen something during supposedly prohibited hours. And hopefully, while escaping unscathed, it will help ease that writer's itch in me and ease that poke that I get so often from XL for neglecting my blog.

So WATCH THIS SPACE.

Yes, again. *LOLX*