Magic mushrooms

The natural world is full of wonder: who would have thought twenty years ago (besides the "stoner" community) that psycho-active mushrooms might have medicinal use?  Native peoples quite possibly used such medicine, hopefulyl modern society can find a useful place for it as well.

www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112391707/lasting-happiness-found-with-hallucinogen-use/index.html

When companies lie

Reebok recently agreed to pay $25 million for their false advertising of their "toning" shoes.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/28/reebok-ftc-idUSS1E78R0N620110928

Reebok claimed in advertisements that the shoes would tone calf muscles and gluts.  Doesn't that sound great?  For a for extra bucks, put on your shoes like usual and get a workout!  Not so much.

The company blatantly disregarded people's intelligence, made false claims, and sold a product under false pretenses.  What was their punishment?  Barely a slap on the wrist.  Considering that the shoes cost ranges from $12 to $300, and the company sold millions of these shoes, one does not have to be able to do advanced calculus to figure out that Reebok made a bunch of money even after paying the fine.

Sadly enough, many people trust that companies have done the research and that the "28% more toning of the butt!" claim was tested by scientists in a lab.  Now, people don't like to admit that they've been duped and the news that Reebok lied will spread a lot less quickly, if at all, than the initial false claims.

If the average consumer wants to learn from this, what is the "take away" lesson?  Look for facts, research, and hard evidence: doubt every claim a company makes.  Remember, they are not looking out for your best interests, they are only trying to increase sales and make more money.

P.S.  I have nothing against making money.  "Atlas Shrugged" is a brilliant book and should be on the must-read list for everyone.  It's when consumers stop thinking and blatantly start accepting anything they are told is when the problems happen.  Take the market back in control of the people who actually run it (you!) and make informed decisions.  That should be the responsibility of every thinking human.

Fat Prejudice

When you see someone is is obviously over weight, perhaps even obese, what do you think?  A good majority of human sensory comes in through our eyes (excepting those who are blind, yes).  We make assessments based on what we see and based on previous experiences in life.  The current American culture is obsessed with being thin, do to the readily available amounts of low cost, high calorie foods found most everywhere.  Wealthy = thin, poor = fat.  So, are Americans hating fat people because we see then as poor?  Are there other reasons?  Here is an article to get you starting in thinking about the topic:

http://fitbie.msn.com/2011/09/26/do-americans-hate-fat-people-fight-prejudice-against-overweight?gt1=50002

There is plenty more reading out there on the topic.  Try searching "obesity stigma" or similar phrases and key words.  Feel free to comment on what you find!

Just enough of everything...

Did you know that apples could be harmful to your health?  No, seriously.  Eat enough of them for long enough and you will most certainly have deficiencies in your diet and resulting health problems.  Well, the same is true for a lot of things: too much water or too little, too much food or too little, too much of a drug or too little...  Recently, people have started admitting that salt is not all bad.  Yes, evil, evil salt is no longer considered evil.  This article

http://www.menshealth.com/health/do-you-need-more-salt

focuses mostly on the iodine in salt (which is added, not naturally there).  Salt itself is good in certain quantities (recall the sodium-potassium pump from cellular biology class?), but too much can be harmful.  Like most every, take it in moderation.

Mayan Ruins

A Palestinian State

Mahmoud Abbas submitted to the UN a proposal for a Palestinian state late this past week.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15044601

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/09/24/us-palestinians-israel-un-idUSTRE78H28J20110924

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44638003/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

How likely is the request to solidify for the Palestinian people?  Very unlikely, it seems.  Even though Mahmoud Abbas gave a stirring speech, bring standing applause from the UN assembly, statehood probably will not be forth coming.

Israel and the United States of America have a tight bond.  Even though the Israelis have taken provocative actions, such as continuing to establish "settlements" and other actions against US and world approval (and, it seems, common sense if they really were interested in a lasting peace with Palestinians), the US still stands by their old "friend".

The US does seems to have a problem with letting mistakes or past political policies take a different turn for the future.  How about the US treatment of Cuba, even though they doing rousing business with China?  How about the US stand on marijuana policies even though the herb may provide medical relief and is not the horror of a recreational drug that it was made out to be in earlier years?  Obviously, a majority of the UN is in favor for a Palestinian State.  Considering how Israel came into being, I'd say the request is not unreasonable at all.

"Talks with Israel for peace is the only way" basically sums up the Israel and US stance on the subject (i.e. "no").  "Talks" have failed time and time again, so why would any reasonable person think that going through the same motions again would produce different results?  An example of such thinking from the US might be shown in the medical system in the US.  The system is failing to provide medical care for the US population, but many people throw a fit when something is done to change things.  "Business as usual" even though the business is crumbling around them.  Trying something different is better than sitting there and waiting for the same tactics to keep failing: it's not progress, it's stagnation.  (Ever read "Atlas Shrugged"?  We must stand still for things to get better, huh?)

I completely believe that the US will veto the resolution.  I also believe that the rest of the world is no longer seeing the US as a leader and that country will continue to loss it's status.  The Palestinian people do need a state of their own, but any "plan" submitted to the UN by both Israel and Palestine will not be "good enough" for the US.

Wasn't President Obama's campaign all about "change"?

Going out of your way to help

How awesome is this?

http://rivals.yahoo.com/highschool/blog/prep_rally/post/Runner-carries-injured-foe-half-mile-to-help-in-?urn=highschool-wp6171

The kid carries another runner to safety and then finishes the race.  This guy is a true sportsman.

This is why people don't do nice acts anymore

Have you ever asked yourself why people seem to be getting more mean, less considerate of others, and less inclined to go out of their way (even a little bit) to help others?  If you currently volunteer or do randomly thoughtful acts for others, you probably understand exactly what I'm talking about.

Consider this example: 
In my apartment complex, the parking the upper half of the lot has no marked lines and parking is tight.  All the cars assigned to park there could not do so, because people were parking every which-way, not knowing how else to do it.  This problem can be easily solved.  I went and bought wood stakes, wrapped them in brightly color tape, measured out the parking widths and hammers the stakes into the ground on either die of the parking spots.  Easy.  If one took a couple second to look at the set-up, you could see where all seven cars were to park.

The results were sad.  At first, no one could figure it out.  After about two days, most everyone was parking between the posts and things were getting better.  Then, someone (without leaving a name or contact information, of course) posted on the front on the apartment door that they thought "it didn't work".  That's it.  No constructive feedback, no explanation of how "it didn't work", no thanks for the attempt to make parking easier for everyone and assure everyone got to park when they came home from grocery shopping.  The only thing the person could do was bitch that it wasn't good enough and that's all.

Okay, so I posted on the front of the apartment, since I could not go talk to this person (no contact information remember), that 1) yes, the parking was tight; 2) if they would like to go re-measure and move the stakes, that's fine as long as everyone had the same space for parking; 3) I thanked the person for noticing the effort to make the parking better for everyone and for their feed back.  Results?  Well, for a couple of days, everyone was parking just fine.  It even got slightly better.  Then, last night someone went and knocked all the stakes down.

Why?  What purpose did this serve?

This is just one example of many where attempting to help others results in bitching and negative response.  Time after time when volunteering or doing something nice, I hear complaints, negativity, and no effort on their part to provide constructive feedback or willingness to do something themselves.  American society is becoming more and more focused on "me, me, me!" and fails to think about the affect on others.  Why and how did this happen?  How can this attitude be changed?

Don't get me wrong, there are a few nice people out there!  When someone say "excuse me" or are polite to me in someway, I'm always surprised.  Almost always, this is an older person (40+).  Hopefully, the people who are willing to realize that being polite is important don't get too bitter with the world.  Thanks to all those who give a d*mn.

Feel free to leave comments!

Hello there...

Hello!  I've noticed that some of my site views are from Russian.  I just wanted to ask "What's up?"  Curious as to why you are visiting my page or if it is unintentional.  I used Google Translate for this, so I hope it comes out okay!  Thanks

Hello! Я заметил, что некоторые из моих взглядов сайте, находятся в русском языке. Я просто хотел спросить: "Что случилось?" Любопытно, почему вы посещаете мою страницу или, если это непреднамеренно. Я использовал Google Translate для этого, поэтому я надеюсь, он выйдет в порядке! спасибо

Homecoming Courts at Universities

I am unaware of Homecoming traditions in countries outside the U.S. (if the event even exists), so this is completely in reference to U.S.American traditions.

Most everyone in the country has attended high school.  Remember Homecoming?  The football game, the popular kids competing to see who was most popular, the pointless dance were kids spend their parents money on a piece of clothing that will never be worn again...  Sadly enough, these are some of the best memories for some kids. 

Now, probably the worst part of this charade is the Homecoming court.  What it boils down to is a popularity contest.  That's all.  You really cannot avoid the fact of that's what it is, unless total delusion of having been "elected" to the court in your younger days prevents you from doing so.  For the rest of us: it's a popularity contest.  That's what a lot of high school is anyway: finding a social pecking order. 

Once leaving high school and childish ways, many people move on and "grow up".  What about kids who go to universities?  I purposely used the term "kids", because that's what most of them are now days.  Their parents pay for everything: room board, tuition.  Parents even try to run the kid's social and academic life.  I've heard stories of parents calling up the kid's professor and ask for a grade change.  Childhood is extending now way beyond the teen years into the twenty's.

One excellent social example of this is Homecoming courts at universities (others including, but not limited to, fraternities, sororities, and many sports).  Going to a university is suppose to be about higher education, not about popularity contests.  Yes, people need to have fun.  Should "fun" be viewed as immature competitions for who gets the most votes?  How about whether or not you're accepted into an exclusive group, requiring even more money to have rights to those "friends"?  How about being selected for abilities, then acting better than other people around you, even though the only reason your GPA is acceptable is because you're taking the easiest major on campus?

Homecoming courts simply exemplify the extension of childhood into what should be an adult life.  How about universities start focusing on what they are there for: higher education.  Perhaps then our degrees will stop being cheapened to nothing more than an advanced high school degree. 

Good coffee vs. No-so-good coffee

Problem: when funds are low at the ol' household,I buy coffee beans which are not so good tasting, but less expensive (about $5 to $6 per pound, depending if they are on sale).  The higher quality, good tasting beans that are locally roasted cost $12 per pound.

After having the better coffee, which is much smoother and does not have the nasty bitter after taste, one simply can barely tolerate the other stuff.  Might I stress the barely?  For American coffees that are commercially available, the $6 stuff is "not bad".  It is most certainly better than Maxwell House or Folgers.

I could start buying the green coffee beans and roasting them myself (total cost around $10 per pound after shipping), but it's still more expensive and them I would also need the time to roast it properly.  In addition, I do not own a roaster, so have to do it over the stove.

*sigh* Splurge or conserve?

Now, if I had the time, space, and funding for the project, growing my own coffee plants would be awesome.  Since I do not live in a tropical climate, all this would have to be in a greenhouse.  I was wondering if there would be any interest in a highly specialized coffee like that?  If so, let me know and I might consider starting a business venture of US grown coffee.  Ideas for good product names?

Secondhand Habit

Listening to Jango while doing a Crossfit workout.  Highly recommended for their hilariously accurate satire is Secondhand Habit for "Badass".

http://www.facebook.com/secondhandhabit

Things women may not know about penises

This is kind of a long link, but I could not find a shorter one that worked:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/1CrTNn/www.ivillage.com/everything-you-want-know-about-guys-were-afraid-ask/6-b-364073%253FivNPA%253D1%2526sky%253Dstu%257Civl%257Cpp%257Caskguys%257C

An interesting slideshow about penises giving information about the "whys" of some things that women may not know or understand about this organ is a great way to start off the morning!  Each "slide" is a short blurb, accompanied with an appropriate work-safe picture.  Can't hurt to give it a try, so go forth and enjoy!

Picture of our campsite in Yellow River State Park

Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee,...

Coffee is awesome.  The below link is just one short little informative poster about coffee, but there are many others out there.  Coffee has been shown to have numerous positive influences on the human body and few negatives.

www.homeownersinsurance.org/15-things-you-should-know-about-caffeine/

Yes, withdrawal symptoms can be pretty terrible.  Just keep drinking that java!

Feel free to post more links to coffee related material in the comments.

Kale chips

Tasty, easy to make, and good for you: what more could you ask for in a snack food?

www.health-actually.com/recipes/kale-chips-recipe-new-potato-chip/

Kale chips do have a unique flavor that might take a bit of getting used to, but a little bit of salt goes a long way to enhancing the flavor.  Note the "little bit" part.  It's very easy to over salt these, so just use a pinch.  If you have a dehydrator, kale chips can easily be make in there, too!  I prefer the dehydrator simply because it does not heat up the house so much during the summer.  Another bonus of using the dehydrator is that you can put the kale in still damp and they will crisp up just fine.

Now a word of caution that I have not seen anywhere else: they are high in insoluble fiber.  Oh, you might think, that's nice.  Hum... no, really.  It will most certainly loosen your "activity" to the point where if you eat about half a bunch or more of dried kale that very loose results will be coming and lots of green floaters.  Just wanted to give you the heads up so you're not as startled as I was.  o_o

That should not put you off the delicious treat.  Might try this recipe yourself before giving it to friends, just to get the spicing right.  Happy munching!

Finally...

Non-invasive scans for airports might be coming! 

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/14/7762175-naked-scanners-may-soon-be-on-the-way-out

Several stories about abuse of the "naked-scan" system have come out.  Did you read about the one with the employee jacking-off as a girls basketball team went through the scanner?  Yes, gross.  Thankfully, non-naked scanning interfaces might be coming out.  The implementation of which is a little late, but will help reduce some discomfort of passengers.  There is still the issue of radiation received, but if you find one article saying how bad it is then you can find another article saying that the dose is low enough not to matter.  Frankly, if you're  not a frequent flier then one scan or two probably won't hurt most of the population and you get the bonus of not getting felt-up.  if you do travel frequently by plan and have the possibility of a lot of contact with  the scanners, then you might just have to pick the "hands on" option.  Not exactly a "win", but getting better.

Yellow River State Park, Iowa

After looking for a new backpacking location close to eastern Iowa, we decided that Yellow River State park was the place to try.  It has good reviews, reported to be a great location to prepare for hiking in the Rockies, one hiker said that the hill to get to one camp site was very challenging.  Let's go!

Luckily, Google Maps got me there alright.  Some of the streets in the tiny town right before the turn off to Yellow River weren't labeled, making navigation difficult, but I got there okay.  The person I was meeting there regrettably used MSN maps (didn't even know they had that) and it very much got him lost.  Word to the wise; always bring an atlas, even with gps. 

Do to the reviews saying how challenging the hike was, we had planned to get to the first camps site and call it a day.  Well, we are both avid hikers and quickly got to where we had planned to be way too fast.  Okay, no problem.  We headed to the second camp site...and got there quickly.  Okay, we thought, let's try for the last one.  This last camp site must be the one with the terrible hill, because we had not come across anything challenging yet.  We got to the last backpacking only camp site with no problem and decided to stop there.  All in, we hiked about 8 miles.

The hike was lovely; lots of flowers, trees, and flowing water.  We didn't see too many other people and the weather was relatively nice for late summer in Iowa.  This wasn't the terribly challenging course that we expected, but it was nice.  We did stick mostly to the hiking only trails, as they also have equestrian camp grounds and trails. 

I would recommend this area for a nice weekend backpacking trip as long as the people involved are in relatively decent condition.

15.1% USA Poverty

The people in the United States of America are living at their poorest since the census bureau starting counting in 1959.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14903732

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/13/7742437-poverty-rate-hits-18-year-high-as-median-income-falls

That's just pathetic, though not surprising.  The dip in American standard of living has been a long time coming and the nation will probably never reach it's height of power and wealth again as the State it currently is.  The stimulus suggested by the US president is a start: it's better to do something rather than nothing.  "Small business" ventures might be the way to go in the near future, providing more jobs and local products.  That, though, would also required a forced change in American thinking.  Instead of going to Walmart for everything, people might have to be "persuaded" to WALK to the local downtown area, visit several shops, and collect the goods they need for the coming week.  What if there is no "local downtown" in your area?  That's where the new small businesses come in.  In order for this to work, though, people have to be willing to put for effort and not expect handouts.

In short, I expect things to get much worse before they get better, but never "best" again.

Rant: Ode to the Parking Problem

To: The kids in my apartment complex
Regarding: Parking

All you all f*cking idiots?  No, I take that back.  Not all of you are.  I can count one decent individual out of the other 16+ persons in our small complex.  To the rest of you though: you're f*cking idiots.  Is parking really that difficult?  Really? 

A sign indicating locations of parking sports for each apartment was posted.  One person kept taking it down over and over again, probably in hopes that no one would see it and they could keep "their" precious parking spot.  Of course, if they were so pissed off about it, they could just talk to the other individual parking there and trade places.  Person-to-person live social interaction with no media go-between?!  GOOD GOD NO!!  After clearly indicating that the landlord approved the parking, the individual stopped being a b*tch and left the parking sign up there.  This greatly improved the parking situation in that everyone knew where to park.

A b*tchy water polo player (as the stick on the rear of her car suggests) decided that that still wasn't good enough and is still simply parking wherever.  in the grass, in random people's parking spots, and now in my parking spot.  You know how much that sucks coming in at 8am in a rush to get out to class and someone is in your parking spot?  Now I'm stuck blocking at least one other car by squeezing onto an opening in the grass.  I left a note on said vehicle, indicating that if she did not move to her allotted place, I'd have to call a tow truck.  Why am I even having to do this?  It makes no sense: just park in your f*cking parking spot.

Also, specifically to the other idiots in the back parking, MOVE. THE. F*UCK. OVER.  The parking is tight back there and in order to get all seven cars back there, you need to park close.  Five currently fit back there now.  That's two extra parking places that you idiots are taking up and two people who cannot park their cars. 

You may not care (please picture Cartman from South Park saying "I can do what I want"), but if your parking place was taken, you would care then.  What you do affects others and though you don't give a rat's a$$ about them, they will respond in the manner in which they are treated to you.

To sign off I'll leave you with this: I hope my parking place is open this evening you little f*cking morons. 

Battle AIDS and Make a Glowing Cat

Seriously, check out the article:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14882008

How cool is that?!

Making a readily visible way of seeing where the genes are for fighting AIDS is great.  Really, though, the reason I read this article was "Glowing cats?!  Neat!"  This just might be the next new line of designer pets.

Eating Gluten Free Isn't That Hard

I do have a gluten intolerance.  Yes, some professional gave it a name and labeled it a "disease", and I've read articles calling it "debilitating" (can't find the article to cite it now... will add it later if I can find it).

Having a gluten intolerance is not all that bad, especially in recent years with the explosion of gluten-free food on the market.  Before there were a variety of gluten-free breads, cakes, and other bad-for-you goodies available, what did people like me do?  Eat normal food.  O_O  No, really we do.  Diets for gluten intolerant individuals who choose to avoid highly processed foods include vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy, and nuts.  You know: what a normal individual should eat anyway.

But *gasp* where are the carbohydrates?!  Well, they are already listed as vegetables, fruits, and also found in dairy.  What many people do not realize is that carbohydrates are found in many food, not just refined wheat, rice, and potato products.  If you count your caloric intake for the day, let's say for a mildly active medium sized woman, then around 1500 calories are needed.  After eating about 6 servings of vegetables, 4 fruits, 3 meats, 3 dairy, and topping it off with some nuts as a snack, you will feel very full.  Refined carbohydrates are simply not needed.  Is anyone in the corn, wheat, rice, or potato industry going to tell you this?  No!  They want their profits high and always going up.

Is the switch-over to gluten-free eating a bit difficult at first?  Yes.  Do you get use to it fast?  Yes.  I won't lie, sometimes there is nothing more in the world I want than a brown sugar cinnamon Poptart.  Does the craving pass?  Always.

So to all those who think that having a gluten intolerance is a debilitating disease, try talking to people with a gluten-intolerance first before making snap decisions about their life style.

NY and DC 9/11 Threat: Real?

Let me say first that I am not a conspiracy theorist and I do not believe that anyone is "out to get me".  I am patriotic, believe in my country (yes, the United States of America), and wish the best for the US people.

Now, I would simply like to ask you whether you believe the reported threat on NY from Al-Qaeda is real or fake.

This could quite possibly be a real threat from that terrorist group and the US government is doing all they can to find and stop another tragedy in this country from happening.  Obvious reasons being: the anniversary of 9/11/01, the lack of other major successful attacks by terrorists and their desire to keep people afraid/extract revenge on the western world, revenge for killing Osama.  If the US government and  agencies involved (like the CIA) are doing their job wonderfully, then updates of planned attacks and that they were stopped should be all that the American people hear about.  The problem then is that people might think there is no problem in the first place.  If the government and agencies have something slip by them and another attack happens, then the finger pointing starts about who's fault it was and that not enough is being done.

One might also argue that the government is trying to "pull wool over our eyes".  An update on the government stopping terrorists?  We're number one!  We're number one!... It could be to bolster support for the US government or the current political office.  Everyone likes to hear about how we're winning, right?  Also, fear is a great tool for keeping people in line.  Citizen who are afraid and thinking about a possible attack might be less likely to read/care about news involving loss of jobs, agricultural problems, riots in Great Britain over citizen's view of their unfair treatment, and loss of oil due to the conflict in Libya.  Could this also be justification for a more military controlled state?  Are people slowing being conditioned to passively accept random searches, invasive scans, random phone taps?  This has been said before; if one is willing to give up freedom for security, then we shall get/deserve neither.

Please, by all means go read articles about the update:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14857416

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCATRE7877S220110909?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/10/nyregion/biden-describes-bomb-threat-as-security-is-increased.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion

and more!  Go search around and see what you can find.  Go the the "conservative" sites and read their opinion.  Go to the "radical" sites and read their opinion.  Finally, form our own opinion and express yourself in an intelligent, articulated manor. 

Roasting your own coffee beans

After requesting a free sample of green coffee beans from coffeeproject.com (great site!), the shipment arrived about ten days later.  The envelope contained a small ziplock bag of green coffee beans and instructions on how to roast them on the stove top without any special equipment.

The amount of coffee beans sent was perfect for the first time roasting and will be just enough for one brewed cup.    The instructions were easy to follow and suggested the roated beans sit for one to three days before use. 

Once they are made into a lovely cup of coffee, I'll let you know how it went!

Roasting my own coffee beans seems like it will be an enjoyable hobby and will hopefully produce a better tasting coffee than the junk that Americans are sold in stores.  I certainly plan to use The Coffee Project as my source for starting up, as their website is user friendly and they are willing to send a free sample of their product to let you try it first.

New Research!

For the most part, all my work with the iron-reducing bacteria is done/put on "hold".  Instead, I'll be working on an electrowinning project and a gold mining project.  Fun, right?

Progress for the electrowinning is slow going due to the long run times for the current set-up and the majority of my time going to the other project.  There are many direction to take with this project and shows much promise.

The gold mining project is going fairly quickly now that we have a reliable lab (Wyoming Analytical Labs) to send samples to until we get our equipment up and running.  We have sent out a total of about 28 samples already with two more going out today.  There are about four experiment represented in those sample and should tell us quite a lot about what direction to take after analysis of the data.

More detail on the projects?  Nope.  Have to remain vague due to the novelty of the research and one of the project being funded by a company.  When I publish my dissertation, you can read all about it.  ;)

DNA analysis attempt, again

First, no new developments seen in static flasks
Second, the bio grad student helping I'm working with for the PCR informed me that the reason we've been having so many problems is that the GoTaq was expired.  :-/  So, a PCR is being run right now, with new GoTaq.  Hopefully there are results this time around.  Since we have Gram-negative bacteria, they do not have a thick layer to get through, so it should work.  It'll be a great relief to see some bands this time in the gel.  The next step will be to sequence what we have, then compare that to a data base of known bacteria.  Here's hoping...

Going Green

Thus far, only the static flasks that have shown the obvious change of a precipitate have been kept and transferred for iron-reducing bacteria.  Today, I happen to take a closer look at a static flask of which the contents were going to be tossed out.  The media had a slight green tint.  After comparing to a control flask, there was certainly a color difference.  !!!  Note that the media used for this experiment is a very dark red/brown color and difficult to detect slight color changes, even in 250 mL flasks.  A color change from red/brown to green is expected of the iron-reducing bacteria.  Even though the flask with the green tinted media is fairly old, an attempt to transfer any live bacteria will be made.  A larger flask will be kept, as well as capped test tubes in hopes of more readily seeing a color change occur.  Here's to hoping some bacteria are still alive...

Third time's the charm? Not so much.

A DNA analysis of the bacteria our group is attempting to use is important for several reasons: for comparing other iron reducers of the same genus; knowing what growing conditions are best, what products are likely to be produced; possibility of a new species; and (most importantly for me) to carry out further experiments on the plausibility of iron leaching. 

Today was the third attempt at a PCR reaction and a third fail.  All three trials were slightly different, in an attempt to adjust for the particular bacteria.  Our next step will therefore be to isolate the DNA separately, then run a PCR.  Hopefully that will assure DNA and we will be able to sequence after.

Well,  I am off to try to call the vet before they close for the day: a friend's puppy tore her nail  and she need to get it looked at.  It's a very nasty tare, too.  The tare does not go down (vertically) through the nail, but horizontally back into the nail.  *sigh* Poor girl.

Bacteria pic

Lovely, no?  A 1000x clear view of the rod shaped, Gram negative bacteria  that I am lucky enough to be dealing with.

Well...

Well, it's bee awhile.  "Important" picks up and "other" goes down.  Ukulele not going so well.  It's enjoyable enough, but will probably never sound as good as Grant does.  As for the rats: Snowball has did of a respiratory infection.  Went to the vet, got antibiotics, but he never got better.  The other two are doing fine.  Active as always.

Research is going well enough.  Most likely the isolates are not Geobacter, since the colonies lack defining characteristics such as pink coloring turning to brown or green.  Current colonies are smooth, rough, and white to clear when grown on ATCC Geobacter media.  While doing a literature review, a paper published in 2007 claimed a new genus and species of fermentative, iron-reducing bacteria.  Citrate is fermented, using iron (III) as an electron sink, to produce acetate (if there is any interest in the paper, let me know and I'll give you the citation).  Two new experiments are currently set up and running to test the bacteria in our lab for citrate fermentation.  Also, if the PCR reaction ever goes right, DNA results will be immensely helpful in understanding what type of bacteria  we are dealing with.