Today's Smile

[lurk852]

midterms.  especially having two in a row on the same day.

How does that make you smile? 

I can understand it, actually. In lectures you have to pay attention and learn stuff; in tests you just have to apply stuff you've already learned. It can be relaxing or even fun if you know the material reasonably well, and either way it's usually less boring.

[The Wandering Magus]

midterms.  especially having two in a row on the same day.

How does that make you smile? 

I can understand it, actually. In lectures you have to pay attention and learn stuff; in tests you just have to apply stuff you've already learned. It can be relaxing or even fun if you know the material reasonably well, and either way it's usually less boring.

I have a love/hate relationship with midterms, but I usually finish twenty minutes earlier than the others and get to spend the rest of the time relaxing.  The only problem is that I often feel as if I forgot something or did something wrong   but hey, no lecture!

Getting snacks during the lab period

[Book Smarts]

Got a good grade on a paper today which worth is 30-40% of the overall class grade 

[The Wandering Magus]

still have a while before class ^^

[Lord of Madness]

My new computer/Desktop setup :DD

[ChocolateRain]

Back from vacation. Had awesome weather and a beautiful landscape... Came back and had two new episodes to watch... And wow... Two times the best episode ever... So much wow...

[LaptopCommandStation]

My new computer/Desktop setup :DD

ooh,nice

mine didn't change much from the last time I posted my desktop
except my background pic is that one somepony posted in the cute pics thread of Pinkie trying to drink a glass of chocolate milk 

Heh, you have the same background as my cell phone, you know, the one my brother saw and questioned me on

[Lord of Madness]

My new computer/Desktop setup :DD

ooh,nice

mine didn't change much from the last time I posted my desktop
except my background pic is that one somepony posted in the cute pics thread of Pinkie trying to drink a glass of chocolate milk 

Heh, you have the same background as my cell phone, you know, the one my brother saw and questioned me on

[Jenzy]

New episode!

Wait... That's every week


I got a "pass" from getting a haircut! (Ugh. They never let me grow it out.)

[Morning Glory]

New episode, yes!

But also,

I HAVE PHAGE!!

(There will be a lot of micro-biology nerd-babble below, and I don't blame any of you for skipping it)

I'm taking a very challenging program this year. Introduction to Natural Science. It involves taking college-level biology, chemistry and calculus all at once. For a whole year. The biology I can handle and the chemistry I'm ok at, but the calculus....urg....

BUT, we are doing something very exciting for our biology lab this year. We have been looking for bacteriophages. Phages are viruses that infect bacteria. They do this by injecting genetic material. They attach to the bacteria cell and inject their rRNA. Then, using the bacteria's capacity to replicate it's self, the phage replaces the bacteria's DNA with it's own genetic material, causing the cell to produce copies of the phage instead. The bacteria eventually bursts, releasing the phage copies to infect more bacteria.

They have been used for over 90 years as an alternative to antibiotics and are seen as a possible therapy against multi-drug-resistant strains of many bacteria, like MRSA, tuberculosis, and Ebola.

It's estimated that there are 10³¹ phages on the planet. They tend to be found in areas that are commonly populated by bacteria, so the ocean and animal intestines are a good place to find them. However, so is nitrogen-rich soil. So, we've to collected soil from our area (which has not been done before), and processed the sample and added it to a growth medium of bacteria. If we find a hole or cavity in the bacteria colonies, we know there is a phage there, and that it's killing the bacteria. We're then supposed to collect the cavity or "plaque" area and grow more of the phage to isolate it. Then we'll process it's genetic signature to get a unique "fingerprint" if you will. Considering how many phage there are in the world, it's very possible myself and my classmates will discover a novel phage that has not been cataloged or known to science before. If we find a very interesting one, we may send away to have it's genome sequenced and take electron micrograph images taken so we can see the phage WE discovered.

And for the last 9 weeks, me and my partner have been unable to find one. We've plated over 30 samples, and all our attempts have been contamination free. We've been doing it correctly, just been unlucky. We were starting to fall behind the rest of the class, and feeling very concerned that we weren't going to get one. Last wednesday, we plated 12 new samples.

And we've got loads of phage! I checked today after the incubation period, and we've got 5 plates with phage on them! And different kinds too. Big plaques, small plaques, medium plaques. We actually have to choose which phage to use! I'm so excited we finally found a phage. And we get to name it ourselves. We already have a name picked out:

Spoiler: show

It's very exciting and may actually be contributing to medical science. Plus, I am now officially a National Science Foundation funded scientist. Phage therapy is a really possible solution to fighting drug-resistant bacterial infections. And we might find a new one. Now, it's likely our phages will be inconsequential to medicine, but it's still so amazing!

Sorry for the nerd-babble. I'm very excited.

[Link]

Wow, that's great Morning Glory! Now I'm happy that I actually understood all of that...

[ChocolateRain]

Morning Glory: Wow, nice... I didn't understand everything, but it sounds great and sciency... And sciency is goood...

[The Wandering Magus]

And we get to name it ourselves. We already have a name picked out:

Spoiler: show

SO AWESOME!   We now have a phage called... SMOOZE!   that made my day

[Julius]

I got Dance Central 3 today!

It includes http://forum.legendsofequestria.com/index.php?topic=2470.0">Read the forum rules. And I Know It and you can buy Gangnam Style!

[LaptopCommandStation]

I dropped below 150 lbs, so imma celebrate with one of my mammoth-artery clogging bacon cheeseburgers
10 slices of bacon
and I ran our of fries so I made onion rings and mozza sticks to go with it!

and I fixed my guitar(and found a new place for Pinkie Pie )

[Julius]

A new place for Pinkie Pie?

Where?

[LaptopCommandStation]

I fixed my guitar 

[Julius]

Now the pink will flow through your music. Beautiful.

You should cut those strings though.

[LaptopCommandStation]

But I like long annoying strings that can poke your eyes out 

[Julius]

To each their own then!

We should totally make a song together and fail at it because my guitar skills aren't that great!