Dot Matrix with Stereo Sound » Science

Hope for a better future (or at least one with less sniffling)

mario — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 00:26:00 +0000

I am unfortunately stricken with a wide array of allergies. Pollen is the big one, but any day the wind picks up slightly, I usually have to pack the Loratadine and tissues. So any time I come across an article regarding the study of new allergy treatments, I get psyched, even if I never hear any followup ever again. Scientists at the Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research have pinpointed a gene (GATA-3, for you gene freaks out there) that “block[s] the development of regulatory T-cells in the immune system by locking another gene. This gene, FOXP3, is key to regulatory T cells and when it is blocked new regulatory T cells stop being produced”. The article sums up how allergies work sufficiently, so go read that for further information, but the bottom line is that they hope to learn how to build tolerance in our weak-ass immune systems. My nose’s hopes and prayers go out to you, scientist guys.

(courtesy of Science Blog)

"Well, it's my birthday too, yeah"

mario — Fri, 02 Dec 2005 07:10:00 +0000

Tomorrow is my 23rd birthday! Now for some SCIENCE!

Let’s see here… if the circumference of the Earth’s orbit is about 2πr, and the radius is 1 Astronomical Unit, and 1 AU = 149,597,870.691 kilometers (it’s a little screwy to assume that the Earth’s orbit is a perfect circle, but since the difference between perehelion and aphelion is only about 3%, I think it will work for my purposes), multiplied by 23 revolutions, then by tomorrow I’ll have traveled approximately 21,618,876,291.554 km around the Sun.

I also heard that I share a birthday with Britney Spears. Happy 24th Britney (I’m not too sore that she’s got 939,951,143.111 km on me)! If I cared about celebrities, I would probably make some comment about relationships or pregnancies or scandals or something, but I honestly hardly know anything about Britney Spears. Is that Mouseketeer bit still working out okay for her?

"Oxygen don't grow on trees, ya know!"

mario — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 15:44:00 +0000

I’m making an entry in my blog!

Google has added NASA imagery to the Google Maps technology to create Google Moon. Zoom in all the way. Satellite photos don’t lie, people!

My current listening-to music isn’t even music, it’s a podcast! Look at me, using crazy meme-phraseology like “blog” and “podcast” like some sort of l33t mememaster*!

I’m hungry for breakfast. Can I have some breakfast now?