proofmathisbeautiful: scienceisbeauty:
Drosophila gene expression data exploration and visualization (link)
“Nothing in biology make sense except in the light of evolution” - Theodorius Dobzhansky
freshphotons: madeofstarstuff: altergrin: dan mccarthy the biography of a carbon atom
Mi sento in colpa di non essermi resa conto di cosa avesse voluto dire quel “dai, dammi lo statino”, quel voto scritto di corsa, d’impulso, quello scarabocchio sul verbale e sul mio libretto, quei 10 minuti e quell’aver annuito al mio sprezzante: “in prima divisione meiotica” e al mio “una sostituzione di base”, di non aver dato importanza a quegli atteggiamenti spontanei, inconsci. Mi sento in colpa della faccia che avrò fatto, dell’apatia del momento e di non aver detto nulla. Non farò che pensarci per 13 lunghi mesi, mi chiederò se non ho messo a repentaglio tutto in questo modo, per non aver capito. Chissà se è davvero così, poi.
Ed ora che tutto è finito, mi sento abbandonata. Mi sento vuota e di nuovo instabile. E’ tutto finito: il corso, i martedì notte insonni pensando che il giorno dopo ci sarebbe stata lezione di genetica, la forza che mi dava, anche solo di alzarmi la mattina o di vestirmi bene e non trascurarmi, come faccio di solito. Ogni giorno aveva un senso, tutto girava attorno a quegli ultimi tre giorni della settimana universitaria, e tutti gli altri non erano che un contoallarovescia di quante ore mancassero alla lezione. Mi sento persa, voglio tornare indietro, rifare il corso, rifare l’esame, dieci, cento, mille altre volte. Come farò? Non riesco a pensarci; non riesco più ad immaginare le mie giornate senza la genetica, senza le sue lezioni, senza i mici, senza l’attesa fuori dal dipartimento, le sigarette nervose, gli esercizi alla lavagna, senza quello scirocco impetuoso che mi entrava dalle orecchie e mi scuoteva dentro e mi annebbiava gli occhi e mi interrompeva per attimi infiniti la circolazione nelle braccia, nelle dita, nei polpastrelli, che mi disorientava, facendomi perdere la cognizione del tempo e di me stessa. Come si può costruire un semestre senza tutto questo? Come posso seguire un semestre senza lui e la genetica?
![Talented and dedicated engineers spent countless hours designing Japan’s rail system to be one of the world’s most efficient. Could have just asked a slime mold.When presented with oat flakes arranged in the pattern of Japanese cities around Tokyo, brainless, single-celled slime molds construct networks of nutrient-channeling tubes that are strikingly similar to the layout of the Japanese rail system, researchers from Japan and England report Jan. 22 in Science. A new model based on the simple rules of the slime mold’s behavior may lead to the design of more efficient, adaptable networks, the team contends. [..]
The researchers then borrowed simple properties from the slime mold’s behavior to create a biology-inspired mathematical description of the network formation. Like the slime mold, the model first creates a fine mesh network that goes everywhere, and then continuously refines the network so that the tubes carrying the most cargo grow more robust and redundant tubes are pruned.The behavior of the plasmodium “is really difficult to capture by words,” comments biochemist Wolfgang Marwan of Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany. “You see they optimize themselves somehow, but how do you describe that?” The new research “provides a simple mathematical model for a complex biological phenomenon,” Marwan wrote in an article in the same issue of Science.
Slime Mold Grows Network Just Like Tokyo Rail System](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kwv8es1QUa1qzizlko1_500.jpg)
Talented and dedicated engineers spent countless hours designing Japan’s rail system to be one of the world’s most efficient. Could have just asked a slime mold.
When presented with oat flakes arranged in the pattern of Japanese cities around Tokyo, brainless, single-celled slime molds construct networks of nutrient-channeling tubes that are strikingly similar to the layout of the Japanese rail system, researchers from Japan and England report Jan. 22 in Science. A new model based on the simple rules of the slime mold’s behavior may lead to the design of more efficient, adaptable networks, the team contends. [..]
The researchers then borrowed simple properties from the slime mold’s behavior to create a biology-inspired mathematical description of the network formation. Like the slime mold, the model first creates a fine mesh network that goes everywhere, and then continuously refines the network so that the tubes carrying the most cargo grow more robust and redundant tubes are pruned.
The behavior of the plasmodium “is really difficult to capture by words,” comments biochemist Wolfgang Marwan of Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany. “You see they optimize themselves somehow, but how do you describe that?” The new research “provides a simple mathematical model for a complex biological phenomenon,” Marwan wrote in an article in the same issue of Science.
1st Place Winner
Mariela Bravo-Sanchez, Universidad Autonoma de San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Van Gogh Nanotubes
From the mind of Vincent van Gogh to the surface of self-assembled arrays of carbon nanotubes. This image obtained via scanning electron microscopy, evokes the magnum opus of Vincent van Gogh, Starry Night. These arrays are formed from a dried dispersion of single wall carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) dispersed in water with a polymer PVP and a surfactant SDBS. The average width of a small SWNT bundle shown here is ~1 µm. False color was added with Adobe Photoshop.
The image shows the predicted honeycomb-like morphology of a free-standing membrane of colloidal iron particles that forms in a triaxial, magic-angle magnetic field. (Particle size, 4 μm.). Via.
