Planaria

I heard a talk today. The speaker was a junior professor at the Whitehead Institute at MIT. He works with Schmidtea mediterranea, a flatworm commonly known as Planaria.

These Planaria look very funny. They are 3-8 mm long, and look like penises with eyes. Well, those dotted eyes are real photoreceptors. There are quite some levels of differentiation of tissues with them. They have brains, literally.

The most funny thing about Planaria is that they can regenerate themselves if they are cut into two halves, or eight. If you decapitate them, they regrow their head in days. If you cut them longitudinally, each of the two halves regrow into two individuals. If you play around with the chopping-up thing, you can cut the worm from its head half way into its body, the cut half of the worm will regrow into 2 full heads and you will end up with a Y-shaped worm with 2 head and one tail.

Planaria can actually reproduce asexually simply by splitting themselves into two, and the regrow into two adults. This amazing regeneration ability had attracted scientists such as Thomas. H. Morgan, who also pioneered the genetics of fruit flies, as early as in 1898.

These worms seem never die - they keep splitting themselves. In fact, they are very busy rebuilding themselves all the time. The turn-over rate of the cells within these worms are very high. The worm you see today will make up of a completely different set of cells a few weeks later.

The cool thing the speaker's lab is doing is, they now manage to use RNAi to knock down the genes in these worms. They have the genome of this S. meditteranea sequenced and designed RNAi to screen for genes that show phenotypic effects on regeneration. Basically they fed the flatworms with E. coli expressing clones of RNAi and chopped them up after 2 days. The worms that showed impaired ability to regenerate would have the gene important for regeneration knocked down.

So they have opened the treasure chest that holds the whole new world of stem cell and cancer research. The way the neoplast grow, differentiate and migrate parallels that of stem cells. The whole worm can be labeled by antibodies and BrdU, and the cells can be easily dislodged for FACs. Another goody: the differentiation is slow - it takes days to show phenotype. With such a simple system, they will be able to pick up signals that trigger regeneration/differentiation in different tissues quite easily. Also, with rapidly dividing neoplast, these worms rarely develop cancer. They must have some unique and tight control for cell division, as well as DNA repair and replication checkpoints to make sure that they do everything correctly during cell division and pass on their own genome very accurately.

The speak was Peter Reddien. He did his post-doc in Alejandro Sanchez's lab in University of Utah. Being an HHMI investigator and invited to write review articles in the Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology and Nature Reviews Genetics, Sanchez must be a respected figure in this field. He looks he is in his 40's only.

Athens

We visited Greece before the tourist season started. It was way cheaper and less crammed there.

Athens is not a particularly appealing city. The remains of the ancient Greece are great, but not much to see otherwise. Their olives are great though.

They have restored the centuries-old Olympia Stadium, which is used for the Athens Marathon every year, and the Marathon for the 2004 Olympic Games. It is a shame that it is closed to public for the rest of the time.

OLYMPIA STADIUM OF AHTENEANS, MAY 5, 2006

My first ski

I have ski only twice. The first time was in Jan 2005.

I went to Sunday River Skiing Resort, Maine, with a bunch of friends. They were all good skiers and snowboarders.

Remus and Helen brought me up to the top of one of the green trail without giving me any instruction on the ground. They did show me how to ski on the way down, and I literally rolled down the hill... I kept falling onto the snow every 10-20 feet.

After 2 more ski/roll down the green trail, I decided to do some basic practice on the learner's slope. I looked at the instructor who was teaching a bunch of 4-6 years-old children. After an hour of practice, I started to have better control on my move.

After lunch, I went up the green trail again. I managed to fall only once or twice on the way down. Even Remus and Helen said I learned fast.

I can tell people that I learned ski in 3 hours. I am quite proud of it.

SUNDAY RIVER SKIING RESORT, ME, Jan 22, 2005.

2006

What a bloody year this 2006 is. I don't mean it in Iraq, which is literally a bloody diaster.

In this year, there have been 10 break-ups of relationship from friends of mine. Two of them were husband and wife. Two more break-ups are pending.

What the hell. Even the weather is not right. What is this freaking 13 deg celcius doing here at the end of November??

Franconia Ridge connects Mt. Lincoln and Mt. Lafayette, 5089 ft, Sept 30, 2006

Solaris

I borrowed this book from Shamik. He insisted that the book was much much better than the movie in terms of the psychology of the characters and the questions it evokes the readers.

I told him that the book had the most awful cover I could imagine. He said, "Fuck off. I read the book, not the cover."

I said, "You fuck off. Now I need to put the book upside down all the time when I am not reading it. The cover makes me throw up."

Well. The content is pretty cool. Planet Solaris orbits around 2 suns: one red in color, the other in blue. After 80 years of remote and on-site study, scientists had established that the ocean, which covered over 95% of the planet surface, was a single intelligent mega-living being. An observation station was constructed and hovered over the ocean. Three scientists were conducting research there. They did an experiment which is forbidden: they shot a high-energy X-ray beam into the ocean. Few days later, each of the three scientists had a visitor popped up from thin air. It turned out that the ocean was extracting the memory and unconscious part of their mind, and infused these memories and sensations into these "human puppets". These "human puppets" bear the memory and sensation of the person who was most important to these scientists.

It is not an easy feast. There is always a reason or 2 (or more) for that particular person to sit in your unconscious part of the mind. Be it love, be it guilt, be it regret. When you are forced to face them in a prison-like setting, if you are not strong and courageous enough to confront your own past and sensations, just like one of the characters, you may end up killing yourself.

This book is not as dark as it seems. The main character is a psychologist. His had said something that made his love of his life killed herself 10 years before he was sent to Solaris. In the second morning on his arrival, "she" appeared and sat by him on his bed. In a few days, he managed to find out most of the facts behind her "appearance", and finally accepted that "she" was not merely a replica of the original "she". She was unique. He fell in love with this new "she" and tried to leave the station with her.

This book is written by Stanislaw Lem, a Polish science fiction and philosophical writer. It was first published in Warsaw in 1961. It is a thin book of about 280 pages. Yet it is quite addicting. It is not a blow of mind, but it reminds you the importance of confronting your own past up straight.

Bear and crow

I am tired but I can't sleep. I looked up my collection of pictures and found this.

A bear is sad in the wilderness. Her best friend, a crow, sits by her. The crow always looks at the bear with affection. Sometimes the bear is so sad that she forgets what that affectionate look means to her.

The summer of 2002

We parted in the summer of 2002. Before that, we spent a few days in Hainan.

There was a beautiful beach, a pretty swimming pool, a luxurious lawn, and beautiful flowers.

The flowers looked prettier behind her ears.

HAINAN, Aug 23, 2002

Boarding gate 32

September 2004. It was the third time I flew out from Munich on my own, after spending a week of nice summer time there.

It was sad to be parted, but at least I had the hope to get back together.

Hope is what one can hang on with in difficult times, next to faith.

GATE 32, MUNICH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, Sept 13, 2004

Alex Gerasev

We have a gallary here at work. Artists are invited to show their works for 2 months.

A while ago the works of one artist caught my eyes and my soul. His name is Alex Gerasev.

He has most of his works shown on his web site: http://www.alexgerasev.com/


Alex Gerasev, Waiting, 2001, pencil & oilstick, 22" x 28"

Mariane Pearl

I read an interview of Mariane Pearl in a magazine.

Mariane is a freelance journalist. She married Daniel Pearl, the chief of the South Asia bureau of Wall Street Journal. In 2002, She was pregnant and expecting her first baby when Daniel was sent to Pakistan for an interview with a leader of the terrorists. It turned out it was a hoax, and Daniel was kidnapped and held hostage in demand of releasing prisoners from the US.

A few days later, Daniel was beheaded. The terrorists filmed the execution and put it on the internet.

In less than two weeks, Mariane gave birth to their son, Adam.

Adam is 4 years old now. Mariane said she was not angry with the terrorist anymore. She now wanted to get different civilizations to talk but not fight.

I found myself more touched and more connected to people who lost their loved ones than before.

Learn more about Mariane in www.danielpearl.org

Inside my head

I decided to fix my teeth with braces.

This morning, I went to my orthodontist's office for some X-rays and impressions. Nowadays they have phased out the X-ray film and have the X-ray images imported to the computer directly.

I saw my skull popped up on the computer screen. It is really funny to see your own skull. It is even more funny because you can see my silhouette if you look closely.

I asked the nurse whether she could give me a copy of the photo. I got a printout and scanned it.

And I just figured that the way my front teeth connect and extend from my jaws looks very much like the pecks of birds.

MY SKULL, Nov 22, 2006

Blue

What's going on? I am so blue tonight.

Was it work? The pear I ate that made me lame in squash games? The weird chest pressure? Or something deep inside me?

My Fourth Halloween

Although it was the fourth Halloween I spent in the US, it was the first time I carved pumpkins.

Sophie and I bought a pumpkin for each of us from Russell Orchids. Yvette bought a kid's pumpkin carving tools.

I looked up one of the books of Phoenix, and carved the Japaneses Sacred Guide against the devils on the right.

PUMPKIN CARVING, Oct 22, 2006

The soul of trees

The foliage has gone. The trees shed their leaves, reminding us what is inside their wraps.

NYC

Last summer we went to New York City.

I had been in NYC a few times. But it was the first time I went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In the African exhibit, I saw a couple holding hands.

METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NYC, Sspt 5, 2005

Lobster dinner

I made a lobster dinner for the night in Maine.

Before we went, I looked up on the web and couldn't find a seafood market in that area.

Luck. On the our way, I took a wrong turn in a small town and ran into a man who was selling lobsters and clams and fishes in his truck on the curb. So we had lobsters for dinner.

We had 4 2-lb lobsters and 5 lbs of clams. I simply boiled them with salt. I also cooked some pasta to fill up.

Everybody was happy with the food.

Bunt-Inn, Greenwood, ME, Sept 30, 2006

Jetta

I love my car. It is a VW Jetta, made in 1999.

I bought it in Sept 2004, when it was 5 years old. I was not looking at this particular model but it happened to fit my budget and I just saw the ad on the newspaper.

Lars told me to be the first one to see the car, because it was a good car and the seller was asking for a very reasonable price. So we set off at 7 am and saw the car by 8.

The look of the car is good, round edges but not too round. Looks like it has some muscle. The first moment I hit the pedal, I was in love with it. Fast response, accurate turn. I feel the road from the steering wheel and the engine from the gas pedal.

I didn't want to bargain. I asked the seller his bottom line. He said $6600. Two hundred down from his asking price. Dealt. He turned down the other 2 parties scheduled to see the car after me.

I have had it for over 2 years. It has some minor complaints but has never disappointed me. I love driving it so much.

A few months back I was so depressed and lost that I wanted to get a hold on something. I turned into the automobile market. I was attracted by a few newbies, the Mazda3 hatchback, VW Rabbit, Saab 9-3. I tested drive 2 Mazda3 and a VW Rabbit. I felt nothing from the steering wheel nor the pedal.

It was partly the money factor partly my pretty Jetta that woke me up. I don't spend extra money on something that is not better than what I am having. Why move on to something that is not better than what you already own?

I heard on the radio that some drivers pat their cars like patting their lovers. I started to do that long before I heard it.

Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman died today at 94.

I am no economist. I took an entry economic class in college and I have long forgot everything I learned from it.

Friedman's theories had influenced the whole post-70s world. In 1960s, no one listened to his theory of free market backed although it was backed by vigorous logic and mathematics, when the Keynesian economics of heavy government intervention was at its hype. When his prediction of the end of economic boom created by intense government intervention after the World War II, and the beginning of the lengthy depression and loss of jobs became true in the 70s, Friedman found himself under the spotlight. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher were deeply influenced by his theories and advices on limiting government power. His theories also pointed out the fallacy of communism, and inspired a few people in the East Bloc who led the upthrow the rule of the communists.

As Ben Bernanke, now chairman of the Federal Reserve, put it in a speech honoring Mr. Friedman in 2003, “His thinking has so permeated modern macroeconomics that the worst pitfall in reading him today is to fail to appreciate the originality and even revolutionary character of his ideas.”

Thank you, Mr. Friedman.


Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

A plain blue sky

I got up at 4:10 am to catch the first train at 5:10 am from Bristol to Heathrow for the first flight at 7:30 am. I didn't want to waste a second.

It was a warm summer day of Europe. Clear sky. We picnicked with ham from the supermarket and fresh bread from the bakery.

There were people sunbathing in complete nude on the designated lawn. Among the rules, no ball games nor horseback riding.

MUNICH, Sept 9, 2004

Home seeking

It is not easy to be alone in a foreign country. You feel helpless in difficult times, and simply can't stop asking yourself why you are here.

I always know my reason. I am seeking a home. A home built by me and my loved one. That had kept me in a positive attitude.

MACAU, Jan 2006

Grandma

I missed grandma very much today. I called her up and we talked for over 20 min.

I used to be very closed to her. My mom needed to work and grandma was the one who looked after me since I was born. She hefted me on her back to the market everyday when I was a toddler. She taught me what was right, what was wrong; how to behave and how to respect people.

A few years ago she needed to implant a heartbeat regulator onto her heart. I flew to see her and stayed with her in the hospital. I held her hands the first time since I grew up. The doctor said she was strong and healthy otherwise. She recovered very quickly and only stayed in the hospital for 3 days after the surgery. I was relieved.

Grandma is a very smart and clever woman. She made many important decisions for our family that were proved to be correct. I always think if she had had the chance to go to school, she would have had a great career. But she would probably not be my grandma.

I am very lucky to have a great woman guide me throughout my childhood. You gave me all it takes to make me a decent human being. Although we are not related by blood, your teaching and love always flow in my blood. I love you, Grandma.

Grandma, my mom's sister and me in Edinburg Square,
Hong Kong, 1977.

Old State House

It was a warm September night. You can call it a "restaurant crawl" - eat in one restaurant after another.

On the way to the second restaurant, I caught the lit Old State House of Massachusetts in my cell phone.

OLD STATE HOUSE, Sept 16, 2006

US Open Squash

Today I got all my squash buddies together to watch the Round 1 of the US Open Squash. It was the first time I saw the world's top players play in live.

Four of us, including an old friend who happened to be visiting Boston from Melbourne, Australia, went to Harvard Field. They got a nice indoor squash and tennis stadium there.

Since it was the round 1, the seeded top 10 players of the world played players of lower ranking. We watched the world number 1, 4, 5 and 7. The most entertaining match was number 4 vs number 24. Both of them play an attack type of squash and the match went onto the fifth game. It took Number 4 lots of hard work to win.

The first match started at 1:30 pm and the last match of the day had not started till 8 pm when we left. It was a great day. I think I have picked up some skills to play better.

World's No. 1 (in white shirt) was very patient with his
contester who ranked lower than 50.

September in Hong Kong

It was a trip of short notice. It was hot and wet. One day I met the rain.

We were in a bookstore in TST. I took my cell phone out and wanted to take a picture out of the window. The storekeeper came by and told me I was not allowed to take pictures in the store.

I asked him, "Not even outside the window?"

He said, "No, I am sorry."

He walked away and I took this picture. I don't follow stupid rules.

STAR FERRIES, Sept 4, 2006

The Funeral

It was a sunny day. Blue sky, white clouds. Temperature at 15 degrees. It was a bit too warm for November in Boston. People are still debating on global warming.

Today we had the funeral for my friend who died Wednesday. It was as sad as you can imagine for a man who died young and left a wife and a teenage daughter. It was the speech of an old friend of his that got me in tears.

The speaker quoted my friend's words said after he knew he didn't have too much time left in his life. My friend had said, "It is not my life that I worry about. My life had become my daughter's life already." The speaker then turned to the daughter and said, "his life is your life, and you life is his life."

I had known him loved his daughter very much. In fact he had lived his live for his daughter.

Tears came down from me. I suddenly realized that I was also living my life for my loved one without being aware of it.

It may be too much for a relationship, but I don't regret it. Life is short after all.

Now I know how a lost dad can change a girl. It can turn a lively and dependent girl cool and defying.

Twisted

Now you see a line, a worm, a spiral and a rose. There is one thing in them in common. Guess.

Answer? The worm, the spiral and the rose all come from the line. I simply played the line with the "twist tool" of Adobe Illustrator. The harder you twist the line, the more collapsed the line will be:



and this:



There must be some maths behind it. I am not any good in maths, but I see some philosophy in it.

Something as simple as a line can be twisted so hard that you see it something else.

Should we step back and look at the nature of things, and appreciate what is behind the twist?

Wild turkeys

I went home for lunch and shower after playing soccer. When I finished and started my car, I saw in the mirror a wild turkey walking down my front yard.

I pulled my car to the driveway and figured that there were actually a pair of them.

They were about 2 feet tall and only a few feet away from me. I wanted to take a picture of them but I didn't have my cell phone with me.

I didn't move. They ignored me and walked across the street.

12:39 am

What is left of me?

Florence

Florence is a beautiful city. The Cathedral, The David, Uffizi, endless scriptures and paintings.

Italian pizza, cappuccino, the ham.

The tiny hostel, the walk of the city, up to the Michaelangelo Plaza.

Live a life

People always say you should treasure your loved ones. I always do.

Life is short. Don't wait.

A day of grey

A friend of mine came from China. He was a professor in pathology back there.

He was diagnosed liver cancer a couple of months ago. He stayed at home since then. His home is only a mile down the street from my home. I drive pass his home everyday but I have never happened to stop by and say hello to him.

Before his wife and daughter came, I used to go to his home for dinner once in a week or 2 for a few months. He cooked great.

He was rushed to the hospital last week because of internal bleeding. I was going to see him last Sunday. I called him up and he sounded weak. He said he would be home in a couple of days and told me not to see him in the hospital. I thought it a good sign and told him I would see him at his home in a few days.

Last night I saw his car parked outside his home. His car had not been there since he went to the hospital. I thought he was home, and things should be getting better.

This morning, I heard the news. He died yesterday. He was 43 years old.

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW