no more classes

So, I have finished my classes for my Ph.D. All there is left to do now is take some exams. Summer is quickly approaching in Ithaca and I can't wait for some awesome researching.

Physicists have been able to image whole frozen hydrated yeast cells. Their work resulted in several publications, one of the cooler ones appearing in Physical Review Letters. These scientists were able to resolve structures within the cell with better than 25 nanometer resolution. Just to place this in perspective, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), the molecule that makes you an individual, is just 2 nm wide. We know a lot about cell biology, but there is a great deal that we do not know. Imagine the day when we are able to take a snap shot of every molecule inside of a cell with spacial and temporal resolution...what power! Citation: Phys. Rev. Lett. 103, 198101 (2009).

The media has had a hayday with resveratrol, the miracle drug found in red wine that has the remarkable ability to increase the lifespan of every animal from worms to monkeys. It seems that lifespan is even more complex than previously thought. A paper, published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, shows for the first time a link between the protein arrestin and longevity. When it was first discovered, arrestin was thought to be sort of a boring molecule, not doing much in an organism...but then it was found to be a huge player in cellular signaling pathways. The authors were able to demonstrate a link between cellular arrestin levels and worm lifespan (less arrestin meant a longer living worm). No medical treatment yet for aging, but it seems that we are getting closer! Citation: JBC, 285, 15187-15200.

Finally!! The NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has gone online! Our star, the Sun (loves it!!), is the singularly most important astronomical object within 5 light years of our planet. The slow fusion reactions taking place in its core irradiate our hunk of rock and water (Earth) with the energy necessary to making boring matter into what we call life (self replicating matter). We know surprisingly little about the processes that make the Sun do what it does, but the SDO is hoping to answer that question by "studying the solar atmosphere on small scales of space and time and in many wavelength simultaneously." If that isn't enough to make you beg for data, then I don't know what is!

I'll leave you with the following picture to reflect on: this is our Sun. The earth is a tiny spec in comparison.