Too Much of a Good Thing

Thanks to Phil for pointing this one out to me:


Scientific Brain Linked to Autism

"Highly analytical couples, such as scientists, may be more likely to produce children with autism, an expert has argued. Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, of the University of Cambridge, said the phenomenon may help explain the recent rise in diagnoses.

Professor Baron-Cohen labels people such as scientists, mathematicians and engineers as 'systemizers'. They are skilled at analysing systems to figure out how they work. But they also tend to be less interested in the social side of life, and can exhibit behaviour such as an obsession with detail - classic traits associated with autism. Brain scan studies have also shown that mothers of autistic children often show patterns of brain activity more associated with men.

Professor Baron-Cohen said the rise in autism may be linked to the fact that it has become easier for systemizers to meet each other, with the advent of international conferences, greater job opportunities and more women working in these fields."

HA!

I particularly like how they portray international conferences as "mixers" for the autistic gene pool. Don't we just know it :(

Marching Song of the Incompetents

Oh, i know it's in the comment section, but this warrants a blogpost spot. My downthrodden thesis mind hasn't laughed as much for ages. Thanks Ann!

Posted by Ann

"Marching Song of the Incompetents by Donald U. Wise, Professor Emeritus of Structural Geology (please sing to the tune of "Battle Hymn of the Republic"):

My bones proclaim a story of incompetent design
My back still hurts, my sinus clogs, my teeth just won't align
If I had drawn the blueprint I would certainly resign
Incompetent Design!
Evo-Evo-Evolution. Design is but a mere illusion
Darwin sparked our revolution. Science shall prevail!

Apparently this song had its premiere last October when hundreds of geologists sang it enthusiastically at the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting. Dammit, I always knew everyone got to go to more fun conferences than me."

Warped time & Misguided Design

Meh.

You know those days where you're just too damn close-up on the work you've been doing? When you lose grasp on what has been done and what still needs doing? I just spent the entire morning "regrouping" with myself. In Le Pew terms this normally means lots of shedules, color-coordinated agendas and puzzling. But it turns out I COMPLETELY miscounted the days left till hand in. February 15th is NOT as I assumed (for reasons beyond my grasp), a weekend, but rather a Wednesday *curses*. Anyway... Instead of my usual battle approach, I've simply drawn up a wee list of things that still need to be done, and rather than meticulously plan my next 20 days, I will simply work my way down this list and hope it is finished by the 15th. Fingers crossed.

Oh. And did y'all know today is a Friday?!?!


On an entirely different note, BBC2 aired an excellent documentary on Intelligent Design vs. Darwinian Evolution. I suspect others will comment on this documentary rather more intelligibly than I at this point am capable of, but a few comments struck me which I feel warrant a mention.

"Intelligent Design is a movement on behalf of religion which is going to destroy both science & religion" - By Rev.Coyden on how ID supporters manipulate religious leaders (such as Austrian Cardinal Shonbron) into speaking in their favour, while the Church has clearly issued a statement that Darwinism is not incompatible with the Christian Faith.

"One has yet to demonstrate a failing of the Darwinistic Theory. When we are unable to explain something, or when we don't understand something, it simply means we don't know yet. But this in itself is cannot be used as proof for a "Creator". You then transgress from the objective realm of science into the subjective." - Sir David Attenborough

I had planned on including something I read by Stuart Kauffman on the mathemtical probability issue of "chance events" which was discussed in the documentary, but someone smuggled my copy of his book into Rome and it has since not been seen. *thief!*

Feeding Habits

It's blowing a massive hoolie outside, which has made my sleep a rather restless one this night. This would explain why I'm sat wrapped in my duvet with a hot cup of tea writing a blog entry at 4a.m. I'm sure I'll catch some sleep when the troposphere decides to end its tantrum.

I was thinking about eating etiquette & children's imaginations. Though they may seem unrelated topics, it brought me to this fantastic ability kids have to create new "tasty" foods. I'm not sure if it's spurred on by curiosity as their tastebuds develop, or whether it's to be ascribed solely to that wicked satisfaction kids get from being adverse, but somehow we all develop weird feeding rituals when little & become convinced they are the best, if not ONLY, way to eat.

When my brother was very little, he religiously mixed ketchup & mayo on his plate into what he called his "special sauce". When he was offered coctail sauce (a mixture of ketchup, mayo and a dash of cognac) in replacement, he refused it on the grounds that is was missing his special secret tasty ingredient.

It made me think back to all the weird little quirky feeding habits I had as a child, which mum always used to accompany with a wagging-finger warning: "it's ok to do this in our home, but if I ever catch you doing this in public...!". I was convinced that the ONLY way to eat a watermelon was to turn it into a pirate ship (long story). Or that sandwiches with Dairylea spread HAD to be dipped in coca cola before reaching your mouth. Much to my parent's horror, I had a habit of cutting everything on my plate into the tiniest of pieces, adding a few dollops of mayonaise and mixing it all into a great big mash before feeding it to myself with a spoon. I insisted on putting chocolate spread on my edam cheese, and would put Speculoos (cinnemon cookies) in my sandwich before dipping it in a glass of milk. I will spare you a long list of my more "gruesome" eating behaviors.


I started to wonder whether I did this because it really tasted better, or because it used to disgust and annoy people around me. Maybe the annoyance of others made it taste all the better. And if so, did I abandon those habits because of social etiquette, or because I simply stopped pretending they really tasted so much better?

I've reason to suspect it was mainly because of social etiquette. Even within the confines of homes set up with previous girlfriends, I've refrained from taking up the old patterns. I guess I wanted to keep said girlfriends. But being back at my mum's for my thesis write up has serrupticiously reintroduced some of the old habits. Just the other day I was confronted with mum's horrorstruck face as I had subconciously turned into "mashing" her carefully prepared meal with dollops of mayonaise again.

I figured then it was best to surrender to the relapse entirely and actually went out to make myself a bunch of the old favorites. And guess what? They DO taste better. Let this be a warning to whomever out there ends up being my next live-in girlfriend. The habits WILL be taken up within the confines of a loving new home. Take it or leave it ;-)

Geek Tag

I was tagged by Dr.Jim today, who pleaded I take a moment off from being a boring old thesis writing fart to play along with my peoples (read:the geeks). I hate to be a party-pooper. So here goes nothing:

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:

1. Counsellor: I was 15, spotty and delusionally sickophantic about everything American. So I landed myself a wee job as a "counsellor" at Cabin Camp, Colorado. Which simply meant I was responsible for the entertainment of a noisy bunch of kids. Face painting, bow & arrow practice, fishing, drama club, tie-dye T-shirt making, library bus story telling... you name it, I did it. Earned a whole $15/week, and gained 5 kilo.

2. Marketing Research: I managed to survive a whole day before being fired. The aim was to call people and question them about their reading habits (magazines, newspapers, etc..). I managed to call only 5 of the 30 people on my list for the day, so was sacked for not making the daily quotum. In my defence, some of the people I called were very sweet old ladies who seemed to be so lonely they’d talk to anyone even if it was merely for marketing research. So I kind of took my time. I still think I should’ve earned a bonus instead of a sacking. Public Health Officials should hire me, seriously.

3. Module Coordinator: Some Prof unceremoniously left the department leaving behind an orphaned Msc physics module and I got stuck with it. Suffice it to say that I am a crap teacher and should never again be allowed to do so. But it made a hell of a lot of money.

4. Freelance Translator: One’s got to make a student living somehow, so why not exploit your cultural benefits. First ever translation work I did was a piece by Arne Sierens for theatre production from dialect Dutch to dialect Portuguese. Recently it’s mainly been rather dull scientific and medical documents.

Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. Igby Goes Down (2002)
2. American History X (1998)
3. On Golden Pond (1981)
4. Annie Hall (1977)
5. The world According to Garp (1982)

Yeah I know. That’s five.

Four places you’ve lived:
1. Ghent, Belgium
2. Lisbon, Portugal
3. Derby, England
4. Bridge of Allan, Scotland

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Actually, just to be awkward, I want to make it “loved” to watch as everyone gives the same old boring responses on recent shows:
1. The Cosby Show
2. The Muppet Show
3. Alf
4. Fraggle Rock


Four places you've been on holiday:

1. South Africa : Gorgeous. But shocking. I am still not over the vastness of the Shanti-towns. On the upside, Table Mountain alone counts more different species of flowers and shrubs than the whole British Isle.
2. Scandinavia : Glacier walking, Mountainbiking (downhilling) & Lumber rafting. Lost a piece of my chess set whilst on the 5 day lumber raft trip. If anyone finds it… I want it back. One of the best holidays of my life, despite 36 kick ass midgee bites.
3. Dutch Antilles (Aruba & Curacao): Scariest propeller flight I’ve ever taken in my life.
4. British Columbia, Canada: aiming to go back there this year, hopefully to land myself a job. Although now that the shitty conservatives won the election, I may just reconsider.

Four Websites you visit daily:
1: BBC News
2: Sev Trek
3: Mercola
4: Reclaim the Media

Four of your favorite foods:
1: Witloof met Hesp
(Belgian: Chicory wrapped in ham roasted with a cheesy sauce on top)
2: Sushi
(I would SNORT wasabi if it was legal)
3: Nachos
(with refried beans, salsa, guacomole, cheese, black olives&chilis
4: Musterd
(technically not a food, but c'mon!)
5: Sole Meuniere

yes, five again. So I have issues with rules, read on.

Four places you’d rather be:
1. Out walking in the Scottish Highlands
2. Exploring New Zealand
3. Backpacking through Patagonia (Chile)
4. Skiing in Banff (Canada)

And if the PhD hand-in and passing goes well, that's exactly where I will spend the rest of my year. At all four of them. *clings on to that fact for dear life*

Four Play (tag):
I don't blogbrowse often enough, so here’s some people I know in real life that blog & might participate:
1. Heidi
2. Michiel
3. Ann
4. Cacao

Onset of Insanity

I don't know if any of you used to watch "Chicago Hope", but those of you who did... remember Dr.Jerry Geiger? The surgeon who used to walk around his office in his undies, because his trousers "made too much noise to think" when pacing around?


Well... The dude was right!! Pacing to think, which incidentally I have been doing a lot of lately, is ridiculously ineffective when trousers are so incredibly noisy!!

And, before you ask, yes I am sat in my girlboxers as I write this and no I don't remember what my point was really.

With a bounce in your step

Ohhhh! Some people really do strike it lucky with their research topic *grin* Just imagine yourself announcing to the world with a straight face that you've just obtained your PhD in... well, erm... "The correlation between jogging with unsupported bras and saggy breasts"

The BBC released a press statement from this particular research group, saying:

"Millions of women may be jogging their way to sagging breasts as they set off on New Year fitness regimes without suitable bras, research suggests. Research found breasts moved in a 3D figure of eight and that uncontrolled movement strained fragile tissues and ligaments. The study suggests that as a woman runs a mile, her breasts bounce 135m."

*giggle* Isn't research SWELL?

PhD-itis

With the deadline for my thesis hand-in a mere 4 weeks (to the day) away, I've transformed into a right li'l monster. I've taken to growling, barking & biting at everyone who strays into my path (there's a very unfortunate plumber somewhere missing a chunk of his pen since yesterday, just cuz he took a whole precious ten minutes to write up a receipt *cough*). I've also taken to eating my dinners at my desk and carry paper & pen around with me even when I go to the loo, just in case inspiration decides to blindside me. I can't be bothered with perfume and after my morning shower, I hop right back into my favorite scruffs for sheer comfort.

Unfortunately, I also no longer have the time nor the energy to style my new hairdo. So once it's shampoo-ed & rinsed it's left to fend for itself. Which... well, has kind of reduced me to an angry monchichi look-a-like (Remember those??? Unfashionably hip scruffy foreward bangs and general wildness??)



To top it all, here's a nice little conundrum for the displacement-activity needy amongst you:

Input: Pizza, mac&cheese, chocolate, coffee, diet coke
Outome: 1.5 kg weightloss on the scales
Where's the missing matter gone???

(Imagine the following printed upsidedown, as if in real puzzle books) Answer: Effin' STRESS, THAT's where it's gone!!! Long live Academia!

ScareMonger

Today's BBC News-site has a feature on Debt. It enables one to take a "Debt-Test" which is a questionnaire-based evaluation of one's financial situation.

I'm a PhD-student on a regular (tho small) stipend. I've moved back home temporarily for my write-up, so I don't pay rent or utilities. I owe no student debts, don't possess credit cards or store cards, and I don't have any monthly loan-repayments to keep up with.

I think you'd agree that any sane individual would judge my situation to be about as debt-free as it can possibly get. But, as a geeky individual like myself does on an early morning procrastination stint over coffee, I filled in the Debt-Test anyway.

Here's how they judged my financial situation:

" Your answers suggest that your debts might be about to cause some problems or they might be doing so already. Make time to review your current borrowing and try to avoid taking on any new debts at the moment. If you are struggling already, don't panic but do take action now."

Erm... OK?

Either the BBC has finally joined the mass media Scare-Mongering tactics, or some lazy sod on the editorial staff couldn't be bothered to compile more than one feedback result. Not cool.

What you asked for...

Who was it again that told me just last night to dream up my possibilities and they'd come true?!? I owe you a pint, girl!!

I'd sheduled an early morning visit to the Doctor's today, but as I had a bit of a late night just last, I cursed when my alarm went off and thought: "man, I could do with a good excuse not to have to go". The idea being that the excuse would allow me to stay IN the bed and keep me from having to face the freezing cold reality out there.

But, like a good lil girl I got up grumpily, shivered my way to the bathroom, splashed water on my face, squeamed myself into my icecold clothes, heated some water, defrosted the windshields of my car and its lock, got in, adjusted the mirrors, yawned, started the car and.... nothing.

Seems I got my excuse. Flat battery.

Excellent. Though somewhat late, don't you think fellas? Shitty cold wheather! *growls* And my bed is no longer warm, of course.

Anyway, I just drew myself a nicely smelling hot bath (rubber ducks included), and I fully intend to soak away for an hour or so, hoping my car somehow magically decides to fix itself at some point.

Or in Douglas Adams's words: It's an SEP.