Living in the now

A letter written by Albert Einstein sold for an amazing £170,000 (approximately $330,000) yesterday at auction in London to a private collector.  It was estimated to sell for £8,000 earlier this week, but the price skyrocketed it seems in part due to Einstein’s candid view on religion and the Bible.

The word god is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this.”

Despite his rejection of conventional religion, Einstein became angry when his views were appropriated by evangelists for atheism according a leading Einstein expert, John Brooke of Oxford University.  Brooke goes onto say that he was offended by their lack of humility and once wrote, “The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.”

Einstein himself appears to have struggled with the fundamental questions of god and religion much like those before him did and those of us after him continue to do.  A year before his death in 1954, he spoke of wishing to “experience the universe as a single cosmic whole.”  So say we all.

My Mom was scheduled to have her tenth surgery yesterday, but it was postponed until next Thursday.  We visited my family about three weeks ago, and sickness, allergies, and a dislocated elbow couldn’t stop us from making it.  Our short trip was fun for all, and Grandma got to see her two wonderful granddaugthers.

Since her last operation, the wound has been healing nicely.  However, another fistula formed because there is not enough skin to close properly.  As a result, a plastic surgeon will be joining the operating team next week to address that.  The goals for this surgery are to fix the fistula (again), repair with plastic surgery or Mighty Putty, and reverse the ileostomy.

About a month ago, Anna and I were introduced to a little band called Flight of the Conchords, who bill themselves as “Formerly New Zealand’s fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo.”  We watched their clips over and over on YouTube and quickly jumped on the bandwagon by renting the first season of the Flight of the Conchords television show on HBO.

If you haven’t hear of them, then it’s time you did.  If you have, then you know it’s business time!

“Chebra” by Rosie, April 2008

Have no fear!  Only you and your doctor will be able to know what’s hiding in your genes.  The U.S. Senate has finally passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), approving by unanimous vote an amended version of H.R. 493, which passed the House a year ago today by a vote of 420-3.  As I previously blogged, the Senate debate had been on “hold” by Tom Coburn, Republican U.S. Senator from Oklahoma.

The act, once signed into law, will protect Americans against discrimination based on their genetic information when it comes to health insurance and employment.  The long-awaited measure, which has been debated in Congress for 13 years (my emphasis), will pave the way for people to take full advantage of the promise of personalized medicine without fear of discrimination.

Start studying for that genetic test now!

Combine chemistry with Magic: The Gathering, and you get Elementeo, a collectible card game that aims to teach chemistry to students in a fun, unusual way.  Anshul Samar, the 14-year-old CEO of Alchemist Empire, Inc., was scheduled to speak yesterday at the 235th American Chemical Society National Meeting in New Orleans.  He hopes to secure $500,000 in funding so his Silicon Valley-based startup can begin mass producing the game.

You are not a geek or a nerd if you like chemistry,” says Samar. “If people do end up calling you a geek because you love chemistry, don’t worry, those people are going to end up working for you at the end!”

You can pre-order a copy of the game here.  Game on!

You’ve seen the movies, read the books, and had hours & hours of discussion about it, but just how long could you survive in space before a passing Vogon ship picked you up?

Created by OnePlusYou

Many of you will be watching the Season 4 premiere of Battlestar Galactica on the Sci-Fi Channel this Friday night as legions of Battle Droids lay waste to many Gungans on Spike TV.  All six Star Wars movies will be shown on Spike TV beginning on April 4th at 8:00 pm with The Phantom Menace, followed by Attack of the Clones on Saturday and the broadcast premiere of Revenge of the Sith on Sunday.  The saga will continue Friday April 11th at 8 pm with Star Wars: A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back on Saturday, and Return of the Jedi on Sunday.  Do not underestimate the power of the Force.

Even though it’s April Fools’ Day, this is no joke.  Minnesota Representative Michelle Bachmann introduced H.R. 5616, the “Light Bulb Freedom of Choice Act,”

To provide for the repeal of the phase out of incandescent light bulbs unless the Comptroller General makes certain specific findings.”

Those findings are that:

1.  Consumers will save money on the combination of electric bills and expenses for new fixures.
2. Overall carbon dioxide emissions will be reduced by 20% in the US by 2025.
3. The phase-out will not pose any health risks, including those associated with mercury containment in certain light bulbs.

This coming about two weeks before the Bush Administration appealed a federal court’s decision throwing out an EPA regulation to control mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.  They argued that the ruling requires EPA to set “inappropriate and unnecessary emission standards for power plants.”

So, mercury may not be okay in certain light bulbs, but it’s okay in coal-fired power plants?  And, what about mercury in dental fillings?  Hell, we’re Americans, and we can damn well choose what type of light bulbs we want, what sort of fillings we get, and what type of big ass cars we drive!

Note: I don’t like it when science gets distorted by politics on either side of the spectrum.  /off soap box

I’ve seen Iron Chef and Iron Chef America a handful of times, but they are not “Must See TV” for me.  Both shows are exciting and enjoyable to watch, and I think they’re partly responsible for the appeal of the Nintendo DS and Wii Cooking Mama video game series.  Following the success of those games, Destineer and United Media announced last week that they will be bringing the Iron Chef franchise to both systems.  Allez Cuisine!