[12]
Most Powerful MRI Has Stronger Magnet Than the LHC’s
A. Madrigal, "Most Powerful MRI Has Stronger Magnet Than the LHC’s" Wired Science, wired.com/wiredscience, September 16, 2009. [Online]. Available: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/bigmri/. [Accessed: March 20, 2010].
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology is an incredible way to image the inner-workings of humans and animals alike. An MRI machine that emits a magnetic field with near-perfect uniformity and homogeneity is a good MRI. An MRI machine that emits a strong uniform and homogenous field is an even better MRI. The MRI machine located at the University of Illinois in Chicago emits a uniform and homogenous field with a strength of 9.4 T (although it's more likely the machine emits a field of 9.4 T with some number of zeros appended to that number).
To put things in perspective, Earth's magnetic core emits a magnetic field with a strength of about 50 microtesla, or about 200,000 times less than that of U of I's MRI. If you've ever had an MRI screening, it's likely you were placed in a magnetic field of either 1.5 or 3 T.
Only four 9.4 T machines exist right now. The massive field could be used to predict the risk of neurological disease such as Alzheimer's Disease or Multiple Sclerosis long before even symptoms show up.
Granted, 9.4 T is a massive field and could easily yank a ferromagnetic object right out of the hands of the careless individual even at a great distance. However, it is nowhere near the current record for a manmade magnetic field with a field strength of 45 T, soon to be overcome by a project at the National High Mangetic Field Laboratory in Florida, where the final touches are being put on a 100 T magnet.
Monday, March 22, 2010
11 - Large Hadron Collider Triples Its Own Record
[11]
Large Hadron Collider Triples Its Own Record
A. Madrigal, "Large Hadron Collider Triples Its Own Record" Wired Science, wired.com/wiredscience, March 19, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/lhc-triples-its-own-record/. [Accessed: March 20, 2010].
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located near the Franco-Swiss border, is the largest particle-accelerator ever built by mankind. With a diameter of about 17 miles, the accelerator runs 574 feet beneath the surface of the Earth, with most of the ring lying on the French side of the border but some of it lying on the Swiss side. The LHC was built for the purpose of accelerating subatomic particles to near-light speeds, crashing them together, and observing what results from the collision. One major goal is to discover the Higgs-Boson particle, which has been affectionately and popularly described as the God particle due to its alleged ability to explain the nature and origins of matter.
On March 19, the LHC charged particles to 3.48 trillion electron-volts (eV), which is three times the energy of any beams ever achieved by humans. This figure is only half of what the LHC is proposed to be capable of. This achievement is welcome news to the some 10,000 scientists and engineers who spent years designing and building the collider, especially after the LHC broke down in September 2008.
When the LHC is able to generate a beam with a magnitude of 7 eV, the incredible explosion that will result could either confirm or challenge those theories that, at present, physicists regard as immutable. What's more is that the collision could finally give rise to a 'Theory of Everything,' or a single, unifying theory that relates the most basic forces: gravity, electromagnetism, friction, and nuclear forces.
Large Hadron Collider Triples Its Own Record
A. Madrigal, "Large Hadron Collider Triples Its Own Record" Wired Science, wired.com/wiredscience, March 19, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/lhc-triples-its-own-record/. [Accessed: March 20, 2010].
The Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located near the Franco-Swiss border, is the largest particle-accelerator ever built by mankind. With a diameter of about 17 miles, the accelerator runs 574 feet beneath the surface of the Earth, with most of the ring lying on the French side of the border but some of it lying on the Swiss side. The LHC was built for the purpose of accelerating subatomic particles to near-light speeds, crashing them together, and observing what results from the collision. One major goal is to discover the Higgs-Boson particle, which has been affectionately and popularly described as the God particle due to its alleged ability to explain the nature and origins of matter.
On March 19, the LHC charged particles to 3.48 trillion electron-volts (eV), which is three times the energy of any beams ever achieved by humans. This figure is only half of what the LHC is proposed to be capable of. This achievement is welcome news to the some 10,000 scientists and engineers who spent years designing and building the collider, especially after the LHC broke down in September 2008.
When the LHC is able to generate a beam with a magnitude of 7 eV, the incredible explosion that will result could either confirm or challenge those theories that, at present, physicists regard as immutable. What's more is that the collision could finally give rise to a 'Theory of Everything,' or a single, unifying theory that relates the most basic forces: gravity, electromagnetism, friction, and nuclear forces.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
10 - How to Reboot Your Corpse
[10]
How to Reboot Your Corpse
S. Karlin, "How to Reboot Your Corpse" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/how-to-reboot-your-corpse/0. [Accessed: March 16, 2010].
If you're like me and you've seen The Empire Strikes Back forty-seven times, you know that Jabba the Hutt captures Han Solo and places him in a cryogenically-frozen chamber at the end of the film. "I love you," professor Princess Leia, to which Solo coolly responds, "I know." That same premise is being developed by Alcor Life Extension Foundation based in Scottsdale, Artizona. For a mere $150,000, you can have your body cryogenically frozen and preserved indefinitely. If you just want to preserve your head, the cost drop to only $80,000. The idea is to preserve the body until sufficiently progressed technology is able to restore life to the frozen individual.
Alcor's current method of cryogenically freezing a corpse involves cooling the body to -196 degrees Celsius, or the temperature at which liquid nitrogen becomes gaseous. Obviously, the technology to reanimate a previous 'dead' corpse does not yet exist. Ralph Merkle, a nanotechnology expert and director at Alcor, believes that using nanorobots to repair damage done to the corpse is the best way to revive the individual in the future.
Retired philosophy professor and author The Skeptics Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions Robert Todd Carroll opines, "A business based on little more than hope for development that can be imagined by science is quackery. There is little reason to believe that the promises of cryonics will ever be fulfilled."
How to Reboot Your Corpse
S. Karlin, "How to Reboot Your Corpse" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/how-to-reboot-your-corpse/0. [Accessed: March 16, 2010].
If you're like me and you've seen The Empire Strikes Back forty-seven times, you know that Jabba the Hutt captures Han Solo and places him in a cryogenically-frozen chamber at the end of the film. "I love you," professor Princess Leia, to which Solo coolly responds, "I know." That same premise is being developed by Alcor Life Extension Foundation based in Scottsdale, Artizona. For a mere $150,000, you can have your body cryogenically frozen and preserved indefinitely. If you just want to preserve your head, the cost drop to only $80,000. The idea is to preserve the body until sufficiently progressed technology is able to restore life to the frozen individual.
Alcor's current method of cryogenically freezing a corpse involves cooling the body to -196 degrees Celsius, or the temperature at which liquid nitrogen becomes gaseous. Obviously, the technology to reanimate a previous 'dead' corpse does not yet exist. Ralph Merkle, a nanotechnology expert and director at Alcor, believes that using nanorobots to repair damage done to the corpse is the best way to revive the individual in the future.
Retired philosophy professor and author The Skeptics Dictionary: A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions Robert Todd Carroll opines, "A business based on little more than hope for development that can be imagined by science is quackery. There is little reason to believe that the promises of cryonics will ever be fulfilled."
9 - This Is Your Brain on Google
[9]
This Is Your Brain on Google
S. Karlin, "This Is Your Brain on Google" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 2009. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/this-is-your-brain-on-google. [Accessed: March 16, 2010].
Gary Small, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the University of California at Los Angeles, has created a brain scan with troubling implications. The scan successfully shows physical evidence of brain degeneration and Alzheimer's in living patients. Up until this scan was devised, brain degeneration in Alzheimer's patients was confirmed in a post-mortem autopsy.
The scan confirmed that Internet searching does stimulate frontal lobe activity, the portion of the brain responsible for decision making, but can also increase the risk of attention deficit disorder, social isolation and Internet addiction.
Quite remarkably, "Technology is not only changing our lives; it's changing our brains," says Small.
In an effort to combat the negative aspects associated with Small's finding, he suggests that the Internet user vary tasks at a reasonable pace. Small says that switching tasks too often slows down the efficiency of the brain over time, but that working on the same task for too long can cause fatigue in the brain. In short, one should not spend all of their time on the computer. "Go outside. Hang out with your friends and colleagues -- in person," says the author.
This Is Your Brain on Google
S. Karlin, "This Is Your Brain on Google" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 2009. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/software/this-is-your-brain-on-google. [Accessed: March 16, 2010].
Gary Small, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist at the University of California at Los Angeles, has created a brain scan with troubling implications. The scan successfully shows physical evidence of brain degeneration and Alzheimer's in living patients. Up until this scan was devised, brain degeneration in Alzheimer's patients was confirmed in a post-mortem autopsy.
The scan confirmed that Internet searching does stimulate frontal lobe activity, the portion of the brain responsible for decision making, but can also increase the risk of attention deficit disorder, social isolation and Internet addiction.
Quite remarkably, "Technology is not only changing our lives; it's changing our brains," says Small.
In an effort to combat the negative aspects associated with Small's finding, he suggests that the Internet user vary tasks at a reasonable pace. Small says that switching tasks too often slows down the efficiency of the brain over time, but that working on the same task for too long can cause fatigue in the brain. In short, one should not spend all of their time on the computer. "Go outside. Hang out with your friends and colleagues -- in person," says the author.
8 - Google and China: All But the Final Goodbyes?
[8]
Google and China: All But the Final Goodbyes?
[#] E. Guizzol, "Google and China: All But the Final Goodbyes?" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 16, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/telecom/internet/google-and-china-all-but-the-final-goodbyes. [Accessed: March 16, 2010].
Relations between Google and China are, at the present moment, in a bit of a contentious. The nation, which is ruled by the Communist Party of China, warned Google that if it stopped censoring internet searches conducted by the citizens of China that Google should "expect retaliation" from the Chinese government. China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, was quoted as saying "If Google takes steps that violate Chinese laws, that would be unfriendly, that would be irresponsible, and they would have to bear the consequences."
Yizhong's comments should come as no surprise with all of China's attitudes about information censorship.
A concern is that if Google does stop censoring search in China, its employees in China could be arrested by the Chinese government as criminals.
Google and China: All But the Final Goodbyes?
[#] E. Guizzol, "Google and China: All But the Final Goodbyes?" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 16, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/telecom/internet/google-and-china-all-but-the-final-goodbyes. [Accessed: March 16, 2010].
Relations between Google and China are, at the present moment, in a bit of a contentious. The nation, which is ruled by the Communist Party of China, warned Google that if it stopped censoring internet searches conducted by the citizens of China that Google should "expect retaliation" from the Chinese government. China's Minister of Industry and Information Technology, Li Yizhong, was quoted as saying "If Google takes steps that violate Chinese laws, that would be unfriendly, that would be irresponsible, and they would have to bear the consequences."
Yizhong's comments should come as no surprise with all of China's attitudes about information censorship.
A concern is that if Google does stop censoring search in China, its employees in China could be arrested by the Chinese government as criminals.
7 - Nobel in Medicine Awarded to MRI Pioneers
[6]
Nobel in Medicine Awarded to MRI Pioneers
[#] E. Guizzo, "Nobel in Medicine Awarded to MRI Pioneers" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, October 2003. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/imaging/nobel-in-medicine-awarded-to-mri-pioneers. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
One might say that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine received by Paul C. Lauterbur of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Sir Peter Mansfield of the University of Nottingham in England in 2003 was long overdue. Lauterbur developed the technology used in modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early 1970s and around the same time Mansfield created new mathematical tools for more efficient processing of the signals generated by hydrogen nuclei. Regardless, the two were finally honored for their incredible achievement with the award, which represents a landmark achievement in the way medicine is practiced.
The procedure, initially cumbersome and quite difficult, has evolved into a practical and widely-implemented diagnostic imaging technique. MRI was a huge improvement over the state-of-the-art at the same, X-ray imaging, which exposes patients to potentially harmful radiation. MRI is a relatively simple procedure and allows diagnoses to be made without invading the patient with surgery.
In 2002, roughly 22,000 MRI machines were in use throughout the world, and more than 60 million MRI screens were conducted.
Nobel in Medicine Awarded to MRI Pioneers
[#] E. Guizzo, "Nobel in Medicine Awarded to MRI Pioneers" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, October 2003. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/imaging/nobel-in-medicine-awarded-to-mri-pioneers. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
One might say that the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine received by Paul C. Lauterbur of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Sir Peter Mansfield of the University of Nottingham in England in 2003 was long overdue. Lauterbur developed the technology used in modern magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the early 1970s and around the same time Mansfield created new mathematical tools for more efficient processing of the signals generated by hydrogen nuclei. Regardless, the two were finally honored for their incredible achievement with the award, which represents a landmark achievement in the way medicine is practiced.
The procedure, initially cumbersome and quite difficult, has evolved into a practical and widely-implemented diagnostic imaging technique. MRI was a huge improvement over the state-of-the-art at the same, X-ray imaging, which exposes patients to potentially harmful radiation. MRI is a relatively simple procedure and allows diagnoses to be made without invading the patient with surgery.
In 2002, roughly 22,000 MRI machines were in use throughout the world, and more than 60 million MRI screens were conducted.
6 - A Weaker, Cheaper MRI
[6]
A Weaker, Cheaper MRI
N. Savage, "A Weaker, Cheaper MRI" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, January 2008. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/imaging/a-weaker-cheaper-mri. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was an incredible achievement in both medicine and technology. The ability to properly diagnose an individual or animal non-invasively was a massive step forward in our ability to treat illnesses or injuries. However, with the average cost of an MRI machine hovering around $3 million, in addition to yearly maintenance and operational costs, makes purchasing an MRI machine a difficult feat for, say, a simple clinic in a developing nation.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a machine that generates a magnetic field with a strength of just one hundred-thousandth of a typical MRI machine's. They say that this lower-field strength produces adequate images that could be capable of detecting tumors almost as well as its big-brother counterpart.
The machine generates a magnetic field of only 46 microteslas, or just over the field strength generated by Earth's magnetic core. The principle of MRI is that a magnetic pulse aligns protons within tissues, and at this strength, few protons will align. So, the machine first emits a 1-second 'prepolarization pulse' of 30 microteslas, which is about as strong as the field generated by a refrigerator magnet.
Such a system could cost as little as $100,000, a dramatic decrease from the few millions of dollars associated with a full-strength 1.5 tesla MRI machine. The machine could even be better at detecting tumors than a full-strength MRI machine, which sometimes drowns out the signals associated with tumors and cancers.
A Weaker, Cheaper MRI
N. Savage, "A Weaker, Cheaper MRI" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, January 2008. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/imaging/a-weaker-cheaper-mri. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
The advent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was an incredible achievement in both medicine and technology. The ability to properly diagnose an individual or animal non-invasively was a massive step forward in our ability to treat illnesses or injuries. However, with the average cost of an MRI machine hovering around $3 million, in addition to yearly maintenance and operational costs, makes purchasing an MRI machine a difficult feat for, say, a simple clinic in a developing nation.
Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a machine that generates a magnetic field with a strength of just one hundred-thousandth of a typical MRI machine's. They say that this lower-field strength produces adequate images that could be capable of detecting tumors almost as well as its big-brother counterpart.
The machine generates a magnetic field of only 46 microteslas, or just over the field strength generated by Earth's magnetic core. The principle of MRI is that a magnetic pulse aligns protons within tissues, and at this strength, few protons will align. So, the machine first emits a 1-second 'prepolarization pulse' of 30 microteslas, which is about as strong as the field generated by a refrigerator magnet.
Such a system could cost as little as $100,000, a dramatic decrease from the few millions of dollars associated with a full-strength 1.5 tesla MRI machine. The machine could even be better at detecting tumors than a full-strength MRI machine, which sometimes drowns out the signals associated with tumors and cancers.
5 - Outperforming Moore's Law
[5]
Outperforming Moore's Law
J.G. Koomey, "Outperforming Moore's Law" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/outperforming-moores-law. [Accessed: March 14, 2010].
Gordon Moore, a co-founder and former CEO of Intel Corporation, proposed in 1965 that the number of transistors that can be implemented in integrated circuit approximately doubles every two years, and coined his prediction "Moore's Law." In fact, the number of transistors in an IC has doubled every 18 months, on average, since 1975, but the rate of calculations as a function of kilowatt-hours has also increased nearly as quickly.
What's interesting is that the number of transistors that could be implemented on an IC increased much faster in the earliest days of computing when the state-of-the-art consisted of bulky vacuum-tubes. In a study by the author, Jonathan G. Koomey, entitled "Assessing Trends in the Electrical Efficiency of Computation Over Time" proposes that the "main technology trends that have improved performance and reduced costs -- at first better tubes, and then smaller transistors -- also reduce power use, hence the similar improvements in computational performance and electrical efficiency, at similarly rates, for such a long time."
Some computer experts cite the fact that Moore's Law has a limit, and that one day technology will permit a limited number of transistor to be able to be implemented in an IC. Koomey's study suggests that the trend of Moore's Law should continue to hold for the next five or ten years, and that we should expect further deductions in the size and power consumption of microprocessor-based devices.
Outperforming Moore's Law
J.G. Koomey, "Outperforming Moore's Law" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/outperforming-moores-law. [Accessed: March 14, 2010].
Gordon Moore, a co-founder and former CEO of Intel Corporation, proposed in 1965 that the number of transistors that can be implemented in integrated circuit approximately doubles every two years, and coined his prediction "Moore's Law." In fact, the number of transistors in an IC has doubled every 18 months, on average, since 1975, but the rate of calculations as a function of kilowatt-hours has also increased nearly as quickly.
What's interesting is that the number of transistors that could be implemented on an IC increased much faster in the earliest days of computing when the state-of-the-art consisted of bulky vacuum-tubes. In a study by the author, Jonathan G. Koomey, entitled "Assessing Trends in the Electrical Efficiency of Computation Over Time" proposes that the "main technology trends that have improved performance and reduced costs -- at first better tubes, and then smaller transistors -- also reduce power use, hence the similar improvements in computational performance and electrical efficiency, at similarly rates, for such a long time."
Some computer experts cite the fact that Moore's Law has a limit, and that one day technology will permit a limited number of transistor to be able to be implemented in an IC. Koomey's study suggests that the trend of Moore's Law should continue to hold for the next five or ten years, and that we should expect further deductions in the size and power consumption of microprocessor-based devices.
4 - New Wireless Sensor Uses Light to Run Nearly Perpetually
[4]
New Wireless Sensor Uses Light to Run Nearly Perpetually
[#] D. Levitan, "New Wireless Sensor Uses Light to Run Nearly Perpetually" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, February 22, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/biomedical/devices/new-wireless-sensor-uses-light-to-run-nearly-perpetually. [Accessed: March 14, 2010].
Power consumption is always a great concern for engineers when they set out to design a device. How much will it consume, for how long will it last, and how to keep supplying power to a device are all key questions in the design process. Well, a team from the University of Michigan has designed a sensor that utilizes solar power to allow the sensor to function autonomously for many years.
The sensor is only 9 cubic-millimeters, consumes a miniscule 100 picowatts when in 'sleep mode' and only 2.1 microwatts when making sensing measurement. The sensor is outfitted with a thin-film lithium-ion battery (the kind that is typically found in electronics), but it only needs to be exposed to a light source periodically. Professor David Blaauw, professor electrical and computer engineering at U of M says the source of light need not be from the sun and that device can actually function with indoor lighting sources.
A similar system was developed by a team at Cornell University which exploits the ability of a piezoelectric power system to store energy based on tiny vibrations or mechanical movements.
The light-powered sensor could be used to measure pressure in the eyes or brain or inside tumors. Blaauw added that the sensor, even when embedded within the eye of an individual, could still utilize solar power for its operation.
New Wireless Sensor Uses Light to Run Nearly Perpetually
[#] D. Levitan, "New Wireless Sensor Uses Light to Run Nearly Perpetually" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, February 22, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/biomedical/devices/new-wireless-sensor-uses-light-to-run-nearly-perpetually. [Accessed: March 14, 2010].
Power consumption is always a great concern for engineers when they set out to design a device. How much will it consume, for how long will it last, and how to keep supplying power to a device are all key questions in the design process. Well, a team from the University of Michigan has designed a sensor that utilizes solar power to allow the sensor to function autonomously for many years.
The sensor is only 9 cubic-millimeters, consumes a miniscule 100 picowatts when in 'sleep mode' and only 2.1 microwatts when making sensing measurement. The sensor is outfitted with a thin-film lithium-ion battery (the kind that is typically found in electronics), but it only needs to be exposed to a light source periodically. Professor David Blaauw, professor electrical and computer engineering at U of M says the source of light need not be from the sun and that device can actually function with indoor lighting sources.
A similar system was developed by a team at Cornell University which exploits the ability of a piezoelectric power system to store energy based on tiny vibrations or mechanical movements.
The light-powered sensor could be used to measure pressure in the eyes or brain or inside tumors. Blaauw added that the sensor, even when embedded within the eye of an individual, could still utilize solar power for its operation.
3 - Superfast Scanner Lets You Digitize a Book By Rapidly Flipping Pages
[3]
Superfast Book Scanner
[#] E. Guizzol, "Superfast Scanner Lets You Digitize a Book By Rapidly Flipping Pages" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 7, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/book-flipping-scanning. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
Masotoshi Ishikawa is a brilliant professor at the University of Tokyo. Perhaps you've heard of him or seen his incredible work -- he's the man behind the robotic hand that can dribble a basketball and catch objects in midair better than most humans can. Well, Professor Isikawa has recently developed a way to scan a book with lightning-quick speed.
Conventional methods of book-scanning are still limited by how fast human hands can correctly position a book in front of an image-capturing system. Ishikawa's lab researchers, Takashi Nakashima and Yoshihiro Watanabe, have developed the hardware for the system, and the three claim they can digitize a 200-page book in, astonishingly enough, one minute.
The camera that takes the pictures of the pages in the book operates at a super-fast 500 grams per second, and captures images at high resolution -- 1280 x 1024 pixels. The scanned pages, when first acquired, are curved and distorted, just like the pages are in any book, but the team devised a way to remedy that. A software algorithm builds a three-dimensional model of the page and reconstructs it into a flat shape.
The system in its current incarnation takes up an entire lab bench, but the teams hopes to miniaturize it and perhaps one day implement the technology into smartphones. This author is particularly excited at the prospect of no longer having to shell out hundreds of dollars for textbooks for himself or for his children someday.
Superfast Book Scanner
[#] E. Guizzol, "Superfast Scanner Lets You Digitize a Book By Rapidly Flipping Pages" IEEE Spectrum, spectrum.ieee.org, March 7, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/robotics-software/book-flipping-scanning. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
Masotoshi Ishikawa is a brilliant professor at the University of Tokyo. Perhaps you've heard of him or seen his incredible work -- he's the man behind the robotic hand that can dribble a basketball and catch objects in midair better than most humans can. Well, Professor Isikawa has recently developed a way to scan a book with lightning-quick speed.
Conventional methods of book-scanning are still limited by how fast human hands can correctly position a book in front of an image-capturing system. Ishikawa's lab researchers, Takashi Nakashima and Yoshihiro Watanabe, have developed the hardware for the system, and the three claim they can digitize a 200-page book in, astonishingly enough, one minute.
The camera that takes the pictures of the pages in the book operates at a super-fast 500 grams per second, and captures images at high resolution -- 1280 x 1024 pixels. The scanned pages, when first acquired, are curved and distorted, just like the pages are in any book, but the team devised a way to remedy that. A software algorithm builds a three-dimensional model of the page and reconstructs it into a flat shape.
The system in its current incarnation takes up an entire lab bench, but the teams hopes to miniaturize it and perhaps one day implement the technology into smartphones. This author is particularly excited at the prospect of no longer having to shell out hundreds of dollars for textbooks for himself or for his children someday.
2 - A World-beating TB Detector
[2]
A World-beating TB Detector
[#] P. Patel, "A World-beating TB Detector," IEEE Spectrum: A World-beating TB Detector, spectrum.ieee.org, March 13, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/a-worldbeating-tb-detector. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
Researchers at the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have designed a prototype device that will very simply diagnose whether or not an individual is infected with tuberculosis, an infectious disease that infects a third of the world's population and kills over 2 million people each year. The device, which is a vast improvement in speed, cost, sensitivity and portability over predicate devices, would not require much training. "Just put your sample here; the device will tell you if it's positive or negative," says Diego Kraph, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Colorado State University.
The device is interfaced with a computer which processes data and estimates how much bacteria is present in the sample. The device itself is actually a miniature nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machine, the physical phenomenon that makes MRI possible. The device measures the rate at which atoms' vibrations decay over time.
A low-cost and portable device such as this one is a fantastic achievement for humanity, particularly in a world where the distribution of tuberculosis is not uniform; approximately 80% of individuals in Asian and African countries test positive for tuberculosis, whereas only 5-10% of individuals in the United States test positive.
A World-beating TB Detector
[#] P. Patel, "A World-beating TB Detector," IEEE Spectrum: A World-beating TB Detector, spectrum.ieee.org, March 13, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/devices/a-worldbeating-tb-detector. [Accessed: March 13, 2010].
Researchers at the Center for Systems Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have designed a prototype device that will very simply diagnose whether or not an individual is infected with tuberculosis, an infectious disease that infects a third of the world's population and kills over 2 million people each year. The device, which is a vast improvement in speed, cost, sensitivity and portability over predicate devices, would not require much training. "Just put your sample here; the device will tell you if it's positive or negative," says Diego Kraph, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Colorado State University.
The device is interfaced with a computer which processes data and estimates how much bacteria is present in the sample. The device itself is actually a miniature nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) machine, the physical phenomenon that makes MRI possible. The device measures the rate at which atoms' vibrations decay over time.
A low-cost and portable device such as this one is a fantastic achievement for humanity, particularly in a world where the distribution of tuberculosis is not uniform; approximately 80% of individuals in Asian and African countries test positive for tuberculosis, whereas only 5-10% of individuals in the United States test positive.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
#5 Open Topic
I think for this topic I'll write about one thing I love: music. From a very early age I was surrounded by music. My parents had a massive record collection and I remember seeing things like trippy Grateful Dead record sleeves. I'm somewhat of a musician myself, having played the drums for a few years. I wonder why I didn't start earlier, because I feel like it's something I was always meant to do.
Some of my favorite musicians right now include: Animal Collective, The Antlers, Arcade Fire, The Flaming Lips, The xx, Grizzly Bear, Ratatat, Kid Cudi, MGMT, Led Zeppelin, Blue Man Group, Beach House, Fleet Foxes, and the list could go on ad nauseum. I have about 10,000 songs on my iPod. When you click 'Shuffle,' you could be listening to "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey one minute, then "The Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden the next, then "Got Yo Money" by Ol' Dirty Bastard the next, then "Girls" by Animal Collective the next. It's not like I'm going for representing every genre on my iPod; everything on there is music I like listening to and have no shame about listening to it.
If someone told me I couldn't listen to music for the rest of my life, I'd punch them in the face. Music has always meant a lot to me and still does.
Some of my favorite musicians right now include: Animal Collective, The Antlers, Arcade Fire, The Flaming Lips, The xx, Grizzly Bear, Ratatat, Kid Cudi, MGMT, Led Zeppelin, Blue Man Group, Beach House, Fleet Foxes, and the list could go on ad nauseum. I have about 10,000 songs on my iPod. When you click 'Shuffle,' you could be listening to "Fantasy" by Mariah Carey one minute, then "The Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden the next, then "Got Yo Money" by Ol' Dirty Bastard the next, then "Girls" by Animal Collective the next. It's not like I'm going for representing every genre on my iPod; everything on there is music I like listening to and have no shame about listening to it.
If someone told me I couldn't listen to music for the rest of my life, I'd punch them in the face. Music has always meant a lot to me and still does.
#4 What did you see?
On my way home from school this evening, I'm sure I saw a lot of things. Nothing really struck me as being very notable, but that's probably because I enter into a zombie-like trance when I'm driving. Driving down 123 into Vienna I'm sure I saw a countless number of banks, maybe a few large grocery stores. I did see the Oakton Public Library and remembered I have to return a book on Tuesday; crap, I am nowhere near finishing it.
#3 Types of Writing in Your Field
There's a few different kinds of writing required for my major and for my career. The first that comes to mind is the kind of writing would be in one the engineering journals/publications, like IEEE's. This kind of writing is very matter-of-fact and straight-forward. No extraneous information is provided if not needed. This kind of article usually details the efforts a group of people made toward achieving a goal and then documents their results. A lot of these are produced from academia.
Another kind might be popular articles found in something like IEEE Spectrum, which is IEEE's magazine. This kind of writing may be done by journalists or by engineers with strong writing skills, and may be speculative in nature. An example would be: http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/biomedical/bionics/enhanced-imagination-drives-braincomputer-interface.
A third kind of writing would be documenting results of a design project for a client. A lot of points may be bulleted for brevity.
Another kind might be popular articles found in something like IEEE Spectrum, which is IEEE's magazine. This kind of writing may be done by journalists or by engineers with strong writing skills, and may be speculative in nature. An example would be: http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/biomedical/bionics/enhanced-imagination-drives-braincomputer-interface.
A third kind of writing would be documenting results of a design project for a client. A lot of points may be bulleted for brevity.
#2 What are your strengths?
I think I will bring a few unique strengths to the metaphorical table that is the professional world. First, I'm good with numbers on a freakish level. And I'm not just talking about being good at math; I already know your cell phone number. That's what I'm saying.
Second, I can communicate well. You might have gained that I am not a shy person, maybe through my writing style. I consider myself a fairly sociable person, and I think I'm pretty keen to the emotions of others. I can usually detect when someone is hesitant about something, or enthused with something, or whatever else have you. I think this skill will serve me well in the engineering world, where much of the working force sometimes lacks the ability to have a social interaction with others or read the expressions of others (sorry, fellow engineers, but this is the general opinion of our kind).
In my current workplace, I have a work-appropriate sense of humor, and I think people respond positively to it. I think a fun work atmosphere is the one most conducive to getting real, quality work done. I also think it helps people work together better than in an environment that is uptight and just generally wack.
Second, I can communicate well. You might have gained that I am not a shy person, maybe through my writing style. I consider myself a fairly sociable person, and I think I'm pretty keen to the emotions of others. I can usually detect when someone is hesitant about something, or enthused with something, or whatever else have you. I think this skill will serve me well in the engineering world, where much of the working force sometimes lacks the ability to have a social interaction with others or read the expressions of others (sorry, fellow engineers, but this is the general opinion of our kind).
In my current workplace, I have a work-appropriate sense of humor, and I think people respond positively to it. I think a fun work atmosphere is the one most conducive to getting real, quality work done. I also think it helps people work together better than in an environment that is uptight and just generally wack.
#1 Researching/Writing Goals and Aspirations
This semester, I'd like to hone my skills in researching and writing and use these new-and-improved skills to my advantage in the professional setting. I've learned this semester that writing as if you were trying to draft a story for a novel is something entirely different from professional writing for, say, a scholarly article that will be under review by your peers. I feel pretty comfortable writing in the former style, but I have a lot of room to improve in the latter writing style.
A very large part of engineering work is documentation: recording anything and everything, marking down any obscure little detail and whatever else have you. In this way, if a client or a boss comes back to you and asks you about some mistake here or there, you can reference your notes or state that the mistake was properly recorded. I know that in my professional career as an engineer I will have to carefully document every bit of progress that is made, so I really want to improve my skills in this area. And like I stated before, this kind of writing is entirely different than writing a story about how, for example, two brothers find a pot of gold in an abandoned cabin in the woods and go to Las Vegas with it and use the actual gold pieces, not cash, for all of their purchases. For example.
I expect that as we progress further in this course, my writing skills will improve markedly. In the typical engineering curriculum I don't get to write that much, or use that side of my brain at all, so I enjoy the opportunity to write.
A very large part of engineering work is documentation: recording anything and everything, marking down any obscure little detail and whatever else have you. In this way, if a client or a boss comes back to you and asks you about some mistake here or there, you can reference your notes or state that the mistake was properly recorded. I know that in my professional career as an engineer I will have to carefully document every bit of progress that is made, so I really want to improve my skills in this area. And like I stated before, this kind of writing is entirely different than writing a story about how, for example, two brothers find a pot of gold in an abandoned cabin in the woods and go to Las Vegas with it and use the actual gold pieces, not cash, for all of their purchases. For example.
I expect that as we progress further in this course, my writing skills will improve markedly. In the typical engineering curriculum I don't get to write that much, or use that side of my brain at all, so I enjoy the opportunity to write.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
#6 Open Topic
So, for this freewrite I am allowed to write about ANY topic. LOST, I choose you.
LOST (that's how it's written) is not a TV show. It's more like watching a movie on TV. LOST is great because it demands the attention of the viewer. If watching some robot guy give a rose to women who are dead on the inside every week is your cup of tea, you probably won't like LOST (sorry).
LOST is about a group of strangers who were on board a flight that took off from Sydney, bound for LA, and that crashed somewhere in the South Pacific. At first, they were strangers, but they had to figure out how to survive. Oh, and the island they're on is supernatural/scary/alive/mystical. There's a smoke monster that thrashes people around because it doesn't like you. There's also indigenous people that have been on the island for thousands of years. The island can't be found by normal means -- one character even goes so far to say that "not even God can see this island." In subsequent seasons since that line was delivered, we came to learn that the reason why the island can't be found is because it's constantly moving in space -- and time. I know, dude.
A research group called the Dharma Initiative came to the island sometime in the 1970s to conduct experiments and to exploit the unique scientific properties the island has to offer. Sometime in the early 90s, this group was wiped out by the indigenous "Others" in an event called "The Purge."
Those are the most memorable events from LOST. I know it seems that I am unhealthily obsessed, but it's not true. I just respect the creativity of the writers, directors, actors, etc. LOST stands out in a landscape of mindless television. You should give it a try sometime.
LOST (that's how it's written) is not a TV show. It's more like watching a movie on TV. LOST is great because it demands the attention of the viewer. If watching some robot guy give a rose to women who are dead on the inside every week is your cup of tea, you probably won't like LOST (sorry).
LOST is about a group of strangers who were on board a flight that took off from Sydney, bound for LA, and that crashed somewhere in the South Pacific. At first, they were strangers, but they had to figure out how to survive. Oh, and the island they're on is supernatural/scary/alive/mystical. There's a smoke monster that thrashes people around because it doesn't like you. There's also indigenous people that have been on the island for thousands of years. The island can't be found by normal means -- one character even goes so far to say that "not even God can see this island." In subsequent seasons since that line was delivered, we came to learn that the reason why the island can't be found is because it's constantly moving in space -- and time. I know, dude.
A research group called the Dharma Initiative came to the island sometime in the 1970s to conduct experiments and to exploit the unique scientific properties the island has to offer. Sometime in the early 90s, this group was wiped out by the indigenous "Others" in an event called "The Purge."
Those are the most memorable events from LOST. I know it seems that I am unhealthily obsessed, but it's not true. I just respect the creativity of the writers, directors, actors, etc. LOST stands out in a landscape of mindless television. You should give it a try sometime.
#5 Learning Styles
Taking this 24-question survey about Learning Styles was very engaging. I hadn't ever thought if I liked working on gardening, but I think I would.
It turns out that above all else, I am a musical learner (94%). I'm surprised it won out over interpersonal learner (88%) and logical-mathematical learner (88%), the two learning methods I thought best describe me.
According to this survey, a musical learner's mantra is "That sounds good to me!" That does very much describe me -- almost everything sounds good to me! …except country music…except Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline and a few others. Other than them, blah.
The interpersonal learner's mantra is "I understand what you mean." I'd like to think I am a good listener, and that I am keen on others' emotions and feelings. I think I read body language and speech tones well. I suppose I'm highly social -- I like meeting new people, learning about their experiences and the like. The survey suggests I might do well in a career involving sales; I've thought a little bit about going into technical/engineering sales. I think I'd do well at describing a product technically and enticing a client as to why purchasing said product would be advantageous to them.
Lastly, and my personal favorite, the survey claims I am a strong logical-mathematical learner, whose mantra is "Why? Well, because it's logical." I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a robot without emotion, but I guess I do make decisions based in reason and logic (Have you ever seen Forbidden Planet?). I'd like to imagine that I think about decisions and that I rarely act impulsively (excluding that time last Friday when I bought a round of Jager-bombs for a group of friends; that was impulsive and illogical).
Even though this survey is only 24 questions and took less than 5 minutes, I think it revealed a great deal of information about my learning style. It strangely described my learning styles quite accurately.
It turns out that above all else, I am a musical learner (94%). I'm surprised it won out over interpersonal learner (88%) and logical-mathematical learner (88%), the two learning methods I thought best describe me.
According to this survey, a musical learner's mantra is "That sounds good to me!" That does very much describe me -- almost everything sounds good to me! …except country music…except Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline and a few others. Other than them, blah.
The interpersonal learner's mantra is "I understand what you mean." I'd like to think I am a good listener, and that I am keen on others' emotions and feelings. I think I read body language and speech tones well. I suppose I'm highly social -- I like meeting new people, learning about their experiences and the like. The survey suggests I might do well in a career involving sales; I've thought a little bit about going into technical/engineering sales. I think I'd do well at describing a product technically and enticing a client as to why purchasing said product would be advantageous to them.
Lastly, and my personal favorite, the survey claims I am a strong logical-mathematical learner, whose mantra is "Why? Well, because it's logical." I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a robot without emotion, but I guess I do make decisions based in reason and logic (Have you ever seen Forbidden Planet?). I'd like to imagine that I think about decisions and that I rarely act impulsively (excluding that time last Friday when I bought a round of Jager-bombs for a group of friends; that was impulsive and illogical).
Even though this survey is only 24 questions and took less than 5 minutes, I think it revealed a great deal of information about my learning style. It strangely described my learning styles quite accurately.
#4 Refine Your Research Topic/Question/Problem
I'd like to address some of the questions posed in a blog post from January 31, specifically those associated with improving the measurement of T1. T1 is a type of contrast method used in MRI. Past research efforts have confirmed that an optimal set of repetition time and flip angles will produce an accurate measurement of T1. Here are some questions I posed regarding accurately measuring T1:
How do we accurately simulate an MRI scan?
Well, we have to think about the conditions under which an MRI signal is acquired. MRI signals are notoriously susceptible to noise, or random disturbances that inhibits the signal from being acquired cleanly. I think the best way to simulate an MRI scan is to consider the worst-case scenario, addressed next...
What is the typical quality of signal for an MRI scan (signal to noise ratio)?
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be as low as 10-20 and as high as 100-200, and sometimes even higher depending on the sophistication of the machine.
Is there an upper limit to how well T1 measurement can be improved?
Yes. The errors associated with measuring T1 are largely due to behavior of particles at the atomic level which are obviously outside of our control.
Why is it important to have an accurate scale of measurable T1 values?
The idea with improving the method by which T1 is measured is for a doctor/clinician to be able to tell a patient with Multiple Scleroses, "Your lesion has progressed to (this point). It has not yet reached the severity of (this kind of lesion)." Right now, the state of the art permits doctors to tell these patients that they do have a lesion, but they can't comment on its progression with any great degree of certainty.
How do we make a good compromise between an accurate scan and scan time?
Without getting too technical, the quality of a scan is directly related to the amount of 'points' that we sample. A 2-point scan will take around 19-30 minutes to complete, a 3-point about 45 minutes, and so on. Bear in mind that a patient in an MRI machine is required to stay perfectly still throughout the time of the scan. Hospitals and clinics also want a high patient/time ratio, which increases profits for them.
How do we accurately simulate an MRI scan?
Well, we have to think about the conditions under which an MRI signal is acquired. MRI signals are notoriously susceptible to noise, or random disturbances that inhibits the signal from being acquired cleanly. I think the best way to simulate an MRI scan is to consider the worst-case scenario, addressed next...
What is the typical quality of signal for an MRI scan (signal to noise ratio)?
Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be as low as 10-20 and as high as 100-200, and sometimes even higher depending on the sophistication of the machine.
Is there an upper limit to how well T1 measurement can be improved?
Yes. The errors associated with measuring T1 are largely due to behavior of particles at the atomic level which are obviously outside of our control.
Why is it important to have an accurate scale of measurable T1 values?
The idea with improving the method by which T1 is measured is for a doctor/clinician to be able to tell a patient with Multiple Scleroses, "Your lesion has progressed to (this point). It has not yet reached the severity of (this kind of lesion)." Right now, the state of the art permits doctors to tell these patients that they do have a lesion, but they can't comment on its progression with any great degree of certainty.
How do we make a good compromise between an accurate scan and scan time?
Without getting too technical, the quality of a scan is directly related to the amount of 'points' that we sample. A 2-point scan will take around 19-30 minutes to complete, a 3-point about 45 minutes, and so on. Bear in mind that a patient in an MRI machine is required to stay perfectly still throughout the time of the scan. Hospitals and clinics also want a high patient/time ratio, which increases profits for them.
#3 Survey of Current Topics in Your Field
• Operating Systems
⁃ The newest incarnations of the widely used operating systems (namely, Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard) are both what are called 64-bit operating systems. Their predecessors, Windows Vista and Leopard, were both 32-bit operating systems, and before them, 16-bit operating systems. A 64 bit-operating system, simply put, makes much better usage of available memory, and thus allows for faster operation while running multiple applications. As move forward in this field of computer engineering/science, some questions arise: How do we take full advantage of a 64-bit operating system? How far are we from developing a stable 128-bit operating system?
• Control Systems
⁃ Control Systems are in place in virtually ever facet of our lives. An example of a control system would be the temperature-management system present in a conventional oven: there is a system in place to monitor the current temperature. If the current temperature is too low, the temperature needs to be raised, and vice-versa. Once the desired temperature is reached, the temperature needs to be regulated with a control system to keep it at that desired temperature. As technology improves and becomes an integral part of our lives, how can we make full use of control systems? A control system could be developed to drive a car autonomously, or to control a wheelchair with voice for those unable to use their limbs.
• Engineering Ethics
⁃ An issue which we talked about (ad nauseum) in my Engineering Seminar class last semester was Engineering Ethics. There is a code to which all engineers must adhere called the IEEE Code of Ethics. In it we state that our primarily responsibility is to the welfare and safety of the public. Often times in engineering we are presented with the ability to improve the quality of life of mankind, but in doing so we may have to do something unethical. An example that comes to my mind is probably the same one you're thinking of -- Stem Cell Research. Developing our skills in this field could vastly and dramatically change the way medicine is practiced -- but is it ethical? That is a debate that is currently at the forefront of engineering ethics.
• Crazy Powerful Magnets
⁃ Earth's magnetic core exerts a magnetic field with a magnitude of about 50 microtesla, which, as magnetic fields go, is very weak. A new magnet being developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, once completed, will reach 100 Tesla, which is about 2 million times as strong as Earth's field. Why would you want to develop a magnet of that strength? The answer is that this magnet -- with its incredible ability to generate a massive magnetic field -- will be able to test the properties of new semiconducting materials like iron-oxyaresenide, which can improve the method by which current clinical MRI machines are built, lowering costs and improving efficiency. At about $3 million, MRI machines aren't typically deployed in developing countries' clinics. Lowering costs associated with the machine could potentially bring the developing world up to speed in terms of medical diagnoses.
⁃ The newest incarnations of the widely used operating systems (namely, Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard) are both what are called 64-bit operating systems. Their predecessors, Windows Vista and Leopard, were both 32-bit operating systems, and before them, 16-bit operating systems. A 64 bit-operating system, simply put, makes much better usage of available memory, and thus allows for faster operation while running multiple applications. As move forward in this field of computer engineering/science, some questions arise: How do we take full advantage of a 64-bit operating system? How far are we from developing a stable 128-bit operating system?
• Control Systems
⁃ Control Systems are in place in virtually ever facet of our lives. An example of a control system would be the temperature-management system present in a conventional oven: there is a system in place to monitor the current temperature. If the current temperature is too low, the temperature needs to be raised, and vice-versa. Once the desired temperature is reached, the temperature needs to be regulated with a control system to keep it at that desired temperature. As technology improves and becomes an integral part of our lives, how can we make full use of control systems? A control system could be developed to drive a car autonomously, or to control a wheelchair with voice for those unable to use their limbs.
• Engineering Ethics
⁃ An issue which we talked about (ad nauseum) in my Engineering Seminar class last semester was Engineering Ethics. There is a code to which all engineers must adhere called the IEEE Code of Ethics. In it we state that our primarily responsibility is to the welfare and safety of the public. Often times in engineering we are presented with the ability to improve the quality of life of mankind, but in doing so we may have to do something unethical. An example that comes to my mind is probably the same one you're thinking of -- Stem Cell Research. Developing our skills in this field could vastly and dramatically change the way medicine is practiced -- but is it ethical? That is a debate that is currently at the forefront of engineering ethics.
• Crazy Powerful Magnets
⁃ Earth's magnetic core exerts a magnetic field with a magnitude of about 50 microtesla, which, as magnetic fields go, is very weak. A new magnet being developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, once completed, will reach 100 Tesla, which is about 2 million times as strong as Earth's field. Why would you want to develop a magnet of that strength? The answer is that this magnet -- with its incredible ability to generate a massive magnetic field -- will be able to test the properties of new semiconducting materials like iron-oxyaresenide, which can improve the method by which current clinical MRI machines are built, lowering costs and improving efficiency. At about $3 million, MRI machines aren't typically deployed in developing countries' clinics. Lowering costs associated with the machine could potentially bring the developing world up to speed in terms of medical diagnoses.
#2 What are you passionate about?
What am I passionate about? When I consider this question, I immediately think about what passion is. I guess I figure its meaning to refer to an activity that doesn't seem to be a trial or a labor. I contrast it with activities that are tiresome and boring.
One of my main passions is music. Whether it's listening to music or making it on the drums, music is one of the things that keep me sane.
Another one of my passions is math, particularly calculus. I guess I just like the order in the madness of it all. In recent years, I've taken up private tutoring as a means to earn some extra income. I've mainly worked with family friends that are in AP Calculus at the high school level. If I can toot my own horn, I think I'm very good at relating this very 'esoteric' material. I love it when the students I work with finally understand something. I could always see it in their eyes when something finally clicked. I think, if after some time that I've been successful in my career as an engineer, I'd like to teach math either at the college or high school level.
One of my main passions is music. Whether it's listening to music or making it on the drums, music is one of the things that keep me sane.
Another one of my passions is math, particularly calculus. I guess I just like the order in the madness of it all. In recent years, I've taken up private tutoring as a means to earn some extra income. I've mainly worked with family friends that are in AP Calculus at the high school level. If I can toot my own horn, I think I'm very good at relating this very 'esoteric' material. I love it when the students I work with finally understand something. I could always see it in their eyes when something finally clicked. I think, if after some time that I've been successful in my career as an engineer, I'd like to teach math either at the college or high school level.
#1 Recent Dream
Dreams are a funny thing. Some say what you experience in the dreamworld is just your subconscious coming to the forefront of your thought, like it's a film of things you would do if you had no inhibition. Yet, when you try and do something of great emotional importance, like, say, punching someone square in the face, it's like a great and terrible effort. Has this happened to anybody else?
The dreams I remember the best are the ones in which I'm in conflict with someone or something. The last dream I can recall took place in Florence, Italy, or some place that either resembled Florence or was a place that I perceived to be Florence. I went there (in real life) a couple years ago, along with my brother, to visit our sister who was teaching at an International School in Trieste. I remember there being a conflict about whether or not to purchase these expensive tickets to see a small orchestra play. I guess my subconscious wanted to revisit this episode.
Now that I think about this dream, the location didn't really resemble Florence, which is kind of strange and funny. I remember Florence well, so I don't know why it wouldn't appear like Florence in my dream. It's also funny how things happen in dreams… I remember being pulled or dragged somewhere to do something, presumably against my will.
The dreams I remember the best are the ones in which I'm in conflict with someone or something. The last dream I can recall took place in Florence, Italy, or some place that either resembled Florence or was a place that I perceived to be Florence. I went there (in real life) a couple years ago, along with my brother, to visit our sister who was teaching at an International School in Trieste. I remember there being a conflict about whether or not to purchase these expensive tickets to see a small orchestra play. I guess my subconscious wanted to revisit this episode.
Now that I think about this dream, the location didn't really resemble Florence, which is kind of strange and funny. I remember Florence well, so I don't know why it wouldn't appear like Florence in my dream. It's also funny how things happen in dreams… I remember being pulled or dragged somewhere to do something, presumably against my will.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
1
Genome as Commodity -- http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/diagnostics/genome-as-commodity
[1] M. Anderson, "Genome as Commodity," IEEE Spectrum: Genome as Commodity, spectrum.ieee.org, Jan. 29, 2010. [Online]. Available: http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/diagnostics/genome-as-commodity. [Accessed: Jan. 31, 2010].
in 1990, the Human Genome Project set out to map the approximately 25,000 genes of the human genome. Thirteen years and $3 billion later they succeeded. Now, according to this article published in IEEE's Spectrum publication, you (yes, you!) could potentially get your genome mapped out -- for the right price. The premise is that if you have enough money to buy a sports car in cash, you can find out all the lovely little defects in your genes. Different companies offer different packages: one company, Knome, will map your genome for just under $70,000. Another will do it for the low, low price of $48,000 -- and even throws in a MacBook or MacBook Air on which the genome is stored.
Consider that the price of getting one's complete genome mapped out has decreased by a factor of 50,000 since that first project by the HGP. Analysts say that that price could continue to decline in the coming years -- even down to just $100. The author jokes that you could "easily find out every genetic pitfall about a potential mate right in the middle of your first date." Call me crazy, but I think old-fashioned attraction should be the standard for picking a mate.
If you're an individual who thinks they have a particularly interesting genome (like if you carry some rare chromosomal disorder), the Personal Genome Project may be interested in mapping out your genome -- for free! But here's the kicker: it will be made public for the benefit of science and research.
I can see how a couple, perhaps both carrying some rare and potentially harmful genetic disorder, would be interested in a service like this after just conceiving. But why a full-grown and healthy adult would want to know all the defects in their genetics escapes me. As for me, I'm going to dust off this old copy of Brave New World and give it another read.
#7 List of Research Questions/Problems
T1 Improvement
-How do we accurately simulate an MRI scan?
-What is the typical quality of signal for an MRI scan (signal to noise ratio)?
-Is there an upper limit to how well t1 measurement can be improved?
-Is the limit due to a force outside of our control, perhaps due to the behavior of particles at the atomic level?
-Why is it important to have an accurate scale of measurable t1 values?
-Who will benefit from an effort to improve the measurement of t1?
-How do we make a good compromise between an accurate scan and scan time?
-Could hospitals, clinics, etc. benefit from this technique monetarily?
-Would hospitals, clinics be interested in implementing a system that would improve measuring t1? or is this current state of the art sufficiently good?
Biological Signals
-Why is measuring biological signals accurately important to science and medicine?
-What kinds of amplitudes are we considering when we talk about all the biological signals?
-On what order of magnitude do these signals present themselves? (nanovolts? microvolts? picovolts? volts?)
-What kinds of materials are necessary to measure biological signals accurately? and safely! …to that end: the best way to measure, say, a potential generated by the heart, is by placing two electrodes directly on the surface of the heart. Obviously this is not practical! How do we measure such a signal from a distance (i.e. on the skin) without sacrificing quality?
-What are some of the fastest biological signals present in the human body (that is, which signals are the ones that happen rarely and quickly)?
-Some biological signals must be measured invasively -- can we develop a way to collect data non-invasively?
Mimicking healthy human body systems
-Can an organ system (nervous, cardiovascular, etc.) be modeled as a linear system of transfer functions?
-Can a system be modeled in hardware?
-Can hardware perform the same functions as an organ?
-Could we develop a sort of synthetic blood?
-How do we develop hardware to perform the same function as an organ, but have it be sufficiently 'low-power' so as not to expose an individual to any risk?
-Materials placed inside the body can't be interpreted as 'foreign,' or the body will reject the material. How do we develop a system in hardware that meets this criterion?
-How do we accurately simulate an MRI scan?
-What is the typical quality of signal for an MRI scan (signal to noise ratio)?
-Is there an upper limit to how well t1 measurement can be improved?
-Is the limit due to a force outside of our control, perhaps due to the behavior of particles at the atomic level?
-Why is it important to have an accurate scale of measurable t1 values?
-Who will benefit from an effort to improve the measurement of t1?
-How do we make a good compromise between an accurate scan and scan time?
-Could hospitals, clinics, etc. benefit from this technique monetarily?
-Would hospitals, clinics be interested in implementing a system that would improve measuring t1? or is this current state of the art sufficiently good?
Biological Signals
-Why is measuring biological signals accurately important to science and medicine?
-What kinds of amplitudes are we considering when we talk about all the biological signals?
-On what order of magnitude do these signals present themselves? (nanovolts? microvolts? picovolts? volts?)
-What kinds of materials are necessary to measure biological signals accurately? and safely! …to that end: the best way to measure, say, a potential generated by the heart, is by placing two electrodes directly on the surface of the heart. Obviously this is not practical! How do we measure such a signal from a distance (i.e. on the skin) without sacrificing quality?
-What are some of the fastest biological signals present in the human body (that is, which signals are the ones that happen rarely and quickly)?
-Some biological signals must be measured invasively -- can we develop a way to collect data non-invasively?
Mimicking healthy human body systems
-Can an organ system (nervous, cardiovascular, etc.) be modeled as a linear system of transfer functions?
-Can a system be modeled in hardware?
-Can hardware perform the same functions as an organ?
-Could we develop a sort of synthetic blood?
-How do we develop hardware to perform the same function as an organ, but have it be sufficiently 'low-power' so as not to expose an individual to any risk?
-Materials placed inside the body can't be interpreted as 'foreign,' or the body will reject the material. How do we develop a system in hardware that meets this criterion?
#6 Refined List of Research Topics
T1 Improvement
T1 is a time value associated with the time it takes atomic particles within tissue (as it pertains to MRI) to return to an equilibrium state. Although T1 is a time value, it can actually be thought of as representing the density, and therefore the general health of a certain structure in the brain. For example, healthy 'white matter' on the brain surface exhibits a T1 of about 900 ms, grey matter ~1200 ms, and a severely progressed lesion (scar on the surface of the brain often found in individuals with multiple sclerosis) has a T1 of about 4000 ms. The problem with measuring T1 is that the certainty with which a T1 can be estimated severely degrades in quality as the T1 increases. So that is why I said a lesion exhibits a T1 of about 4000 ms, because there's really no resolution to the scale at those high values. An MRI scan is conducted with two parameters: flip angle and repetition time. These two parameters determine how well the T1 can be measured, but each T1 has an optimal set of flip angle(s) and repetition time(s), and each parameter can be greatly varied. So, the question is, how do we determine how many flip angles and repetition times to use to accurately measure the T1 of interested, and which flip angles and repetition times should we use? The answer is good old fashioned number crunching. The program MATLAB can do these kinds of calculations, but a 'simulation' can take days.
Biological Signals
Measuring biological signals is of great importance to the medical field. It is extremely valuable to be able to quantify a value and to be able to analyze it. The problem with biological signals is that they are usually very small in amplitude and the time in which they occur is often very short. The time when a certain signal takes place is called an 'event,' and some methods to measure these biological signals are simply not able to measure these signals accurately and quickly enough due to limitations in the current state of the art. It would be like me telling you that a fruit fly whizzes past your face once every five minutes, and does so in less than second. It may not happen every five minutes, but it will happen at least once in a five minute period. You have no way of knowing when the fly will come by, and when he does, will you be ready with your swatter? As transistors continue to get smaller and smaller, our ability to capture and analyze data will hopefully improve similarly. The ability to 'listen' to these biological signals is of great interest to me.
Mimicking healthy human body systems
The human body is truly an amazing machine. It may even be the most sophisticated and most advanced machine on the planet (OK…not just the human body; indeed, any biological system). Having said this, I liken the efforts of bioengineering to trying to mimic with hardware/software that which was perfectly designed (or not?) by something else. Whether you believe biological systems were 'designed' or not, I think anyone would agree that a biological system is an incredibly complex machine which science and technology has not yet fully come to understand. As science, technology, and medicine progress in the next few years, it will be very exciting to see how artificial organs are designed. Research groups have had much success with designing artificial organs so I'm very excited to see where the field goes in the future. I never say that anything is impossible, but to accomplish anything like these ideas will certainly be challenging.
T1 is a time value associated with the time it takes atomic particles within tissue (as it pertains to MRI) to return to an equilibrium state. Although T1 is a time value, it can actually be thought of as representing the density, and therefore the general health of a certain structure in the brain. For example, healthy 'white matter' on the brain surface exhibits a T1 of about 900 ms, grey matter ~1200 ms, and a severely progressed lesion (scar on the surface of the brain often found in individuals with multiple sclerosis) has a T1 of about 4000 ms. The problem with measuring T1 is that the certainty with which a T1 can be estimated severely degrades in quality as the T1 increases. So that is why I said a lesion exhibits a T1 of about 4000 ms, because there's really no resolution to the scale at those high values. An MRI scan is conducted with two parameters: flip angle and repetition time. These two parameters determine how well the T1 can be measured, but each T1 has an optimal set of flip angle(s) and repetition time(s), and each parameter can be greatly varied. So, the question is, how do we determine how many flip angles and repetition times to use to accurately measure the T1 of interested, and which flip angles and repetition times should we use? The answer is good old fashioned number crunching. The program MATLAB can do these kinds of calculations, but a 'simulation' can take days.
Biological Signals
Measuring biological signals is of great importance to the medical field. It is extremely valuable to be able to quantify a value and to be able to analyze it. The problem with biological signals is that they are usually very small in amplitude and the time in which they occur is often very short. The time when a certain signal takes place is called an 'event,' and some methods to measure these biological signals are simply not able to measure these signals accurately and quickly enough due to limitations in the current state of the art. It would be like me telling you that a fruit fly whizzes past your face once every five minutes, and does so in less than second. It may not happen every five minutes, but it will happen at least once in a five minute period. You have no way of knowing when the fly will come by, and when he does, will you be ready with your swatter? As transistors continue to get smaller and smaller, our ability to capture and analyze data will hopefully improve similarly. The ability to 'listen' to these biological signals is of great interest to me.
Mimicking healthy human body systems
The human body is truly an amazing machine. It may even be the most sophisticated and most advanced machine on the planet (OK…not just the human body; indeed, any biological system). Having said this, I liken the efforts of bioengineering to trying to mimic with hardware/software that which was perfectly designed (or not?) by something else. Whether you believe biological systems were 'designed' or not, I think anyone would agree that a biological system is an incredibly complex machine which science and technology has not yet fully come to understand. As science, technology, and medicine progress in the next few years, it will be very exciting to see how artificial organs are designed. Research groups have had much success with designing artificial organs so I'm very excited to see where the field goes in the future. I never say that anything is impossible, but to accomplish anything like these ideas will certainly be challenging.
#5 List of Research Topics
-Optimization of Instruction Set Architectures (collapsing similar instructions, improving speed and performance)
-Optimization of computer performance
-Quantum computing
-MRI improvement
-CT improvement
-combining medical imaging techniques
-Mimicking healthy human body systems with technology (an artificial toxin processor like a liver)
-capacitive sensing
-T1 measurement improvement
-photovoltaic cells
-biological signals -- improving the way they are collected and interpreted
-using biopotentials to do work
-Optimization of computer performance
-Quantum computing
-MRI improvement
-CT improvement
-combining medical imaging techniques
-Mimicking healthy human body systems with technology (an artificial toxin processor like a liver)
-capacitive sensing
-T1 measurement improvement
-photovoltaic cells
-biological signals -- improving the way they are collected and interpreted
-using biopotentials to do work
#4 Current Major and Career Goals
My major is Electrical Engineering and I am concentrating in Bioengineering Applications. Right now my short-term goal is to complete my Senior Design project successfully. My project involves using a 'number-crunching' program called MATLAB, and I have developed some strong skills with the program. I think I can use this skill to help achieve my career goals.
In 5 years, I hope to be a contributing employee of a large engineering company like Lockheed Martin. I would be working on important projects for the DoD or some other government sector. I think my skill of effectively communicating will serve me well, perhaps in engineering/technical sales. If I can understand a product's value and be able to describe it technically, I think I would do well in a sales-related capacity.
In 10 years, I'll be 32. Wow. In 10 years…I will be 32. Sorry, just had to wrap my head around that one. Maybe by this point I'll have gotten married. By this point I would like to have several projects I've worked on under my belt.
In 15 years, I will be 37. I think I would do well in a management position someday, helping younger engineers get their start in the technical world. I think I could get to a management position by 37.
I will achieve these goals by soaking up every bit of knowledge I can, and to pass it along whenever I can.
In 5 years, I hope to be a contributing employee of a large engineering company like Lockheed Martin. I would be working on important projects for the DoD or some other government sector. I think my skill of effectively communicating will serve me well, perhaps in engineering/technical sales. If I can understand a product's value and be able to describe it technically, I think I would do well in a sales-related capacity.
In 10 years, I'll be 32. Wow. In 10 years…I will be 32. Sorry, just had to wrap my head around that one. Maybe by this point I'll have gotten married. By this point I would like to have several projects I've worked on under my belt.
In 15 years, I will be 37. I think I would do well in a management position someday, helping younger engineers get their start in the technical world. I think I could get to a management position by 37.
I will achieve these goals by soaking up every bit of knowledge I can, and to pass it along whenever I can.
#3 One Significant Person or Significant Event
I have to write about the event that has most impacted me -- having to leave Villanova. Although at the time, it was really very traumatic and quite devastating, I wouldn't go back in time to change anything, because it brought to where I am today. It's like how John Locke put it to Sawyer in LOST, when Sawyer asked John why he didn't go and prevent his [past] self from experiencing a large dose of anguish -- I needed that pain.
I remember a pervasive feeling of "What the hell am I going to do now?" I wasn't sure if I would be able to continue my degree anywhere -- without my scholarship, my family simply couldn't afford Villanova's hefty $42,000/year tuition (actually $43,000 for Engineering students). For a long while I thought I could get away with not telling my parents what had happened. That didn't exactly pan out well.
I lived in confusion for a long while. I didn't have the ability to look into the future with any sense of foresight as to what I was going to do. I woke up every day and just dealt with that day. The feeling that I had for a few months until I finally forgave myself is something I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.
I remember a pervasive feeling of "What the hell am I going to do now?" I wasn't sure if I would be able to continue my degree anywhere -- without my scholarship, my family simply couldn't afford Villanova's hefty $42,000/year tuition (actually $43,000 for Engineering students). For a long while I thought I could get away with not telling my parents what had happened. That didn't exactly pan out well.
I lived in confusion for a long while. I didn't have the ability to look into the future with any sense of foresight as to what I was going to do. I woke up every day and just dealt with that day. The feeling that I had for a few months until I finally forgave myself is something I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
#2B Three Significant Events
The first landmark event that had an impact on my current career goals is not really a specific event; rather, it's a chain of events that let up to one event. When i was in 8th grade, I had a teacher named Dr. Kocis. She had a southern accident, probably from Louisiana. For whatever reason, I couldn't figure how to solve the simplest equations, like, solve for x in x + 5 = 7. I went through the gauntlet of those terrible parent-teacher conferences, usually held once a month, about how I was struggling in math. Dr. kocis even said I wasn't capable of doing the math and that I would probably never understand with my current way of thinking. It's not that i didn't try; I studied endlessly. I survived high school geometry and algebra 2, but then when I got to pre-calculus and had the teacher mentioned in a previous post, I can only describe it as everything 'clicking.' After that I had a fantastic AP calculus teacher, ms. watkins, who encouraged us to really sink our teeth into all the cool things that calculus enables us to accomplish. I whooped the AP test, got an award at graduation, and eventually ran into Dr. Kocis at church. I could have rubbed it in her face, how well I ended up doing in Math, but I just thanked her for sticking with me all that time.
The second event occurred when I was a freshman in college. I had earned a full NROTC scholarship at Villanova University and felt really good about myself. For a while, I did really well at Villanova and really came to like the school. However, things started to go south at one point. Long story short, I lost the ROTC scholarship, and if there was no scholarship, there was no Villanova. I felt so ashamed about what happened, and for a long while I let it consume me. Eventually, I shed all these negative feelings and let my mistakes inspire me to redeem myself. In short, I forgave myself. I came home and attended George Mason and have ever since. What happened devastated me for so long but without it I couldn't have gotten to where I am now.
When i was in high school, I was in a program at PVI called Peer Mentoring. There's a great program there called Options, where students with learning disabilities (Down's Syndrome, Autism) attended 'mainstream' classes with Peer Mentors. They went to many of the same classes as the 'average' student population, they went to the same lunch periods as us, sat at the same tables as us, and so on. I was paired with a young man named Bret. Bret didn't have Down's, and he may not even be autistic, but his social skills were limited. He would have a hard time looking you in the eye or engaging in conversation. I knew there was an incredible personality inside him that just needed a little encouragement, so I worked with him exclusively for two years. I can hardly describe to you the progress he's made -- and still makes -- since the first day I met him. He eventually asked me to be his confirmation sponsor; I was incredibly honored that he would choose me as his 'faith advisor.' Bret has remainded a very close friend of mine. It turns out he has taught me more about this crazy thing called life than I could ever teach him.
The second event occurred when I was a freshman in college. I had earned a full NROTC scholarship at Villanova University and felt really good about myself. For a while, I did really well at Villanova and really came to like the school. However, things started to go south at one point. Long story short, I lost the ROTC scholarship, and if there was no scholarship, there was no Villanova. I felt so ashamed about what happened, and for a long while I let it consume me. Eventually, I shed all these negative feelings and let my mistakes inspire me to redeem myself. In short, I forgave myself. I came home and attended George Mason and have ever since. What happened devastated me for so long but without it I couldn't have gotten to where I am now.
When i was in high school, I was in a program at PVI called Peer Mentoring. There's a great program there called Options, where students with learning disabilities (Down's Syndrome, Autism) attended 'mainstream' classes with Peer Mentors. They went to many of the same classes as the 'average' student population, they went to the same lunch periods as us, sat at the same tables as us, and so on. I was paired with a young man named Bret. Bret didn't have Down's, and he may not even be autistic, but his social skills were limited. He would have a hard time looking you in the eye or engaging in conversation. I knew there was an incredible personality inside him that just needed a little encouragement, so I worked with him exclusively for two years. I can hardly describe to you the progress he's made -- and still makes -- since the first day I met him. He eventually asked me to be his confirmation sponsor; I was incredibly honored that he would choose me as his 'faith advisor.' Bret has remainded a very close friend of mine. It turns out he has taught me more about this crazy thing called life than I could ever teach him.
Researcher's Autobiography
As a young child, I used to write these imaginative short stories, just for fun. I always had a wild imagination, and I think this helped facilitate my desire to write these stories. I appreciate the actual writing process -- as opposed to the typing process -- because, like the quote on our Groups page, it seems like the hand can have a mind, or an agenda all its own. I have a leather-bound journal my parents gave me for high school graduation, and from time to time I like to record my thoughts in it. Sometimes an entry will be pages long, and sometimes an entry is a sentence, or a word I like, like ephemeral (I like both the appearance and the definition of the word). Sometimes my hand wants to do math, and so it will do math. Once I figured out a way to generate Pythagorean triples (3,4,5 or 7,24,25); that was weird.
Much of the research I've been doing as of late is for my Senior Design project, in which we seek to improve the measurement of an MRI contrast technique called T1. For me to explain what T1 is would involve delving into particle physics, and nobody wants to read about that. Since August 2009 I've read every article, book, and paper I can get my hands on about the topic. A lot of the material I've learned is ancillary and not immediately relevant to our project, but it helps to give me some perspective on what we're doing and why it's important that we do it. As an engineer, background research is extremely important in any design process. After all, how can you figure where you're going if you don't know where you are and how you got there?
I regret to say that creative writing is not a muscle I frequently exercise in my engineering curriculum. As I'm writing this, I'm thinking it would be a good outlet to write for pleasure.
I think what helps me to be successful on writing/research assignments is to plan an outline before I start writing. But, I really like this 'freewriting' process Professor Nichols encourages us to use; often times I find myself concerned with my spelling and grammar as I'm writing, and it distracts from that which I'm actually trying to externalize.
#2A Three Significant People
Dr. Peixoto is a professor of mine who I just had for a Bioengineering class last Fall. Actually, I met her once about two years ago, when I came to speak to her to express interest in the Bioengineering concentration within the Electrical Engineering degree. Actually, at that time, she insisted I call her by first name, Nathalia, something that took some time for me to get used to. I remember even then that she distinguished herself from the typical EE faculty member; she was friendly, spoke easily, was goofy, and smiled a lot. She's originally from brazil, and Portuguese is her first language, but she speaks 4 other languages. She's brilliant. In class, she not only encouraged us to think like engineers but also as humanitarians, entrepreneurs, and businessmen.
Mr. Remold was my pre-calculus teacher in junior year of high school. He was this huge guy, at probably 6' 5", with a personality like a mixture of Matthew McConaughey's character Wooderson in Dazed and Confused and Santa Claus. He was jovial like Santa but really funny and slick like Wooderson. Up until that year of high school, I hadn't really developed a 'knack' for any particular subject, and had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do later in life (i.e. college, career). Mr. rembold's teaching style and personality, somehow and in some way, flicked a switch in my brain about Math. Everything just clicked after that. It was the weirdest and most exciting thing, to have all those years in the past that I struggled in math, all the subject matter, suddenly became crystal clear to me. I think he had a huge impact in my decision to choose engineering as a career.
After I developed a knack for calculus/math/solving problems, my Dad was the one that turned me on to the idea of becoming an engineer. He has been a systems engineer at Mitre for over 25 years. I can't speak about the specific environment in which I remember him, because he's my Dad! He's always been there for me, wearing different hats along the way. He was my baseball coach, my basketball coach, and nowadays my career coach. He planted the idea in my head that I was lucky enough to have the mind to solve engineering problems and that I could make a career out of it.
#1 Earliest Memory
I can't remember any further back than what I can recall from that infinitely expansive and gravel playground at Wesley Preschool. Every day on that playground felt so novel, like every day I was a Spanish explorer discovering some uncharted territory. I recall a sort of large, red plaything that looked like a barn. I kissed Anna Zukowski on the cheek up there. She was my first girlfriend, but then I met Karen Sealy. I remember my teacher Ms. Trueblood, and the principal Ms. Rippy.
A typical day would involve me waking up around 8 or 9, and my Mom would have a sippy cup of hot chocolate ready for me, every morning, without fail. I would then go downstairs to our family room, sit on the floor in front of the TV indian-style with my blanket, and proceed to watch Nick Jr. for some time. My favorite shows were Mr. Wizard, Blue's Clues, Eureka's Castle and some freaky show about a Pollywog named Binya Binya.
Then, I remember Kindergarten. I was in "Oretel PM," meaning I had Mrs. Oretel and I went to school at noon. I went to Our Lady of Good Counsel school in Vienna, and stayed there until 8th grade. The same people I made friends with on that first day of kindergarten are some of the same people I hung out with last night. We have a long and storied history at OLGC, replete with all sorts of strange occurences (a border collie wandered into Mass one time) and hilarious adolescent antics (two friends and I leap-frog'd the mile one time; Mrs. Tillett was most displeased).
I remember having particular difficulties learning how to tie my shoe in Kindergarten. My teacher had this sort of kid-friendly and colorful clipboard with shoelaces on it, so as to make the nerve-racking process of having to tie the damn shoelaces in front of our teacher more palatable. I couldn't do it, and I specifically remember that stinging feeling of failure. I sulked home to my Dad, and that Friday night we stayed up til 10 pm (super late!!!) until I learned how to do it.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
FIRST POST
I go by the name Michael. Check this photo out -- it's me at age 5 with my sister. I think we were making jello shots, though I could be entirely wrong.
Have you had a good laugh today? If not, go here. Is it wrong to laugh at an other's injury? If it is, I don't want to be right. It's mostly funny for me because of the clown mask.
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