Say goodbye (again) to plastic bags

A recent law passed in San Francisco places a ban on plastic bags being given away by chain pharmacies (eg Walgreens & Rite Aid). This comes on the heels of the recently inacted ban on plastic bags in grocery stores. This story has begun to sweep the country & world with additional cities jumping on to help reduce waste. Such cities include Oakland, CA: Portland, Or; New Haven, Ct; London, England; and Paris, France.

Trippy 1970’s biochemistry

What’s this you ask? Well, if you’ve been drinking or partaking in other substances, this will make your night only get better! Take a look at this video made at Stanford in the 70’s as they use graduate students and/or hippies to help act out the way that proteins are made within the cell. If you can’t stand the lecture from the archetypal-white-scientist, skip ahead to 3:11. Sit back, grab a drink and let your hair down because this will immerse you in the age of free love…

Craig Venter: Rock star of Biology

 That is, if you are willing to concede that biology has “rock stars.”  Today I went and saw Craig Venter speak on the University of California Berkeley campus and it was a ridiculous talk to say the least.  In case you don’t who he is, he was one of the pioneers of private industry that competed with the US government in the sequencing of the human genome in 2000 and he recently has started his own company where they are attempting to basically sequence everything they can get their hands on.  Why is he a rock star you ask?  Well after the sequencing of the human genome in 2000, he had the gall to attempt to patent large regions of the genome – insane you might think, but to Craig Venter it seemed reasonable.  

Have you ever been a part of a scene?

Good evening ladies and gentleman, I’ll first ask that you observe the overhead seat-belt sign until we’ve reached an altitude of 10,000 feet, at which point you’ll be free to move around the ever reaching and changing internet. I come to you from the People’s Republic of Berkeley, as a graduate student at University of California Berkeley looking to take his mind off of science in a manner that will stimulate both my mind and yours. This past weekend I was asked an interesting question – have you ever been a part of a scene? It was a question that took me by surprise at the time and I think it will serve as an excellent introduction of myself. As far as I can tell, I would claim that the first scene where I felt that I was an active participant came through radio DJ-ing at a college radio station (coincidentally enough, I was co-DJ with the other blogger on this site). The world of college radio is a fantastic situation for all parties involved: bands have their music played for free, the DJs help listeners discover new music, and there are no advertisements (in other words, your soul isn’t being drained from you by the man). Time spent “on air” was filled with tunes that all could enjoy, helping bring the cure of rock to all those ailing from force-fed-mediocre-shallow pop culture music. It is this subculture of music that I have come to embrace and that you will see posted all over this blog in the form of recommended music, concert reviews, tour info, etc. Recently, I have journeyed into the scene of environmentalism as I have found it increasingly clear that the current status of waste generation by the western world is going to have dire consequences. As I learn more about living a more eco-friendly lifestyle I hope to pass the information along in such a way that raise awareness of pressing issues that are ignored in main stream news media. I realize that this hasn’t been the most interesting post, but I think it sets up the modem that our electronic love affair can plug into… …for having just withstood such a post, enjoy this treat of quality music.