A litte art and a lot of science

Via Boingboing: Here is cool a sculpture by Mara G. Haseltine that was just unveiled at Cold Spring Harbour. It is meant to represent a series of ribosomes moving down an mRNA molecule, translating it into proteins.


Molecular biology 101
Proteins are the stuff of life. As enzymes, they catalyze almost every essential reaction that takes place in the human body. While they play vital structural roles in skin, bones and connective tissue, they can also be dynamic; acting as motors in muscle tissue and pumps in nerve cells. Proteins are the messengers that coordinate the development of an organism and they also act as regulators in the day-to-day maintenance of living things.

But how are these proteins made?

Well, let's start at the start - with genes. Physically, a gene is a length of DNA. Stored in that length of DNA is a set of instructions - instructions on how to make a protein. One gene codes for one protein. The code is very simple, but it is over four billion years old and shared by every living thing on earth, so it must have something going for it. It does, and its simplicity is just one of it's many strengths. The DNA language has four letters, called bases - A, C, G, and T - but it's read in triplets, or groups of three letters. This gives it 64 possible "words". The human body only uses twenty of these words, because it uses only twenty amino acids - the building blocks of proteins - to make everything we are made of. These amino acids are strung together, with peptide bonds, to form polypeptides, or proteins.

The ribosome
Now, to get from a gene to a protein, the triplet code of DNA has to be translated into the twenty-letter amino acid code, and that's where the ribosome comes in. The ribosome is your one-stop-shop for protein synthesis - it's able to read the triplet code of DNA (in the form of messenger RNA, or mRNA), and then string together the corresponding sequence of amino acids to form a protein. It does this, I might add, with a speed, accuracy and efficiency that human chemists will almost certainly not match this millennium, if ever. They are the world's smallest and oldest factories.

Molecular clocks
Since proteins are essential for life (as we know it) it is safe to assume that ribosomes have been around, in some form, just as long. This observation, coupled with the knowledge that over time there is a constant mutation rate in DNA, gave rise to the use of ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences as molecular clocks. By analyzing the sequences of rDNA in different organisms, scientists are able to gauge how closely related they are, or more accurately, how long ago the two organisms diverged from one another. By combining these comparisons and collating all this information we are able to construct trees of relatedness or phylogeny. Previously, phylogenic trees were constructed based on morphology, but this genetic method is far more accurate. One of the most profound discoveries to have come out of ribosomal DNA sequence analysis is the discovery of the Archaea, the third domain of life. But that's another story, and besides, it's time for bed now.

- Mr. Ed

Tunetastic Tuesday 6

In honour of their first UK shows, this week I thought we'd hear a little more from The Films. This tune is called belt-loops and I think it's rather rocktacular. If you missed the boys this week in London, don't fret, they'll be back again on the 15th of December after their German jaunt.



mit senf,

- Mr. Ed

Creations

I found cre.ations.net via a Boingboing post on how to turn your wee blue (and having some experience with methylene blue, I would advise against trying it). After a bit of hunting around, I found some other great submissions, including the achingly funny "open letter to my misbehaving toaster" and Balloon Day:



So next time you're bored, check out Cre.ations.net - one more fabulous way to waste time on the web.

- Mr. Ed

PS
This is pretty amusing too.

The Films do Europe

The Films are playing a few shows in London this week. Tonight they are playing at Metro, tomorrow night they're playing an acoustic show at the Lock Tavern (which is free!) and then on the 27th they're playing at 93 Feet East. Through december they'll be touring Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Ireland. For full details have a look at their website or myspace page.

Here's a promo video from their US tour earlier this year:


They're very good boys and awfully good fun to see live. So if you're at loose end, you should go and see them. If you do, be sure to tell them I sent you.

- Mr. Ed

Shameless self-promotion

Check out Zvayam.com, it's new. It's not finished yet, but we're getting there.

-Mr. Ed

Tunetastic Tuesday f-f-five.

I'm still shivering from my snow-ventures outside. Anywho, this week we have the super-cool sounds of Zero 7 with the added bonus of vocals by Jose Gonzalez.



Chillily chillin',

- Mr. Ed

It's what now?

It's snowing here in Charlesville. Not very conivincingly mind you, and it keeps turning back to rain. Nevertheless, it's snowing. I've never seen it snow here before.

The current conditions from weather underground.


My neighbour Alison was excited about the snow too!


Look, a blurry snowflake!

The joy of kitten-sitting

- Mr. Ed

Sunday Slackness

One of my favourite procrastination techniques is to spin the roulette wheel of memory and, wherever the ball lands, google search it. So, today it was Paris.

I lived in Paris for a about four months when I was 15, and I have some very fond memories of my time there. First, I perused the vividly detailed google sattelite images of Paris. I found our old flat, the street where we bought our groceries and then, almost without thinking, I found myself following the route of the No. 92 bus towards Place Montparnasse. It's a journey I made almost everyday after school - with a Graham Greene novel under my arm - to my favourite cafe, Le Chien qui Fume.







After a bit of googling, I found a favourable mention of LCQF, from someone practiced in the art of flânerie, no less:

I washed up on the shady terrace of the café Le Chien Qui Fume. Even without a monumental view, I had 'la vie est belle' for a while. An altogether good café.

And I also found a more detailed review:

Dans un cadre hérité du début du siècle, le chien qui fume rallie une clientèle de quartier. Ses petites tables en bois lui donnent un air très cosy
-snip-
En fin de journée la terrasse extérieure est baignée de soleil. Une aubaine pour les autochtones comme pour les passants.

Shoddy translation:
In a space with a turn of the century feel, Le Chien qui Fume attracts a local clientele. It's small tables give it a very cozy atmosphere. -snip- In the afternoon the the outdoor seating is bathed in sunlight, which is delightful for both the regulars at the cafe and the passers-by.

Well, its a fresh and sunny autumn day here in Chuckton. And on that note, I think it's time to try and whip up something that resembles a cafe noisette and dig out my copy of The Tenth Man.

Á plus tard mes amis,

- Mr. Ed

He had a pocket full of horses...

A tribute to America's first President, George Washington.

A tough act to follow, I think you'll agree.

- Mr. Ed

Tunetastic Tuesday - Fo' Sho'

This week's tune comes by way of a chum, who may join the P Club ranks under an as yet undisclosed nomme de plume, and is always a good source for new and exciting music treats. Many of the lost hours of my worky weekend were livened up by some of his most recent recommendations including the new Sparklehorse album and today's tune - Herculean by The Good the Bad and the Queen. TGTBATQ is a bad name for a really promising band; featuring Damon Albarn, a bloke from the Verve, thingy Simonon from the Clash and a drummer called Tony Allen. This is their first single and I think it's fab. This live version was performed at the Roundhouse in Norf London a few weeks ago.



Tarrah then,

Mr. Ed

That synching feeling

I'm off for more all work no sleep fun at the Synchrotron this weekend so the bloggage, if any, will be light. This is my third visit this year and I'm really really over it.

So hope you all have a good weekend - I won't!

-Mr. Ed

What a smoothie

Will it blend? That's a question that, at some point, all reasonable people have asked about such common-or-garden objects as golf balls, marbles, credit cards, rake handles and of course coke cans:

Tom Dickson is the founder of Blendtec and a hero to blender-obsessed geeks the world over.

- Mr. Ed

The Gay News

One disappointment from last night was that anti-gay marriage amendments passed in several states. Amendment #1 here in South Cackolacky passed by a jaw-dropping 78% to 22%. So 8 out of 10 of us are backwards, slack-jawed bigots - but perhaps we knew that already. We can take heart though; Arizona did not pass their amendment and what's more, it seems to me that gay marriage, as a wedge issue, has been flogged to death.

Moving on:
This is the news!


Happy now?

-Mr. Ed

Update
Here's a useful link to let you know what's 'gay today', everyday.

You know when you've got Mo.

They're all gonna go. It looks like the Senate will fall to the Democrats too. This is huge. Here's an excerpt from Claire McCaskill's acceptance speech, which I feel sums up the mood of the election perfectly:

Missourians have rejected the politics of personal character attacks, and they have embraced the power of hope. Missouri Democrats have something special to celebrate, once again we have claimed Harry Truman's Senate seat for the working people of Missouri. I think he would be very proud of the way we did it.

This election was not about me. This election was about you. It was about changing our country's direction and restoring a sense of accountability and integrity to Washington, D.C. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped my campaign and the thousands of those who invested their financial support in our effort. You believed that you could make a difference, and you did.

The political posts will end soon, I promise.

- Mr. Ed

Done and done

Good bye and good riddance to the both of them. What a difference a landslide makes.

-Mr. Ed

Update
Here's Andrew Sullivan's take on Rumsfeld's "resignation".

Nice one Nancy

The new speaker of the House Nacy Pelosi and (maybe) the Senate majority leader Harry Reid celebrate their sweeping mid-term victory.
Image from the Guardian

Sorry about the slightly redundant election posts, but it's been a while since I've felt the election joy over here, so please indulge me. Normal programming will return shortly. Tunetastic Tuesday got bumped because of the election but will return, with a vengance, next week.

- Mr. Ed

Dems take the House

This is very good news:
According to NPR, Rove called Bush a little while ago and told him that it looked like the GOP had lost control of the US House of Representatives. Apparently the President was disappointed, which is one way to massively understate things.

Image from Getty Images via CNN

-Mr. Ed

Simon says:

Go and vote!

I don't even know if Mike Hunt is actually up for election this year, that poster is from the 2004 election that he won. Regardless, Simon insisted that I point out that he is not endorsing the incumbent sherrif from Aiken county this year. I take full responsibility for the photo - but you know, it's vaguely political and Simon looks, well, very stern...

Whilst on the subject, this weekend we discovered that Simon likes to lick the foam off Lattes. Of course, he's fond of sushi too and though, as yet, no volvo driving tendencies have been observed, he does like to skim the Times on a sunday. So, I think we can safely say where his allegencies lie. Setting aside how he'll vote though, the most important thing is that everyone does vote. I mean, even if you froth at the mouth are going to vote Republican I urge you to take time out today and head to the polls. And if you can't vote for some reason - like the fact that you just so happen to be one of those 19 out of 20 people in the world who aren't American - then please cross your fingers and hope that the good (no, really they are good, well, some of them anyway) people of the USA make the right decision.

I'm Mr. Ed and I approved this message.

- Mr. Ed

Paid for by the Simon for World High Inquisitor 2008 campaign. All feathers on strings and kitten treats gladly accepted.

Friday night is alright for rockin'

Last night, I went to see Broken Social Scene at the Music Farm and they rocked my world. I knew next to nothing about them when I walked in, but by the time I left, I was a big, big fan. Broken Social Scene consists of somewhere between 10 and 14 people and they play so many different instruments it hard to keep track, but at different times there is a violinist, two female vocals and five or six male vocals, three drummers(two playing at once in some instances), a couple keyboards, four or five guitarists and a five piece brass section. Their music is has a richly layered indie-rock sound, but it's upbeat and eminently danceable. Their cacophonous multi-instrumental sound and synthesis of complex soundscapes gives them a bit of an art-school feel, and yet not in a pretentious way. All in all, it was a fantastic live show. So to check them out, click on the second BSS link above, follw the 'media' link and you can watch some videos. My favourites are 'major label debut' and 'shoreline'.

I foud these photos online - you can seem all of them here.

Still dancing - in my mind,

Mr. Ed