Dr. Haruko Obokata: A Tale of Scandal and Disappointment

Dr. Haruko Obokata

Pictured above is a Japanese scientist named Dr. Haruko Obokata. She became famous for supposedly discovering that subjecting normal mouse cells to a week acid bath for 30 minutes would cause them to revert back into stem cells.

Embryonic stem cells are "non differentiated" which means they can be transformed into any sort of cell and used to repair damaged organs and body parts. Adult stem cells also serve a regenerative function but have a more specific role in adult tissues.

The only problem was that no one was able to duplicate her results in subsequent lab tests and people began to assume she had faked her results.

According to TIME:

"Peer-review websites accused her of falsifying data and doctoring images, and supervisors were accused of lax management. Obokata, 30, was forced to retract her scientific papers, and the government-sponsored research center where she worked launched a formal investigation."

Sadly, Obokata's supervisor and mentor, Yoshiki Sashai, committed suicide over the scandal.

I was excited when I first read this story because women in the STEM fields are still underrepresented.

Even thought this story does not have a happy ending, I know there have been, are and will be more fantastic women in science and I can't wait to learn about their work. 

Song of the Week: Fenech Soler "Lies" (The Phantom's Revenge Remix)

One of these days I'll get to play my kind of music during a DJ gig.

Admittedly, it will mostly be French House remixes.

Until I get that invite from the local gay bar, I guess I'll just keep posting a few of my faves here:

2014 Grammy Overview

I watched the Grammys so I could see how New Zealand's beloved Lorde would do with her four nominations.

The first thing I saw was Beyonce sitting in a chair and singing. Then all of that faded away and there was just this fantastically mesmerizing butt floating around on stage. I don't remember anything else really, just the butt. Eventually the butt went away and some awards were given out.

Lorde performed "Royals" and sounded very good. She did a bit of a twitchy dance but it wasn't too bad.

I was so proud. New Zealand was so proud. Go Kiwis!

Some other people performed too.

Katy Perry sang her pseudo dangerous hit "Dark Horse" and started the number encased in a giant crystal ball. This momentarily got my hopes up that it might malfunction like Derek Smalls' pod in "This Is Spinal Tap" but alas....

Macklemore pissed everyone off by winning four awards, including "Best Rap Album" and then made everyone sigh happily by performing "Same Love" whilst a host of same sex couples were wed.

For a delightful take down of the situation read Jack Hamilton's piece at Slate:

http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2014/01/macklemore_grammy_wins_don_t_hate_the_thrift_shop_rapper_because_he_s_white.html

Pink sang "Just Give Me a Reason" with a tone-deaf and circus ring master mustachioed Nate Ruess. If anything, Nate's off key wailing made listeners more appreciative of Pink's vocal talents and her ability to maintain a game face while having someone belt out atonal noises at close proximity to her ears.

Taylor Swift tried to channel Tori Amos when she whipped her head around at the piano a few times.

I wasn't all that tuned in to her performance because I'm not really interested in cheer captains and couples who are never ever getting back together. I must say though, "Casual cruelty disguised as honesty" was a clever line aimed at all those assholes out there who say nasty things and then try to couch it as "just being honest." Good one Tay-tay!

Ringo Starr sang a song that made me feel like he was one of my uncles who used to sing in the church choir was grasping desperately at having members of his congregation think he was "hip" "contemporary" and "with it."

He did perform on drums with Paul McCartney to one of the latter's more upbeat and likable tunes and it was nice to see them playing together.

Pharrell wore a hat that was obviously lent to him by Dudley Do-Right and took home a couple of awards himself.

My favorite performance was by Daft Punk. Seeing them in their robot suits brought back fond memories of buying their album "Discovery" in a Virgin Mega store in Paris back in 2001 and all the adventures I had in that city. I've loved this group since I first saw their Michel Gondry-directed video for "Around the World."

I felt so proud of young Lorde as she took to the stage for her first win and wore a look of wide-eyed disbelief. She was more composed for her second win but no less lovable in her acceptance of it.

The NPR bought her album and I must say, it's one of the few you can listen to from first to last track and enjoy throughout.

Finally, my favorite part of the event was watching Robin Thicke NOT win anything for his disgusting little ditty "Blurred Lines."

Hopefully his cheesy ass will fade into obscurity and the term "blurred lines" will only be associated with something a myopic sees when they look at the eye chart in an optometrist's office.

Taming Archimedes

I decided it was time to buckle down and get serious about training Archimedes.

Mostly I have been letting him out of his cage and then enduring his rebukes when I catch him in a t-shirt and put him back in his cage.

This method was not helping our relationship. It was making him fearful of me and causing him to fly away and use his scolding call whenever I got close to him.

All I could think of was all the wild birds I had tamed in Monterey and the one factor that made our interactions possible: edible treats.

The nature and condition of the bird counts for a lot as well.

An injured Pine Siskin I once found hopped right up to my hand when I placed a bowl of seeds in his container. Pine Siskins are highly social and will build nests near each other.

Western Scrub Jays are highly intelligent and are in the Corvid family. I was able to train one to take Cracklin' Oat Bran pieces right out of my hand. It was fun to watch him hide them in his various caches around the yard.

When I fed the ground squirrels at Lover's Point, several Brewer's Blackbirds would take peanuts from my hand and the adult California Seagulls would actual use their juvenile begging gestures to get me to feed them. This was particularly fascinating to me because it is an example of a bird using its own communication methods in an interaction with another species.

The hummingbirds that came to my feeder in Tomales got so used to me that they would perch on the feeder before I had finished hanging it up.

One bird that was notoriously difficult to tame was the Crow. Crows are capable of facial recognition with humans and can learn to manipulate all manner of puzzles in order to gain a food reward. That said, I found getting close to the local Crow family impossible. They would come to my balcony or kitchen window but would always maintain their distance and only go for the food when they were sure I wasn't near. They would watch me through the large picture window in my living room and call to each other when the coast was clear.

My favorite bird of all and one that I am sure is the most intelligent, is the mountain parrot known as the Kea. Kea are the only Alpine parrots in the world and they are only found in the mountains of the South Island of New Zealand.

There is a large collection of them at Willowbank and I love nothing more than to sit down in their enclosure (which visitors can walk through) and watch them interact. They dedicate a lot of time to exploring their surroundings and playing. One of them has been taught to grab his beak with his claw when he wants a treat and he is my favorite bird out of the lot.

I discovered a training method on the YouTubes called "The Power Pause" where you stick out your finger like a perch and work on getting it closer and closer to the bird.

It worked very well and I was able to get my finger nearer to Archimedes without him scolding me.

Next I took a large broccoli floret and placed it close to him. He sidled right on over and nibbled on it.

Happy days!

I'm pleased with the progress we have made and hope to have Archimedes perching on my finger soon.

I may have to change out the edible treat though- the broccoli gives him wicked gas.

Being Xena For A Day

I met my boyfriend Nick two months ago. We had been talking online for some time and decided to meet for dinner at a nice little spot up the street from my house. 

I arrived first and was attempting to pose myself in an intriguing way when Nick came stomping up the three stairs to our table and startled me with the words, "How ya' goin'?"

Throughout the meal he wouldn't look at me and he never once tried to initiate physical contact. 

In other circumstances this might be a depressing turn of events but with your typical Kiwi male, it probably means the bloke's burning up with fiery passion.

We survived our first date and Nick invited me to attend his company Christmas party in Wellington. 

It was a costume party.

New Zealanders love to dress up in costumes. Any excuse will do. 

My search for the perfect costume led me to a place called the Malthouse. 

I was immediately drawn to their hand made Xena Warrior Princess costume. 

Nick helped me zip up in the leather apron that made up the costume's foundation and I was instantly hooked. 

"I never want to take it off," I whispered.

Someone had lovingly crafted metal-looking boob covers and shoulder adornments as well as leather wrist and arm bands. A wig and round metal weapon rounded out the effect. 

The costume was a success in Wellington although two people asked me if my American accent was real, which was strange.

There is something about prancing around in a leather singlet that is very empowering.

Returning the costume was emotionally difficult, but in the end, I knew that other women would get to have the leather scented pleasure of being a warrior princess for a day, and that satisfied.

Xena heroically adjusts the thermostat for maximum hotel room comfort

After a day of fighting crime, Xena relaxes with a cool Steinlager.

Fighting ne'er do wells makes one thirsty.

Archimedes

This is my Love Bird Archimedes. The NPR named him after the grouchy owl in the Sword and the Stone, although his temperament is much brighter than the owl's.

He is young and not yet hand tamed but he is very social and likes to issue long series of squawks and whistles to express himself when something takes his fancy.

I will sometimes let him out to fly around in my room but unless he goes back in his cage for seeds I have to chase him and catch him in a large sweatshirt. He hates that sweatshirt and makes loud scolding noises whenever I bring it out.

He enjoys eating broccoli and will nip thoughtfully at apple slices. He has shown no interest in Kiwi fruit or bananas but if the NPR and I are having sandwiches he likes a little bread to be clipped to the side of his cage for a snack. 

How I Lost A Perfectly Good Shirt

I was headed home down the highway this evening and found myself puttering along behind a red sedan.

All of the sudden my attention was drawn to the rear view mirror where I saw a set of headlights rushing up behind me.

A gold car swerved into the right lane at the last minute and went by so fast and so close that its breeze blew my car sideways.

I slowed down even more and was glad to be behind the sedan driving at grandma speed.

They talk about boy racers a lot in this country and I imagined that was my first time seeing one up close.

Then I remembered there was a roundabout just up the road.

This traffic device requires a reduction in speed and a careful watch for oncoming motorists.

No one needed psychic powers to see what was coming next.

Sure enough, as I approached the roundabout I saw that a car had flipped over.

There were another set of tire tracks going through the grass and at the end of them, the same gold car that had torn past me was lying in a crumpled heap in a ditch.

I saw that several people had pulled off onto the grass and were standing around. I pulled my car over to the shoulder and got out as well.

I walked toward the remains of the gold car and looked inside to see if anyone was trapped. I saw a man lying in the ditch behind the car and thought he must be dead at first.

But he was moaning and moving and a skinny man was kneeling beside him and trying to sit him up.

A few people were standing on the edge of the ditch and some said not to move the man and others said he must be moved because the car was smoking and might catch fire.

I asked some random woman standing beside me to hold my keys while I jumped down into the ditch.

Since the man had already been moved it seemed like he should be pulled away from the car in case it did catch on fire.

The man crouching beside him looked at me and said, "I've got this sorted."

"I can see that but we need to get him away from the smoking car," I said.

It was obvious that the crouching man was involved with the accident as well. He smelled of alcohol but was doing his best to keep watch over his injured friend.

At that point the injured man was sitting up so I pulled his arm around my neck and told him to lean on me. His friend took his other side and we stood him up. I asked the people standing along the edge of the ditch to help me pull him out.

Hands reach down to assist us and we were soon walking slowly away from the wreck.

The man't knees had begun to buckle so I said, "Here lay down for a minute and let's see how you're doing." I put him on his side in the recovery position and did a visual sweep for injuries. He had a gash on his head put it was only oozing a little bit. I patted down his back like I had been taught in the army to see if he was bleeding anywhere else.

I found a black hoodie laying in the grass nearby so I put it under the man's head. He was trying to spit out some grass that was stuck to his mouth so I wiped it away for him.

He was moaning and asking where he was and what had happened. I told him there had been an accident and that he was going to be okay.

I started to stoke his face and arms softly and told him not to go to sleep.

"I'm not," he said.

He seemed fairly coherent and drew up one of his legs and flexed his toes.

His friend came over and took his hand and said, "That car clipped us mate."

This was an obvious lie but I wasn't about to upset an injured man by telling his drunk companion what I thought about his driving skills.

A man who had been speaking to the emergency operators on the phone said they should be on the scene in five minutes then he laid his hand on my shoulder and said, "good job."

When the paramedics finally arrived I helped them cut away the man't shirt and roll him onto the litter. There were a few minor abrasions on his back and nothing appeared to be broken.

While they loaded him into the ambulance another woman and I compared notes on how fast the gold car had been going. Apparently they had sped by her and her husband as well.

I found a police officer and gave him my contact details and a brief statement.

He maintained most of his composure when I said that the car had passed me "doing a guhbuhjullion miles per hour" and for my part, I managed not to go full redneck and make a NASCAR analogy.

When I got home I told the NPR what hat happened and then hopped into the shower to get the blood and dirt off myself.

My white t-shirt was splattered in blood and dirt. It is beyond saving but I don't mind.