星期一, 十月 27, 2008

星期二, 十月 21, 2008

Glowing Gene's Discoverer Left Out Of Nobel Prize---zt

quote from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95545761
Morning Edition, October 9, 2008 · The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded this week to three scientists working in the United States with a jellyfish protein that glows in the dark. But the scientist who found the gene for that protein, and gave it to the eventual Nobel winners, is no longer working in the field. He now drives a shuttle bus for an auto dealership.

The three chemistry Nobel Prize winners have advanced our understanding of the inner workings of cells by using the jellyfish protein to tag the tiny, intricate parts.

But to do that, back in the 1990s, those scientists first needed the gene that creates the glowing protein.

One of the winners, Roger Tsien of the University of California, San Diego, says he was lucky. At just the right time, a researcher named Douglas Prasher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts isolated the gene that Tsien wanted.

"So I found his phone number, called him up, and to my amazement he was willing to give out the gene," Tsien says.

Another of the Nobel laureates, Martin Chalfie of New York's Columbia University, also got the gene from Prasher.

But Prasher, it turns out, no longer works in science. He is now driving a courtesy shuttle for a car dealership in Huntsville, Ala.

"I got a hard luck story," he says.

Prasher doesn't have any regrets about giving away the gene. Tsien and Chalfie did great work, he says, which he probably couldn't have done because the National Institutes of Health had rejected his funding proposals.

"At that time, I knew I was going to get out of it; my funding had already run out," Prasher says.

He went to work for a laboratory run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, then took a job with a NASA contractor in Huntsville. But two-and-a-half years ago, NASA cut his project and Prasher lost his job.

He tried to find a job in science but failed. So he went to work at the car dealership.

"I never thought I would enjoy working with people so much. 'Cause doing science is kind of a loner thing; but doing this, I meet new people every day, and I hear all kinds of stories, some of which I don't need to hear. Because I'm kind of a bartender," Prasher says.

But the job does not pay enough to support his family.

"Our savings is gone; just totally gone," he says.

Prasher is still looking for a research job, but he worries that after two-and-a-half years, his knowledge and skills may be out of date.

That's not what some of his former colleagues say. One called Prasher's current situation a "staggering waste of talent."

In December, Tsien and Chalfie, along with Japanese researcher Osamu Shimomura, will go to Stockholm and receive almost a half-million dollars.

Prasher says, "If they're ever in Huntsville, they need to take me out to dinner."

星期一, 十月 20, 2008

远方天国那一滴眼泪

是谁在唱歌
温暖了寂寞
白云悠悠
蓝天依旧
泪水再飘过
在那一片苍茫中一个人的生活
看见远方天国那璀璨的焰火

以前总觉得这是一首滥俗的歌,可是,当我坐在刚察前往西海的大巴上
坐在一群紫铜色皮肤的男男女女之中,再听到这首歌的时候
突然间,就像有什么东西触到了我心中的那一滴眼泪

窗外是草原,雪山和天尽头那一抹蔚蓝……
窗内是疲惫的我和一车的欢声笑语

想想我要回去的地方,繁华的都市,喧嚣的尘世
这里纯净的天与地,冰冷刺骨却洗涤心灵的湖水,或许也会是留在我心中的一滴眼泪

有些人终其一生,都在追寻,追寻内心的幸福和安宁
看看四周的人们,却都是那样幸福和安详

星期日, 十月 19, 2008

CNG与PS

话说CNG(中国国家地理)是我大学毕业之后最常买的杂志之一,虽然最近有投向华夏地理的倾向

但一直对CNG还是怀有朴素的好感的

 

这一次真令我失望了,PS,又见PS。

并非照片不能PS,只是作为记录意义的照片,我认为是绝对不可以的(除了对明暗进行处理之外)

更令人失望的是在有人打电话给编辑提出此问题后,该编辑仍不知悔改

不过,网络时代真是无比强大,被网友轻松找到原图

 中国国家地理10月号 355页照片翻拍


 

 

网络搜到的东京大井车辆所照片







发件人 网络照片

疑似原图:四川教育科学研究所编著的中学理化用表


细节

 






发件人 网络照片

大家自己看看吧,PS的水平也十分拙劣

真不明白,这些摄影记者和图片编辑是怎么混的。

如果该杂志不在下一期道歉,我想我是不会再买它了。。。sigh