Bonnie Bassler: Molecular biologist
Why you should listen to her:
In 2002, bearing her microscope on a microbe that lives in the gut of fish, Bonnie Bassler uncovered an elusive molecule called AI-2. Doing so, she vindicated the long-ridiculed idea that bacteria communicate -- through a process called quorum sensing. (Bassler calls the signals "bacterial Esperanto," and they’re the secret behind some fascinating behavior.)
The discovery shows how cell populations use chemical powwows to stage attacks, evade immune systems and forge slimy defenses called biofilms. For that, she's won a MacArthur "genius" grant -- and is giving new hope to frustrated pharmacos seeking new weapons against drug-resistant superbugs.
Bassler teaches molecular biology at Princeton, where she continues her years-long study of V. harveyi, one such social microbe that is mainly responsible for glow-in-the-dark sushi. She also teaches aerobics at the YMCA.
"She's really the one who's shown that this is something that all these bacteria are doing all the time. And if we want to understand them, we have to understand quorum sensing."
- Ned Wingreen, Princeton, on Nova ScienceNOW
Apr 8, 2009
Nintendo DSi Teardown Report
Since the kids have the DS Lite (previous generation) versions, it's kinda cool to see what upgrades and new features Nintendo stuffed into the new model.
- The DSi has an integrated SD/SDHC expansion slot.
You can now use a normal SD card for the playback of AAC audio
files and external storage of pictures or downloaded software.
Can anyone say homebrew apps?
- Two VGA CMOS digital cameras (0.3 megapixels); one on the
internal hinge pointed towards the user and the other
in the outer shell.
Chips of interest, left to right and a view of the rest of the DSi in pieces, and a teardown of the original version. (NOTE: Clicking on the images will bring up larger versions)
- Samsung 1st generation MoviNAND KMAPF0000M: 256 MB NAND Flash and MMC controller.
- 82DBS08164D-70L: Fujitsu Ltd 128-bit FCRAM (fast-cycle RAM).
- Nintendo's custom ARM CPU.
The full step by step teardown report is here.
Apr 7, 2009
Arizona Spring Fling 2009 Sedona
Sorry for the length.. just too much fun stuff/footage to cut here. This is from the Sat. MTBR ride this past March, 2009 in Sedona. Part of the whole 'Spring Fling' series of rides which happens every year around spring break time. Great day to be out riding, party at the Bike & Bean followed. Stay tuned for some fun/hillarity at the end of the vid. The music is from the SXSW 2008 festival, you can catch Artist/Track info in the ending credits... Enjoy! :)
Az. Spring Fling 2009 - Sedona Ride from tim schneider on Vimeo.
Apr 6, 2009
Black Canyon Trail (BCT)
Mike emailed me the other night, said that his neighbor Rick and he were planning on riding the BCT loop, which is not far from his place up in New River. I wanted to see how the new bike would do on something more cross-country in nature, so I dialed down the shock and tossed it into the Honda Element and met them Sunday morning. 
About 10mins into the ride, I was following Rick down a kinda fast section of trail when my front tire washed out. Murphy's Law was in full effect! I landed on the *only* bed of Cholla Cactus balls in that section of trail. That sucker was hidden from view, like a speed trap near the Mogollon Rim, just waiting for a lamer like me to happen by. Thanks to Mikes flat nosed pliers, I was able to remove the bulk of the spines. The other thing that I was thankful for, was the scrape down lower on my leg? huh? I'd kept re-injuring the same spot, so I wore the kyle strait knee pads and shin wraps for this ride, despite it being total overkill. My knee and lower leg was saved the nasty fate that my upper leg (thigh) suffered.
Caught the incident on video: (low res YouTube and blip.tv versions)
Other than the cacti encounter, the rest of the ride was really nice! Saw lots of other folks out on the trail enjoying the cool, breezey day. Pretty soon, we'll be getting up at O'Dark Thirty for these rides! Harbor Freight Tools and Walgreens have all the supplies you need to deal with cacti! :-)
GPS Data for the ride here
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