DrDNA

OK. Lets I'll agree that when somebody passes out and has to have their toes removed due to frost bite because they are addicted to talking on a cell phone, then it is has become worthy of consideration on the same level as alcoholism, meth addiction, opiate addiciton, etc. Casual maijuana use, much like the casual beer or two (or 6 even), are not in the same universe either. Am I correct in assuming that you do not have first hand (maybe second hand would be a more appropriate term) experience with alcoholism or other forms of chemical dependancy in your family? I don't mean to critisize (and apologize that I have), but, I'm amazed and dumbfounded because I guess I never realized how people with no direct experience with addiction in their immediate families just don't get it. Maybe this is why my wife can watch "Intervention" on A and E network every Friday and I would rather stick pins in my eyes. The show is just too real, personal, and painful for me.

Yeah. Insane A, for all you know I've been waiting for 3 years to get that off my chest. Man, do I feel better now. Whew, what a relief! Thanks for the welcome Martin. Very kind of you. BTW: I have absolutely no idea what is in the core of a neutron star (I'm just a chemist- the kind that deals with organic matter)......I just know it is probably very hot and inhospitable there....probably too hot and inhospitable for any biological or bioorganic molecules to exist....

Withdrawl will not occur. Not after Vietnam. Oh, they will be replaced. You can bet on it. The legacy demands it. Can you say draft?

I'm not an Oncologist, my doctorate is in Medicinal Chemistry/Natural Products Chemistry. I've done some reading on the Kurosawa Group website. It looks to me like.....uhmmm....well, I'll give you some info and let you decide...... "The GK Quality of Life Blog can be accesssed directly via PalPal." "This blog is private and available by subscription only through the Grouppe Kurosawa Discussion Group. Due to our increased costs, we now charge $35 (non-refundable) for 3 months access to this important medical blog and discussion group. If you prefer to pay by check or cash, your subscription to this Blog is for 12 months at a cost of $140 USD. Once you paid this fee, it cannot be refunded if you decide to cancel your subscription." "Grouppe Kurosawa Quality of Life Blog This blog cost $79USD/for 3 months. The blog essays are written multiple times per week and contain information and treatment protocols for herpes infections, obesity and general weight loss, building muscle mass, hair growth and hair loss, skin conditions, libido and sexual arousal issues. Private and Professional Consultations Individuals who require private individual consulting and treatment guidance on their medical condition can receive it for $100 a month. You can speak to Dr. Martin at any time, send him your current natural medicines protocols for evaluation, and cancel the consulting agreement whenever you wish. Physicians, including Chiropractors who seek professional consulting can receive it for $300 a month. This consulting agreement includes specific literature searches, telephone conversations, fax communications, etc. Physicians who wish to consult with Dr. Martin by telephone only on a need by need basis can receive it for $50 an hour. " It is apparently run by Dr Stephen Martin "Chief Scientist of Grouppe Kurosawa" Bio: "AA degree, College of Marin. Psychology BA degree, Reed College. Psychology Ph.D Candidate, Harvard University (Left for lack of financial support) BA degree, University of California, Santa Cruz. Biology C.Phil. University of California, Berkeley. Immunology Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley. Immunology" I've never heard of anyone leaving Harvard grad shool for "lack of financial support", especially after becoming a "PhD Candidate".... Very interesting and quite a novel way to supplement income...... I'm no lawyer of course, but does anyone know if this is legal? It appears to be a solicitation to give medical advise for a fee......"Individuals who require private individual consulting and treatment guidance on their medical condition can receive it for $100 a month"....apparently without a license..??? Anyone know anything about that?

That is total garbage!! Anyone that equates alcoholism with cell phone usage, obviously has no concept of what alcoholism does to the person, their immediate family, other loved ones, and anyone in close proximity. Nobody is talking about one or two beers here. ARGGGHHH!!! Alcoholism (and other forms of chemical dependancy) devistated my father's life, my mother's life, my brothers' lives and my life, and everyone around us and continues to do the same for millions of others. For you to compare what rey is bravely dealing with here to cell phone usage or to a beer or two is TOTALLY ABSURD! What are you? A self percieved expert!?!! Get a grip!!

Hey.....wasn't this on an episode of Stargate SG1...as in blatently stolen from StarTrek Next Gen (or Voyager?)....as in pilfired from the original StarTrek ? If those thieves did it, it must be true...?

If you are refering specifically to tensile strength, the carbon nanotubes win. If you are refering specifically to hardness (as in resistance to scratching), then diamonds win but some boron nitride compound is supposed almost as hard (and can form similar structures to cabon).

I'm not going to repeat the exp. I'm sure it would be in my system 4 hours later....and longer. Although it is tempting I forgot that you were only talking about 4 hours. I drifted in thought to assume that it was much longer. Regardless, if the residual taste were simply because of alohol or alcohol metabolites, why do tequila, various whiskies, rum, etc all leave different tastes in the mouth the next day. Even if one is too drunk to remember what he drank last night, the residual taste (yuch!) can usually identify the culprit (unless, from my experience, it was USP ethanol or really good moonshine). I can state this with some high degree of certainty because I performed the experiment with many different spirits, many many times. I must argue with the author's use of the term "insignificant". Vodka's unique taste compared to other spirits and particular taste compared to brands and grades comes from the "insignificant amount of other substances". If not for these, vodka would taste like USP ethanol cut with distilled water, and it does not taste the same. Quoting from the link you provided (BTW Wiki is a great source but certainly not a reference standard on ANY subject) "A common property of vodkas produced in the USA and Europe is the extensive use of filtration prior to any additional processing, such as the addition of flavourants." and "Through numerous rounds of distillation, or the use of a fractioning still, the taste of the vodka is improved and its clarity is enhanced." So flavorings are usually added, plus we know that filtering and distillation are NEVER 100%, hence the numerous rounds to "improve" and "enhance" (by removing what I ask?). Even trace compunds in water, which is used by the manufacturer to cut the vodka, adds to a particular Vodka's unique flavor profile (according to that link). Is somthing insignificant if it modifys flavor; especially if we are refering to taste? Finally: for some (perhaps exotic?) vodkas.... "Flavourings include red pepper, ginger, fruit flavours, vanilla, chocolate (without sweetener), and cinnamon. Ukrainians produce a commercial vodka that includes St John's Wort. Poles and Belarusians add the leaves of the local bison grass to produce Żubrówka (Polish) and Zubrovka (Belarusian) vodka, with slightly sweet flavour and light amber colour. In Ukraine and Russia, vodka flavoured with honey and pepper (Pertsovka, in Russian, Z pertsem, in Ukrainian) is also very popular. In Poland, a famous vodka containing honey is called krupnik. This tradition of flavouring is also prevalent in the Nordic countries, where vodka seasoned with herbs, fruits and spices is the appropriate strong drink for midsummer seasonal festivities. In Sweden, there are forty-odd common varieties of herb-flavoured vodka (kryddat brännvin). In Poland there is a separate category, nalewka, for vodka-based spirits with fruit, root, flower, or herb extracts, which are often home-made or produced by small commercial distilleries." Happy guzzeling! Best.

I still think most of you are going further off track. "......your Cabillac has a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track....."- a nickel to anyone that can name the genius that sang that.... Again, vodka is not just ethanol and water. Both of which are relatively tasteless and the half life of ethanol does not fit with the timeline. Plus I doubt acohol metabolites (like acetylaldehyde) have much to do with it because they taste nothing like vodka and they are also mostly out of the system in the time frame discussed. Of course something like liver disease or lack of ADH enzymes or other deficiences could problong the lifetimes, but we are still left with Vodka's unique taste. Therefore, alcohol metabolism or lack thereof should have relatively little to do with morning after taste and we are left simply with trace relatively robust molecules in the vodka that contribute to its unique taste in the first place (or even some of their metabolites), which may not be cleared or metabolized quickly, so they hang around (on teeth, gums, tongue, stomanch, throat, esauphagous, airways, perhaps even blood to exchange in lungs, etc) to later bind the receptors on the tongue. The same happens, in my experience, with other forms of liquor, including burbon, other whiskies, brandy, gin, tequila (especially cheap tequila!!! the next day is that WORST taste with bad tequila !!!), some wines, champagne, etc. BTW: I can say with some coonviction that this does not happen with GOOD moonshine nor with the 90 or 95% ethanol that I used pilfer from the lab for weekends .....ok I admit it...weekdays too (which was great for spiking watermelons or making hooch or to make martinis ) Now, I definitely need a drink!

Ah. That was a fun and frustrating period. I have to say that some (few) eventually got it and now have really exciting, high level careers in nanotech or nanobiotech or microfluidics (for example). Some gave up early in the game and went back to their comfort zones, for example gave up when they finally realized that they couldn't deposit DNA quickly and easily, with existing tools, everywhere they wanted to by chemical vapor deposition (this - CVD of DNA- came up several times a week in the early days). The phase transition temps (not talking about ds to ss transition temps here) of DNA can be quite elusive ...it seems to be quite difficult to get that beast to go in the gas phase intact Proteins are even worse! One must wonder why anyone would even use this stuff! Others eventually moved on after mother biological entity refused to yield....Stupid organic molecules....C, N, O, S, H, P.....just too darn many of them in too many combinations...can't be predicted ab initio......yield darn it! Some still not over it and in looney bins (I mean in their cubicles and refuse to come out). Lady bio, she is a beautiful, complex and stubborn lady who will always do things her way. To be fair, I usually feel pretty small after I've had a conversation with an engineer or physicist about something that they are experts in (or perhaps just knowlegable in) and I have to look a lot of it up just to understand what it was they were actually talking about.....often waaaayyyy over my head. CORRECTION TO WHAT I WROTE ABOVE

Point well taken. However, not to minimize dangers associated with mercury poisoning, please note that methyl mercury is NOT elemental mercury. Methyl merc is considered to be the form of mercury most easily bioaccumulated. Also, mercury (and methyl merc) is known to easily penetrate latex, so they should not have been used in the situation you mention. Latex gloves were never intended for chemical lab use and shouldn't even be there. One should NEVER use them as the only means of protection in a chem lab. They were developed for routine biological/clinical (ie, aqueous liquid only) work. Nitril gloves are known to be a better option for work with mercury (and many other chemicals). I agree with you. The best protection is knowledge (and proper equipment).

The bestest, cheapest, easiest recipe in the world. 2 cans tuna. 1 can cream of mushroom soup (generic is fine). Handful of frozen peas. A little chopped onion (optional). Mix together and layer these over potato chips (for the original tuna-potato chip cassarol) or cooked flat noodles (for better nutritional value...egg noodles-the cheap kind are great) in a cassarole dish. Sprinkle cheese of choice over the top (sharp cheddar is best). Bake or microwave until the cheese melts or browns Yummy.

Excuse me, but can't you see that we are trying to win a Rube Goldberg contest here!

Personally, I think HF is your best bet.....happens every day in the semiconductor industry. But have you thought of putting them in a regular test tube with water and then trying to separate with a pasture pipette? The "mica sand", since is less dense, should be pulled into the pipette much easier than the gold, much like a centrifuge.... Then I think you may be left with mercury, which is still used to purify gold from ore..... If you don't want to mess with mercury...TOXIC!!...ignore the following.... If there is still some impurites left (I'm sure there are) cover the concentrates with water. Add one tablespoon of household lye to the concentrates and swirl it around for several minutes. This will remove surface impurities such as dirt and oils from the gold. Pour off the lye laden water. Add fresh water and add one ounce of mercury. *** WARNING!!! WHEN USING LYE YOU SHOULD WEAR SAFETY GOGGLES AND RUBBER GLOVES TO AVOID GETTING ANY IN YOUR EYES OR ON YOUR SKIN. WHEN USING MERCURY, USE THE SAME PRECAUTIONS. IN BOTH CASES DO NOT INHALE ANY OF THE FUMES!!! ALWAYS WORK OUTSIDE AND UPWIND. Slowly swirl the contents with the mercury. As the mercury goes around the pan it will pick up all the finest gold in the pan. The more gold there is the stiffer the mercury becomes. Once you have all the gold gathered, pan or suck off the sands (or use a magnet in a plastic baggie to retrieve black sands), leaving only the gold laden mercury and free mercury. The free mercury will roll around easily where the gold laden mercury is stiff and does not toll well. Place your mercury container INSIDE another gold pan and pour off the free mercury into the container. Using another pan keeps it from spilling out onto the floor or ground. If you spill mercury on the floor or God forbid, the living room carpet, you will be inhaling evaporating fumes for years! Once you have a stiff ball of gold laden mercury in the plastic pan flush it out into a glass measuring cup. To this add a few drops of nitric acid Keep adding nitric acid until you get a bubbling or fizzing action from the mercury. !!! DO NOT BREATH THE FUMES !!! The acid will dissolve the mercury as well as any trace silver. After awhile the fizzing stops and at the bottom of your cup is a bronze colored metallic looking blob.... It's GOLD! You can recover your mercury from the nitric acid by placing a flat copper bar or copper sheet into the acid and letting it set overnight. The next day the mercury will have come out of solution and attached itself to the copper now you can scrape the mercury from the copper and put it back into your storage container. Carefully pour off the remaining liquid and neutralize the acid with baking soda, a little at a time until you get no reaction from the acid and soda. Gently rinse the gold in the cup with fresh water avoiding hard sprays that could rinse away your gold. Pour off the water and let dry. The remainder is your pure gold! (actually 95% - -98% pure) http://www.learngoldprospecting.com/index.cfm?var_file=separate-gold-concentrates.htm

boxed mac and cheese, cheap wieners from parts unknown, frozen pizza..... Oh man....If you eat that through 4 years of undergrad and/or 5-7 yrs of grad school, you are going to be one sick, miserable, albeit smart, largaone . Of course, Hebrew National 97% lean hot dogs one whole wheat buns are an exception and healthy (but they are relatively expensive)..... If you do make these poisons a major part of your diet, please do yourself a favor and scarf down some raw vegies and sprouts each day too....they are REALLY cheap (in the short run and the long run). Don't be fodder for some overpaid cardiologist's mansion payment.

If this were true, DNA would never associate. The phosphates are far enough apart that they do not repel each other enough to push the helix apart (charge-charge interactions are actually/relatively/fairly short range) and they are associated with positive counterions (even some divalent counteranions-such and Ni++, Mg++, etc- with can actually bridge the phosphastes), and then the layers of water,...... This is why they are on the backbone..... Actually hydrogen bonding is only a minor contributor to dulplex stability. It IS the major factor in specificity though. And other interactions actually "keep the helix together". For example, pi-pi stacking interactions, VDW interactions, etc. And then there is entropy from the exclusion of water, which is a huge factor. In terms of helix stability, hydrogen bonding is swamped by these. I have no responce to this. Perhaps I do not understand the mechanisms of DNA packaging or your description of it. I cannot grasp these.... Sorry, but I don't think that the begining was as simple as bulk charge-charge interactions. Certainly, they play some (important) part but if it were as simple as that, seriously bright people wouldn't still be scratching their heads after dedicating their lives to the issue. Perhaps you are elevating the effects of charge-charge interactions at the expense of a very very critical phenom....specific molecular recognition. This sort of reminds me of when I used to work with a bunch of very very bright electrical engineers who wanted to "do bio". They kept trying to simplfy DNA and protein interactions (actually all of the life sciences) into terms that contained just one or two, perhaps three at most, variables (like semiconductor physics). They saw no need to perform any experiments- which were a waste of time, resources, and space (where vacum pumps, wet etch hoods, and coaters should be installed!) and thought everything (all of them- both variables) could and should just be modeled anyway........ Of course, there were (are) many more variables at work, so the whole endeavor eventually imploded on itself and we had to find other ways to occupy ourselves.

A few peeled baby carrots, sprouts (eg, mung or soy bean, alfalfa, etc) a few slices of whole wheat bread (choose wisely, read the label), and a can of white tuna in water makes a fine nutritious meal for less than a buck. Sprinkle some olive oil/vinager on the carrots and sprouts for extra flavor and essential fatty acids/oil. And don't forget the Flinstone vitamins. You can live on this stuff (protein, complex carbs, good fats, fiber, vitamins.

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/readfile?fk_files=38514&pageno=2

Either Piranha bath or Aqua Regia bath should work. Chromic acid bath may help, but then again may not because it mainly oxidizes organics. I'm not going to list the details on making and using Piranha or Aqua Regia because they are both potentially VERY dangerous and you should read up on these before attempting. For example, the process for making up Piranha involves an exothermic reaction and if not performed properly, it can boil over onto you. It will eat just about anything, including the flesh right off of your bones (hence the name). The information to make and use these are readlily available, so do a lot of research first (I've listed some links below to get you started, but don't stop there!). No matter what, PLEASE remember to make up the solutions in a hood, wear proper eye protection, lab coat, acid apron, thick rubber gloves, etc and add the components SLOWLY, CAREFULLY, and IN THE CORRECT ORDER. Here are some links to get you started, but please do not stop with these...keep reading and ask for assistance from someone that has worked with these before. http://engineering.tufts.edu/microfab/index_files/SOP/PiranhaClean_SOP.pdf http://www.engineering.ucsb.edu/~memsucsb/Facilities/mems%20fab/PIRANHA%20CLEAN.pdf http://www.ampel.ubc.ca/nanofab/sop/glass-cleaning.pdf Be safe!!!

It looks like some of you might want to start new thread to grind statistics and the scientific method into dust. I thought this one was less serious....about a taste in one's mouth the morning after.....

Well, then you are complicating a simple experiment with tannins. Now we'll probably never know what is really going on. Remind me next time to use mice and in a more controlled environment. BTW: I suspect that what you are observing has nothing to do with alcohol or alcohol metabolites at all. More than likely, some molecules that contribute to the drink's taste are not easily broken down in the mouth or upper GI. And these molecules are probably hanging around in the mouth, upper GI or upper respiratory system and they can populate (or re-populate?) the receptors in your taste buds the next day. I'm pretty sure this is what happened when I drank a lot of KY burbon years ago.

I don't think that you should be putting anything like that in his food. I come from a long line of alcoholics (all dead at early ages) and my father was a violent drunk. My mother even put Antabuse (combined with alcohol, it makes you violently ill) in my father's vodka bottles. This made him very, very sick, and angry, but he continued to drink anyway. Sadly, there is not much you can do except continue to love him and don't give up on him, no matter how difficult it may seem or how embarassed you get. Believe me, if you do give up, you will regret it at some point. The one thing all substance abusers have in common is denial and as long as they are in denial, they will refuse to come to terms with the effect the substance is having on their lives and the lives of their loved ones. The one thing that children of alcoholics share is shame. My advise is for you and your mother to get counseling...do it quickly, do it often, do it seriously.

The heck with the cancer cure! Communication with these delicous, brave, self sacrificing mice will certainly change the way we relate to each other, how we treat other life forms, how we think, and how we practice religion forever. Anybody got any good Kurosawa Mice recipes?

...because you don't want to be filpping burgers at Mikey D's the rest of your life...??

Wow! What a racey, heated argument. Wonderful! In fact, anyone with an agenda (creationist, evolutionist, whomever,...) will conceal data/information. You probably did this on your tax returns last year didn't you; you cheeky monkies? I think some are confusing evolution with theories relating to biogenesis. These are absolutely NOT mutally inclusive. Parts of one or the other may be correct or incorrect, but these parts do not substantiate nor invalidate the remaining parts. Scientific support and evidence are never sufficient to "prove" any theory (except perhaps for some relatively "simple" mathematical examples); which is why the cigarette companies ultimately prevail in court. Scientific theories exist only long enough to be knocked off by better, (hopefully) more sound theories. Importantly, most biogenesis and evolution theories do not necessarily exclude creationism; which can be in sync with any number of scientific theories because there is no mention of the MECHANISMS used to accomplish human creation, biogenesis or earth/universe creation in the bible; although that would certainly be a fun read.. Peace. I lost my right sneaker, but no need to worry. Somewhere is the universe floats a randomly generated, exact copy.