Taking a break to say something to my best friends:

I’m sorry that I’ve been so engrossed into this med school business that I have been the worst friend. I have spent my entire summer studying, writing essays, spending time at the hospital, and being a shitty friend.

I’ve cancelled plans, forgotten to call/text back, been distracted while hanging out, you name it and I’ve been that girl.

Please don’t get off my bus. You guys are why my bus is still on the road. Though neither of you know it you keep me driving. 

I will make it up to you, I promise.

I love you.

potteraddicted:

The different avatars of Harry Potter

I am reblogging this for my best friend to see… she knows who she is. <3

lol-pornstar potter

So Cool.

DNA was found in meteors brought to earth. Many people thought that the nucleotide-like traces (those of you who aren’t science savvy: a nucleotide is the basic building block of DNA…) were contamination from the initial impact but after analysis of meteors from Antarctica were made, it was concluded. Meteors carry what seems to be DNA.

Now there is much speculation over what it is exactly… Is it remains of old bacteria? Is it the spontaneous assembly of those organic molecules in the form of a nucelotide-like structure? Is it really just contamination?

Who knows for sure, but I say that this is super exciting. I mean it gives us a glimpse to life elsewhere in this universe. Who knows? Maybe we have cousins millions of lightyears away. Maybe it can give us insight to our own exsistence on Earth. Maybe everything was just by chance and really we are guessing and theorizing over nothing… 

But it goes to show you that you NEVER know. As much as our modern world has uncovered about what, how, and where life as we know it operates, there is still a plethora of shit that has yet to be discovered. So don’t get too cocky driving that bus, because all you need is a meteor crashing into your engine to remind you to be respectful of nature, earth, and the universe. We are at the mercy of our environment because we are our environment. We are made up of the same chemicals as those found in the meteor (obviously not on the same scale). The only difference is that we are structured in such a way to be a human.

And maybe those cousins would like a ride on my bus. =]

For more info heres a link: http://news.discovery.com/space/meteorites-dna-life-earth-space-110809.html

This morning as I was drinking my coffee, I sat on my deck looking at the scenery in my backyard. For about 20 minutes I intently followed a turtle move ever so slowly across the yard. Every couple of steps he would stop and look at me. Though I was not moving or making a sound, he could feel my gaze from over 50ft away. Finally he disappeared into the compost pile, more than likely to feast on the cantaloupe rinds recently put there. Good thing it was too early for the groundhogs. Early bird catches the worm… Or in this case early turtle can get to the cantaloupe before it is all gone!

It is so cool how life is interconnected. For a brief 20 minutes, that turtle was on my bus… Hope you enjoyed the ride mister turtle.

taking a break from my wow that so cool geekiness to indulge in a little self pity. I’ve been horribly down lately feeling like no matter how hard i try i cannot get the scores i want. it goes against everything that i know. everything i believe in. the entire “if you work hard, you will reach your goal.” 

Ive been working hard. why is my goal so far away still?

well. this time on friday i will be two hours into the MCAT once again in attempts to raise my score so i will have no problem getting into maryland. 

however i cannot score high on my practice tests. i have more confidence. i have more knowledge. my timing is better. but i’m starting to think that my 26 is the best i have in me. and really, its quite depressing. 

then i see people working construction laughing and having a blast in the sun and i’m cooped up all day in the library racking the books to try to prepare myself for this soul-sucking test. is it worth it? with the economy going into the shitter fast, am i even going to be able to pay off my approximately $200k debt i will accrue after med school? what the hell am i stressing out about?

and because i feel like i wasted so much time writing this instead of doing practice questions i am going to return.

edit: dear mister wanna-be ghetto white trash. no one cares about your rap exploits or time in jail. you are in a quiet area. please shut the fuckkkkk up!

dailybunny

the daily bunny for today. so effin cute. =]

(via dailybunny)

It’s crazy to think that the feelings of love and attachment are triggered by chemical signals in your body.

Oxytocin and vasopressin are chemicals that has been known to have been released during two specific times… During an orgasm for both males and females and when a woman is giving birth… 

Does this explain that feeling of attachment mothers instantly feel towards their offspring after giving birth? Is this why sexless marriages often involves partners who feel distance from each other? Is this why “friends with benefits” often develop feelings toward each other unintentionally?

Speculate all you want. I personally believe that this is not a coincidence. It has already been proven that many psychological disorders are linked to chemical signaling in the brain among other factors of course. i.e. psychopaths do not feel any sort of emotions towards other people because they lack certain chemical signalling in their body.

New studies are now linking oxytocin release to physical contact (i.e. hugging/holding hands/kissing). Which could very well explain why we feel a connection with someone else after making out with them or holding hands.

The thing that scares me the most is that we think our conscious mind is deciding independently to be attached to someone when in reality it is the arrival of oxytocin and vasopressin in the brain influencing our decisions.  It is crazy to think that who and what we think we are as in a spiritual sense could be heavily influenced by external factors. For instance, I might not be able to control my emotions towards someone who I am having sex with, even if we establish we are “just friends.” Now do I really like this person, or is it the oxytocin and vasopressin telling my conscience that I am developing feelings for this person?

So really, am I in control of my bus’s passengers? Or can constant hugs keep them a rider for longer than I want?

To read more, here is an interesting link: http://www.oxytocin.org/oxytoc/love-science.html

And that is my “HOLY CRAP THAT IS COOL” for today.

Because I am a science nerd… I believe I am going to make my posts be something that I find interesting in the field of science.  Each day I stumble across something that I’m like “HOLY CRAP THATS SO COOL!” and hopefully by me spreading my knowledge some more people will get that “HOLY CRAP THATS SO COOL!” feeling as well.

My first moment was when the discovery of arsenic-based DNA bacteria were discovered. The discovery can be found: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6034/1163

(Only an abstract but you can get the gist…)

The idea that a thought to be horribly poisonous element can potentially be one of the elements that helps to comprise a form of life boggles my noggin! WHAT THE HECK! Next thing you know you’re going to be hearing about fish who poop gold or worms who make silk (oh wait… silk comes from worms…) But you can understand where I’m coming from. Life is amazing and continually trumps knowledge as we know it. 

Now full circle to the bus theory, your bus can take many different forms. Coach, school, or party bus. =]

photo: Klebsiella pneumoniae grown on macckoney agar by me during my pathogenic microbiology class… haha to Alex’s face in the background