Murder for a good cause

Howdy y'all.
So... I killed a mouse today.
Well, I didn't kill it. I just watched as it was lowered into a box filled with dry ice and listened until it stopped moving and then harvested its organs.
I may or may not have mentioned, but I work at the University Stem Cell Institute every Tuesday. It's an independent study for Biology. My project is that I take the hearts of a special kind of genetically modified mouse and look at them under a microscope to see if there are any stem cells.
This is a tiny contribution to a really important field of research: No one is certain that there is such a thing as Stem Cells in the adult heart. That's why a heart failure can damage you for the rest of you life: your heart can't re grow the cells that died. If heart stem cells are found, a cure for heart failure could be developed and tons of lives could be saved.
In the mean time, I will be killing mice every week and slicing up their hearts. I think I'm in favor of using mice for research, generally speaking: you can genetically modify them and they'll still live as good or better a life as any mouse, until they are painlessly killed. I think it's kind of noble of them to sacrifice their lives.
But watching a terrified mouse die is really hard.
I'm just going to knuckle down and do it. What do you girls think?
Best Wishes!
Rose

Physics and Chemistry

Yes, yes, we all get it, I am a crazy person for doing physics and chem, can we move on now?

So I have a physics test in 45 minutes, and I can't really keep studying for it because I've written my reference sheet, done all the set questions and it's starting to seem futile.

I have chemistry test tomorrow, so I could study for that, in fact I should study for that. No reference sheet for that one and I have to go somewhere tonight so I should do that.

Instead I am blogging and our friend, Patience, is distracting me with poetry and re-writes of Rapunzel, crazy cat people FTW!!

Yeah, not much point behind this, I'm pretty bored today.

STAY AWAY RAIN!!

And long division is now referred to as a bizarre dance routine, and I am going back to work now!

Love Zara

P.S. Someone please find the little authors, the comment they left spammed my email several times.

Crying my eyes out

Hi all

I've just finished reading Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare I have been crying my eyes out for the last centimeter and a half or so of the book.

It was beautiful and intense and sad and wonderful and amazing.

It's the last book in the series, and the end was incredibly well written.

In other news, I have a giant fly who wants to suck out my soul in my bedroom so I'm not going to be getting much sleep tonight. Unless one of the Avengers decides to stand guard *swoons*.

Night all
Nira out.

Nerd Confessions #Whatever We're Up To and Life

Hey hey

Wow it's been a long time since I typed that... Well Hey, I'm back

So in my list of nerd confessions...

#1. Sherlock.
I finished season 1 and 2. I am now desperately waiting for season 3.
No I don't ship romantic Johnlock, I'm sorry actually no I don't have to apologise, I don't ship it romantically I ship it platonically. Love the show so much, my friends from college got me into it and wow... so much fangirling.

#2. Supernatural.
Part way through season 1, frickin terrified if I watch it after dark...
It's amazing and I'm a Dean girl, I have a friend or two who prefer Sam but no, Dean. The plot is awesome, I love how at this stage you don't need to have watched the previous episodes to understand what's going on. The humor of the characters is amazing and I love how comfortable the actors are in their roles.

#3. Doctor Who.
Watched the new episode.
Wow, it was awesome, I've already watched it twice. Even though I enjoyed it, I did have one or two things I wasn't as happy with. One, the Wi-Fi? It wasn't even that scary it just ended up with me being annoyed with friends who kept saying they didn't know where they were... anyway. Two, The Doctor didn't travel to the 'tomorrow' at the end..... ARGH. But other than that... I loved it, I love the new outfit and I'm starting to like the new TARDIS...

#4. Tumblr.
I've joined the world of Tumblr.
All I am going to say about it is


The rest of my life is going well. College is good, made some nerdy friends who are awesome. Missing the rest of my girls.
Hope to see you all here on the blog again soon. <3

BYE
Enesti

HAPPY MISHAPOCALYPSE

Sorry Not Sorry.
-Rose

Nerdfighters and Doctor Who

Hello Again,

Appears we're tag-teaming with our blog posts. Thanks Ni and Rose for posting!!

I'm not going to talk about particular books/games/movies etc. I do enough of that on my other blog. But I am going to talk about some stuff.

So after we met Rosie she introduced me and possibly Enesti to the vlogbrothers. And now I quite happily watch their videos, that was fine. Until I got into the other video stuff they make. I now also watch CrashCourse, particularly the history ones but I'm taking chem at school so I'm going to start watching those ones, Brainscoop, because what isn't cool about a museum full of dead things, and The Lizzie Bennett Diaries, WHICH ARE FINISHED!!! I'm just going to sob in a corner for a bit now. But it's alright, there's going to be another adaptation soonish, not that I know what it is, this is what I get for watching these things on my iPod or phone, in video links do not work.

While I'm being nerdy and all that, WHO WATCHED DOCTOR WHO LAST NIGHT????? Was it not brilliant?? I really think I'm going to like this series. Of course the Doctor has a case for his bow tie, monks are not cool, sorry guys, and now as I'm using the wifi, I'm a little nervous. But, that's what makes a good episode. I'm going to confess that even though my dad and I are Whovians, we actually haven't seen the Christmas special. Now before you all get outraged and refuse to read what I post anymore, hear me out. I went to France this summer and so I wasn't here of Christmas, Dad wanted to  watch it with me so he hadn't seen it. We realised this yesterday and ran out of time to watch it, so I can only guess what we're doing tonight.

And now I am off to eat breakfast and re-read Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief!

Love Zara

Nerd Confessions #2

Howdy y'all.
Nira's last post inspired me. I think we should all follow suit and talk about nerdy things we recently got into.

My latest thing? Game of Thrones.

If you don't know, Game of Thrones is a series of books by George R. R. Martin. (What is up with high fantasy authors and having "R. R." as their middle initials?)

Anyway, the books take place in a fictional world with lots of kings and knights and castles and stuff. The story centers around a noble house called the Starks of Winterfell. Stark is their family name. Winterfell is the land they rule over. The plot sort of grows from three major places: power in the kingdom, this girl named Daenerys who is the banished princess of the kingdom, and dark, threatening creatures that live north of the Wall that separates the kingdom from the northern wilderness.
The action is both emotional, political, and physical. I like how it's very complex and nothing's black and white.
I've also been warned not to like any of the characters because they're all going to die. I guess that counts as a spoiler, but oh well. If my friends up here spoiled it for me, I guess I can spoil it for y'all.

But it's no use. I get very attached to characters. I also like it when characters die. I'm part way through the second book and I have a kill list of all the best characters.
Except one.
His name is Jon Snow. He's the bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell. And I most definitely do not have a crush on him.

The thing about Game of Thrones is that even though it has an interesting plot, there's lots of gratuitous sex and violence in there for no apparent reason. It's also super sexist and pretty much always shows women in a bad light. If a woman is ugly, there is no way for her to be feminine. If she's feminine, she's either a whore or weak or both. So I feel sort of bad for enjoying these books.

Something I find interesting is the historical parallels it draws. I recently read a book about the 14th century in Europe, and it talked a lot about politics and war. One thing I learned is that the peasants always got the worst of it: taxed into oblivion, pillaged, murdered, and raped, etc. And there is plenty of rape and pillage in GoT, but very little taxing. Also, the peasants rose up against their overlords every other decade. That hasn't happened so far. The books really hold true to the myth that the only important actors in a kingdom are the great nobles.

But I highly recommend that you read these books. Just remember to think critically about them. And maybe not discuss them with children under the age of 13.

Girls, Nira has started something. What sort of stuff have you gotten into recently that you didn't expect to?

Best Wishes,
Rose.