The question today, posed to me by one of the grad students upstairs as i was commenting on the efficacy of their speedvac (basically, a centrifuge over which is drawn a vacuum, basically dehydrating samples as they're being spun) 'Is dehydration the same as lyophilization?' Short answer, it's freeze-drying.
There's been a lot of hype about the current movie re-make of The Great Gatsby. The producer is Baz Luhrman, who also did Moulin Rouge and the (okay, our) dorm room staple Romeo + Juliet (which, to this day, is quite possibly the only chick flick through which i will gladly sit. And quote. The. Entire. Thing.) Anyway, i HATED having to read Gatsby in high school. Gosh. But it's going to be gorgeous.
This previous weekend, the Greek Orthodox Church celebrated Easter. There was some question during dinner the other night as to why the Roman Catholic Church and Greek Orthodox do not celebrate these at the same time; the churches follow different calendars. This is actually super complicated. Roman Catholicism follows the Gregorian calendar (a year being 365 days with one intercalary day every 4 years), with the date of Easter (computus paschalis) being the first Sunday following the first full moon after the Spring Equinox (between March 21-23), as set forth by the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD. The Greek Orthodox Church relies on the Julian calendar, which holds the Spring Equinox to be around April 3rd. Some years, these dates align. Some years, not so much.
Another interesting thing i learned last week was the difference between a binder clip and something called a bulldog clip; the bulldog clip has little plates between the metal 'spring' and papers. The names are apparently used interchangeably in the UK. i was looking up protein gel protocols online, and tripped over the term.
Finally, the Kentucky Derby was last weekend. It was my friend Bryan's birthday, and as he's Kentuckian, he invited us all over for the Derby, pie, and some fantastic fried chicken. At the end of this night, we were all sitting around watching youtube movies, and Bryan suggested a series of clips in which a guy riding a buffalo (clipped from a longer movie), has adventures, narrated by a bluegrass-esque band. These are pretty fantastic. No, seriously.
...and then there's seapunk?!
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