Thanks for the insights. The problem is I'm not sure exactly what I'll be going into. That's why I picked schools that are strong in CS, mol bio, and have good associations with clinical environments as well. One of my biggest concerns is the Celera kind of problem you mentioned. I'm definitely scoping out these schools to ensure that there are more than a few faculty I could work with. Thanks again.
I would be ULTRA surprised if this was not due to contamination at any of many potential stages, most likely from the lab/lab workers themselves. The instant a crystal is recovered, moved, opened, etc, it's exposed to "fresh" environmental bacteria. Bacteria, including spore-formers like Bacillus that are resistant to just about every natural environmental condition, are ubiquitous. I don't buy that these bacteria are this old; I would need more proof than, "hey, look, we found bacteria in this crystal!". NO kidding.
And why should they give any of it away anyway? They're certainly paying millions and millions of dollars for it. The fact that they're giving away the fruit fly genome is a respectable offer to the scientific community.
Cool technology...but how good is it actually
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Minolta 3D Camera
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This looks like really cool stuff. I'm just curious as to how well it actually turns out, and how useful is this technology. Is there any really worthwhile endeavors (besides recreation), that this would apply to directly, like in a research or lab setting?
True enough. I guess we'll have to just wait and see how things turn out for China in this mission. Maybe their technology will turn out to be quality work.
My money would still have to be on the US here. China is using old Soyuz technology that still isn't even up to western standards of safety for manned space travel. China still does not have the economic, scientific, or technological resources to mount a truly effective space campaign. Introverted or not, the US is still worlds ahead in the "space race". This could be good motivation for NASA to get stuff together though.
I think the US government does indeed have a lot of blemishes and black marks on the record; I'm suspicious of all governments to be quite honest. However, given China's track record and human rights debacle of a history, it seems almost a sure bet that there won't be much to stop them from doing whatever it takes to put a man into space, including the blatant sacrifice of Chinese astronauts.
I think it's great that other countries are getting involved in the advancement of the space race. However, one thing bothers me: western experts say the Shenzou missions tests were successful, but not up to western standards of safety for a manned mission. Is China willing to throw lives away just for prestige and pride? You bet. It seems necessary to ask just how many men China will kill for the sake of national pride or whatever "communal utopian" goal they have in mind.
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Thanks for the insights. The problem is I'm not sure exactly what I'll be going into. That's why I picked schools that are strong in CS, mol bio, and have good associations with clinical environments as well. One of my biggest concerns is the Celera kind of problem you mentioned. I'm definitely scoping out these schools to ensure that there are more than a few faculty I could work with. Thanks again.
I would be ULTRA surprised if this was not due to contamination at any of many potential stages, most likely from the lab/lab workers themselves. The instant a crystal is recovered, moved, opened, etc, it's exposed to "fresh" environmental bacteria. Bacteria, including spore-formers like Bacillus that are resistant to just about every natural environmental condition, are ubiquitous. I don't buy that these bacteria are this old; I would need more proof than, "hey, look, we found bacteria in this crystal!". NO kidding.
And why should they give any of it away anyway? They're certainly paying millions and millions of dollars for it. The fact that they're giving away the fruit fly genome is a respectable offer to the scientific community.
This looks like really cool stuff. I'm just curious as to how well it actually turns out, and how useful is this technology. Is there any really worthwhile endeavors (besides recreation), that this would apply to directly, like in a research or lab setting?
True enough. I guess we'll have to just wait and see how things turn out for China in this mission. Maybe their technology will turn out to be quality work.
My money would still have to be on the US here. China is using old Soyuz technology that still isn't even up to western standards of safety for manned space travel. China still does not have the economic, scientific, or technological resources to mount a truly effective space campaign. Introverted or not, the US is still worlds ahead in the "space race". This could be good motivation for NASA to get stuff together though.
I think the US government does indeed have a lot of blemishes and black marks on the record; I'm suspicious of all governments to be quite honest. However, given China's track record and human rights debacle of a history, it seems almost a sure bet that there won't be much to stop them from doing whatever it takes to put a man into space, including the blatant sacrifice of Chinese astronauts.
I think it's great that other countries are getting involved in the advancement of the space race. However, one thing bothers me: western experts say the Shenzou missions tests were successful, but not up to western standards of safety for a manned mission. Is China willing to throw lives away just for prestige and pride? You bet. It seems necessary to ask just how many men China will kill for the sake of national pride or whatever "communal utopian" goal they have in mind.