A tightly-packed ball of childhood holiday nostalgia just for you…

(more…)

You know you are within sight of the French border when…

If rum and eggnog do not work fast enough to reach that coveted state of christmas-enjoying numbness, try chewing on fresh pine needles.
If all else fails, hit your head repeatedly on a corner of the fireplace on that spot right between the eyes until vision starts to blur.

Don’t thank me.

22nd, 3pm: got all my damn xmas presents
22nd, 3:20pm: hot chocolate and good byes with S.
22nd, 4pm: walking to the station
23rd, 10am: sitting on my bed in a t-shirt, windows wide-open

Nordine, commenting by IM on Mr. Sarkozy’s new glossy romance:

See, there is hope for you: this just goes to show that one can be short, arrogant and, yet, go out with a top-model.

Protein 1: Cytochrome P450-Terp (412 residues)
Protein 2: Cytochrome P450 (Bm-3) (E.C. 1.14.14.1) (457 residues)
Iteration #4: RMSD_c=3.36383

My first α-carbon-based protein alignment!

I’ve got a lump in my throat…

Chopin makes for an uncannily perfect, if not overly original, soundtrack to a quiet evening of sub-freezing outdoor temperatures.

… nothing beats snuggling in front of a fireplace (after paying a visit to an exhibit of very naughty things indeed at the French National Library).

How can xkcd always be so spot-on?

It’s irritating.

Having the opportunity to pick a class slightly outside of my main curriculum, I signed-up for an eight-week pluridisciplinary session on bioinformatics in genetics. I had my first lecture on Friday.

What I’ve learned so far:

1. This particular area of bioinfo (applying advanced AI algorithms to genetic research) is absolutely fascinating. With its mixing of cutting-edge results in biology, mathematics, physics and AI, it’s tough not being sucked in by the way they all combine into truly sci-fiesque results.
2. About 3 month away from graduating into a field I have planned to pursue my researches in, I am suddenly starting to wonder about a switch in research paths. Yes: yet another existential academic crisis. Just what I needed now.
3. During the introductory part on gene decoding patterns, when asked about information entropy in gene sequences, the lecturer: “Oh, it varies a lot between life forms. Viruses, for instance, have an extremely lowhigh entropy: lots of genes are coded using both directions of the helix”.
4. What this means in layman’s term: viruses’ use compression in their genetic code… Yes, your flu virus may come in its own zip archive, just like your e-mail viruses!
5. “Viruses are amazing things”, she concluded with an earnest look of admiration on her face (maniacal laughter did not follow, however).
6. Yes, there is something ever so slightly chilling about hearing a respected biotech researcher uttering such phrases.
7. I think I want to go into bioinformatics.
8. Viruses are, like, totally cool.