Share and share alike…

You’d think that science with its ethic of knowledge sharing would be more giving with its reseaources. But, no. Here I sit, a grad student with no funding of my own… that’s not to say that I haven’t tried… I’m trying to finish my dissertation, and get on with my life. All I need is a computer with a micrscope, and a program called Stereoinvestigator, and a couple of months to get the work done. You’d think that in a world class institution like Davis I would be able to find such a system. In fact, I have found many; however, they are all in use or simply not available to the likes of me. Every last one of them.

Anyway, not being able to complete my research is giving me the time to work on things like this blog, my radio show, my TA responsibilities, and other papers that I need to finish. I just know that I need to figure something out soon. This research needs to be completed before the end of the summer. I’ve go places to go!

Interesting science that I read recently in New Scientist magazine discussed the discovery of a separate class of T-cells in the immune system that may work to supress the immune system on a regular basis. It’s thought that when these cells go awry people are more likely to develop severe allergies and/or immune disorders. Additionally, it has been found that people raised near cows (able to come into close contact with them) during their youth are less likely to develop allergies as they age, and if they do the allergies are less severe than people raised in urban areas. Internal parasites are also thought to reduce the appearance of immune hyper-activity. This all seems to indicate that sensitization of the immune system is necessary to maintain the health of the regulator T-cells as people age. So, let your children eat dirt, forget about the anti-bacterial soaps. We need to get dirty to stay healthy.

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