Wow, Boleslav can eat!
We were all touched by the application of new science in the fight against blindness:
Besides the graphic surgical images which soured some faces, the lecture communicated the joy of using science to change individual lives. It is profound to me how the technical and seemingly impersonal discipline that is science can work to transform emotional and relational realms. Dr. Keith Martin even described some of his research that uses inkjet technology to “print” retinas out of cultured photoreceptor cells!
Now, for the moment we’ve all been waiting for… the one and only LIYSF olympics! I expected some decent competition between the blue and red teams (representing the two residences – Beit and Southside respectively) but the mob-like enthusiasm displayed from both sides was almost frightening:
We cheered the heck out of our vocal chords as a number of “warriors” representing each side faced off in a variety of trivial games. Notably was the wheelbarrow race:
One unfortunate individual suffered the loss of his track pants while scurrying his arms during the heat of this competition.
And the apple passing game…
… where the goal is to transport the fruit around a human circle using only the warriors’ necks, shoulders, and chins. A fumble sends the apple back to the start again. This bizarre sight was downright hilarious and unlike anything I’ve seen before.
Also, another challenge involved racing balloons across the gym one by one and tying them to a baggie – the first team to achieve liftoff wins!
And, of course, musical chairs. Despite lagging in the beginning, Beit residence made a movie-like comeback to break Southside’s five year winning spree and flood the gym with cheering. Okay, maybe it’s not as epic as I’m trying to make it sound, but there was real excitement in the air amid shouts of “we will, we will Beit you” or the voovoozella blasts from Southside.
Not content with that bit of activity, we assembled a small troop of 11 to go play soccer before the evening lecture. Among us were five Jamaicans (ooh, so fast), two English , two Brazilians (still recovering from the world cup), one Cyprian, and a pretty clumsy Canadian. I was thrilled to play with people from all around the world and see some sweet skills – totally worth my £4 ball!
Alas, we missed supper on account of our jolly good match and went straight to the lecture by Dr. Muffy Calder. Those of us who were awake in this lecture learned that we can model sensory biological pathways as parallel computer programs. For instance, if two receptors pick up different activators at the same time which lead to overlapping signals an analogy is drawn with two computer programs which operate at the same time and lead to conflicting results.
Hmm… kind of abstract, but the idea is that knowledge of parallel computer programming behavior can inspire new hypotheses about similar biological systems which, in turn, will help us understand the mechanisms behind diseases.
Nat, Charlotte, Emer, and Brody distract me as I try to blog in, yes, the most productive work environment:
Later on, we shared a glimpse of our communities using Google Earth on my laptop and the street view capability. This made me question why I’m living in Canada and not, say Brazil where there are monkeys and bananas in the backyard and white sand beaches! While we do have white snow and some Canadians would argue the existence of other “monkeys” in their neighborhoods, I’ve learned so much about the enormity of the world that exists outside of my personal sphere.
Etienne