Author Archives: cak247

A victim of psychology; a resolution in biology

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Cancer cancer cancer cancer
Why does no one have the answer?
Organoids organoids says Shiv
They can help us continue to live
We need antibodies to give
Organoids organoids and that in vitro culture
Those B cells producing antibodies ain’t gonna falter
Well maybe

What’s left to say?
The petri dishes
We rely on them so much
They give life to those stem things
Organizing into groups and rings
Where’s their identity?
Ah to help the world in this century
Well maybe

Well maybe not
The identity is dropped
But no one cares
We can do without
It’s special
It’s not special

Kind of like you no?
Special but not really?
If you’re a realist at least
Your identity is subsumed by the group identity
I mean let’s face it
Are there really any quasigroups out there

Organoid organoid
Sounds like groupoid
Or monoid
Centroid
Ellipsoid
Homoeoid
Algebroid
Paranoid
Longoid
Listoid

It’s hard to A-void
                    the-void
But it’s sometimes unavoidable
No
Don’t be a caterpillar in the wind
Like dandelions and roses
Ruining my PB&Jelly
Don’t drift along with the complacency of a human
In a sea of jelly
No I mean desert no I mean forrest no I mean space
Yes space

Get out of my space
But you deny property rights?
Was Nozick the first libertarian?
Of course!

But to minimize temporal law
What a minimization! No!
It must change, adapt, but always in accord with something higher
Distributive justice?
No! There is no transfer of justice! Justice is fixed
Only beholden by the mind’s eye
Says Augustine

But surely temporal law is just and in accordance with justice
And temporal law is like a foggy mist
It comes and lingers and then cease to exist
Ah so justice is subject to change
But no! Justice is an intelligible!

Augustine falls on his knees in agony
“That’s ok I’ll just write another book changing my views”
After all philosophy itself isn’t an intelligible, I mean how could it be?

Fill up your mind with knowledge!
Drain it like a sink and restart
This is philosophy, it comes and goes like waves

Cancer comes and goes in waves, no?
The peak is a resolution or a death
Maybe with organoids it can be a resolution
But with philosophy, it must always be death
For the only positive thing to say is death

the analogue of life in space and its potential tradeoffs

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Today we took a walk up to Fuertes and listened to a talk by Jack O’Malley-James. He talked at a high level about some techniques used for searching habitable planets and such. It made me think of a thought experiment during the talk. I figured it might be worth sharing in this post.

Here’s a thought experiment:

You haven’t been born yet, but you have two choices. You can be born and live a normal life, like you are living now. Or you can be born into a special program where you train for a mission to deep space. Here’s the mission. Let’s say there’s a new piece of technology that allows one to gather all kinds of data about exoplanets and such. In fact it also allows us to see exoplanets in way more accuracy than we can today. But in order for it to work, the tool has to be in interstellar space, that is outside the heliosphere or outside the range of the sun’s plasma. This is something crazy like 10^10 miles away. The tool also requires a human to operate. So the space agency is planning on sending a human into deep space and you’re one of the candidates who, if you choose, will be born and raised in this program as an astronaut. You’ll learn all the necessary cosmology, piloting, engineering, survival etc that you need to know in 18 years. And then you’ll leave. Now with current technology, it took Voyager 1 about 40 years to break the heliosphere (but it also had flybys with Jupiter etc). Let’s say we can cut that down to 30 years. So you’ll be in space for 30 years going out until you finally hit the heliosphere. Then, you’ll spend two years making observations. You’ll finally be able to confirm whether all those “goldilocks” planets harbor life. You’ll also be able to see all kinds of other cosmological things like earlier galaxies and star formation and whatever other cool astronomy stuff you can think of. Then after 2 years of making discoveries, you’ll turn around and head back to earth. If you make it back before dying of old age, you’ll land safely, at age 80. All of your communication with the space agency has been limited to the mission so you get to see how the earth has changed in the 62 years you were gone. You’re very wealthy now and you become retired. So you can spend the rest of your days doing whatever, and you go down in history as the greatest space explorer ever. Would you do it?

Ok there are some obvious modifications. Do any of the following affect your decision?

  • You’re given a partner to help with the mission, so you’re not alone the whole time
  • You’re guaranteed to survive till you get back to earth
  • There’s a cure for cancer….but you have to go out an extra 5 years to get it.
  • You’re the only human who can do this mission. So either you do it, or it’s never completed.
  • Something else?

I’d like to think I’d do it if it was for a cure for cancer, even though I’d probably not make it to 90 years old. But I’d also do it if I had the internet (but no news) in real time mainly so I could continue learning. Really the only thing I would care about accessing are books, articles, music, wikipedia, and the like. Yes I know having the internet would be impossible, but it’s a thought experiment so I can say whatever.

By the way, I’d like to think I came up with this all on my own, but I’m no doubt stitching/stealing together elements from the films Moon, Interstellar, the Martian and Alien – all of which have similar flavors or features in common with this scenario. If you haven’t seen any of them, no worries, they’re not really worth watching anyways…except Moon – definitely check that out if you ever get a chance. I think there are a number of interesting questions to be explored here. What does it really mean to be on earth? Can we distinguish that from say being in a spaceship (if it’s a large one like in Alien)? What would you really be sacrificing? I suspect most people’s immediate reaction will be “the people.” But I don’t know, that’s not a very satisfying answer. Another question here is should you really be thinking about yourself in this context where the potential to be gained is that for all of humanity and future generations (suppose for some reason you’re the only human who can do this mission)? 

there’s a nonempty intersection between “Before Night Falls” and surrealism but that doesn’t automatically mean it’s good

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Before Night Falls has a lot of potential as it strives to touch on themes largely ignored by most films. It plays many interesting and unique notes but I’m not sure it produces a melody. I’m going to focus on three things (I’ve-manipulated-their-names-so-there’s-an-alliteration:): plot, poetry, and path.

By plot I mean the sequence of events, i.e. what actually happens. I’m specifically interested in the dreaminess of many scenes. One prime example is the dream (?) Rey has of his mom as he’s in jail. It’s clear the creators are trying to get the effect of “viewer can’t tell what’s real from imaginary” which to be honest is usually a cool device and adds cerebralness to the film. Usually the flavor of this device is along the lines of “was the whole film actually just a dream” or “is the protagonist still in the dream” (Inception), but with Before Night Falls it’s more like every other scene could be a dream since you don’t really know why what’s happening is happening. For example here are some things that were super unclear to me when they happened:

  • Did Rey actually make it to Florida on the inner tube (yes eventually we get the answer)? Why did he immediately cut himself? Where did he go afterwards?
  • How does Rey meet Lazaro?
  • What really happens between Rey and Lt Victor?
  • How does Pepe suddenly show up out of nowhere with the propane? Why did the lock him in the cabinet, like what was their plan really? Leave him there indefinitely?
  • What happened to that manuscript Rey put in the roof? Did that really happen?

I know what everyone is going to say: the questions are supposed to be left unanswered, there’s supposed to be ambiguity, it adds to the film, etc. But I can’t help but feel someone took the film’s completed script (without any dream stuff) and then just arbitrarily poked holes in it to force it to feel more “artsy.”  It’s not the same as the ambiguity in say 2001: A Space Odyssey which has the effect of “hmm I wonder what this signifies?”; or in Un Chien Andalou which is the extreme of “is there value in absolute meaninglessness?”; in Before Night Falls, it’s more of “wait, what?” (and not as a good “wait what”, like “wait….whaaaat” where your jaw drops but more of just like a super crisp “wait what” and you’re just annoyed but again not the annoyance that makes you think deeply like in Un Chien Andalou, err this is hard to articulate without bringing easy criticism upon myself). I nonetheless applaud the film for doing something different. I’d much rather be quipping about it’s dream sequences than complaining that it never goes beyond a mainstream film’s comfort zone.

The second thing is poetry. Obviously Rey is a writer and a poet, so poetry is naturally incorporated into the film. I really appreciate the beginning and ending poetry, but I would’ve liked more throughout the film. We know that Rey is writing but we don’t really know what. I feel the film could have done more to explore the depth and content of Rey’s work. It does a good and interesting job connecting the motivation for writing with the Cuban politics at the time, but it does little beyond that (with regards to his writing). Similarly it does a good job connecting the problem of (literary) beauty for a dictatorship, but I wish it did more exploring what that actual beauty is or could be.

The third thing is path. In the beginning of the film Rey leaves to join the revolution. We see him jump in the back of the truck. Then the next scene is him coming out of a lecture, now totally disillusioned and critical of the revolution. I wish we could’ve seen this transformation. What actually happened during that time period? Did he form views about the government or was he just ostracized for his homosexuality or perhaps his writing or both? What then led him to attend university? We know at the end of the film that he has opinions on the difference between communism and capitalism but I wish it tracked that evolution more.

On Architecture

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Last Wednesday I went to the talk about architecture in Ithaca. It was a fascinating talk that brought up some points I hadn’t ever realized or thought about. Perhaps the most general and glaring point is all the development that’s currently going on around Ithaca. There are a ton of diverse projects. It’s a good reminder that there’s a lot more to Ithaca than just Cornell. One of the first project we talked about involved the new apartment on College ave. One point was brought up about the horrendous electrical wiring/power line management. I wonder if this is a problem elsewhere. It seems that the main concern is management and development. Since buildings have to be a certain distance from power lines, it makes it difficult to build taller buildings which fully utilize the lot space. I wonder what it would take to bury the power lines and if the main barrier to doing this is cost.

Anyways on the topic of architecture, here’s an interesting question: If you had to design your own house such that no house has ever existed like it before and you had unlimited space and resources, would you be able to do it? How would ensure your house’s uniqueness? I think this would be cool to do. I’m not sure exactly what I’d design but I like the idea of playing around with interior slopes, integrating groundwork/external natural elements within the interior (e.g. having like a full indoor forest with the unlimited space would be cool but you’d want something on a smaller scale and more manageable). It might also be interesting to play around with indoor decks/platforms/alcoves. I watched a ted talk a while back along these lines about designing houses made entirely out of bamboo. It’s worth checking out if you get a chance.

Another thing that was mentioned during the talk was the time it takes to get things approved by the city. In general there seems to be a disconnect between the city code and the architect/designers work. It was mentioned how hard it is to parse the specifications within the code for things like distinguishing between a cellar and a basement. It feels like architects themselves should have a more direct say in revising the law. Certainly you don’t want only architects designing the architecture law but there’s probably a way to strike a middle ground. After all there are good things about the policies, but there are also bad things. It’s just a matter of teasing out which is which.

What did Forrest say about Vietnam in DC? and other questions about Forrest Gump

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Growing up my family had a relatively small movie collection. We had a few classics on VHS including the original Star Wars trilogy, Singin’ in the Rain, the Wizard of Oz, and incidentally Forrest Gump. I got around to watching most of all the good movies we had but Forrest Gump got left out, and so Friday I had the pleasure of experiencing the narrative for the first time.

One question raised by the film is: would you rather live as Forrest Gump with a low IQ and his mental handicap, yet experience all that he was able to, or would you rather live an uncertain life but be able to fully appreciate and understand all that’s happening around you (let’s say you’re guaranteed a high IQ and perhaps then a great amount of life wisdom)? The response from the film seems to be that at the very least there isn’t a big distinction here, or perhaps Gump’s life is lived more fully despite his mental shortcomings. One of the most spectacular elements is that Gump seems to have a tremendous amount of wisdom for someone of his IQ, and it seems all too believable. Nonetheless, I don’t think the film drives this point too hard – there’s still plenty of ambiguity around it. I mean I think it’s clear the film isn’t pushing for a completely laid back/apathetic lifestyle, but in a way it sort of is. Regardless, there’s plenty of thematic richness to unpack. And it just so happens to be tied up in a masterfully narrated biopic. Tom Hanks performance is undoubtedly among the best of any movie ever – certainly comparable to that of Robert De Niro’s Rain Man, Russell Crowe’s John Nash, Eddie Redmayne’s Stephen Hawking, and Marlon Brando’s Godfather. Even the special effects are unique and impressive. Here are some questions to think about

  1. What did Forrest say about Vietnam in DC? Why was it silenced?
  2. Why did Jenny leave Forrest and not tell him about their child until after she was diagnosed with a disease?
  3. What was in the note left by Little Forrest to his mother’s grave?
  4. Will Little Forrest ever be able to live up to his father’s legacy/have a life like his father’s?

If you could build a new tunnel on Cornell’s campus where would you build it?

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On Wednesday, Professor Blalock showed a group of students around the tunnel connecting Rose and Becker. It was interesting to see a new part of campus. Students know about the tunnels connecting Olin and Uris, Life Sciences and Plant Sciences, and of course Ezra’s tunnel. But I think less are aware of the West campus tunnels (there’s also a tunnel connecting Bethe and Keeton). I wonder why it’s so interesting to explore tunnels and learn about them. In our case, it’s not really like they have much practical value for the students, and yet it still seems like something worth knowing.

Anyways, one of the things I thought about was, “if there could be a new tunnel on campus accessible to students, where should it be built?” A couple ones I’ve thought about are: tunnel system connecting north campus buildings to Appel/RPCC/Helen Newman, Olin & Willard Straight & Uris, Goldwin Smith & Rockefeller, Rockefeller & Malott, Mann & Human Ecology, Uris & Statler, Statler & ILR, Johnson & Statler… It would also be cool to have a tunnel that goes under Libe slope and has an elevator connected to Uris. You could have the entrance built into the slope across from Baker flagpole. Probably the most radical idea I’ve had is a suspension tunnel running from Helen Newman over Beebe lake to the Human Ecology building. It would make the commute from North to the Ag quad so much better.

I’m not sure it’s entirely infeasible to have new tunnels built. And it would be really cool if the school started investing in building more. After all a number of schools have tunnels for students. Just after a bit of googling I found that the schools with them include Penn State, University of Michigan, University at Albany, MIT, Wright State University, University of Chicago,  Columbia, and University of Rochester. If they can have them why not us?

Chili fest and people’s food preferences

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I went to Downtown Ithaca’s Chili Cook-off today and it made me think about the name “chili”. My first thought was that it’s a variant of “chilly” or being cold since people like to eat hot food when the weather is colder. But “chili” is also an alternative spelling of “chile” which also makes sense as a name since often chili will have chile pepper/seasoning in it. But on the former but, why is it even the case that people have this preference for eating hot foods when its cold and cold foods when its hot. I get the practical concerns, like it would be pretty hard to drink a frozen beverage outside when it’s below freezing. And the origin of the tendency is pretty clear – it was only until relatively recently that people could sufficiently regulate the temperature around them. But still it seems artificial to eat stews mainly during the winter and ice cream mainly during the summer. I guess the question I’m getting at here is to what extent do cultural/social norms influence our food preferences vs legitimate practical/individual concerns. For some reason, I have the inclination it’s more of the former. But regardless Ithaca’s chili is pretty diverse and interesting. Although I will say at the cook off I didn’t see any white chili, chili dogs, or chili fries which was surprising. Also there seemed to be less people than at the Apple Festival, although perhaps that’s because of the colder weather.

The Super Bowl and Star Wars

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This week I went to the Super Bowl event.

It’s interesting how the Super Bowl seems like the only American television broadcast where commercials are appreciated. Usually, commercials are a necessary evil getting in the way of what you actually want to see, but necessary for funding purposes. But during the Super Bowl this isn’t the case usually. The commercials are very much a part of the entertainment. My first thought here is that the Super Bowl attracts a diverse crowd of viewers including many non-football fans.So the commercials provide a reason for people to stay and watch the whole game. The other thing to keep in mind is that a 30 second ad costs ~$7 million so it makes sense for the advertising companies to put extra care into making the highest quality ads possible, especially knowing that they’re paying a lot and that half America will be watching.

The thing I was most anticipating though was the teaser trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story. Really it was a trailer for trailer – the full length preview is set to be released tomorrow. Disney’s marketing is really quite brilliant – it’s almost like meta-advertising. Just off the teaser, I’m looking forward to it. I’m interested to see what the speeder chase is about (I bet that’ll be the opening scene of the film) and another thing people don’t seem to be talking about: the double moon/sun at 0:22/0:23. The latter scene is interesting because it could be evidence of where Solo travels with the Millennium Falcon in the film. After all, we’ve scene the binary suns on Tatooine and the double moons (less obviously) on Canto Bight.