Author Archives: Sriya Sunil

Astrobiology and Food Science

Posted on by

Astrobiology is not something that I was very familiar with, so I found the talk by Dr. Jack O’Malley-James to be very novel and insightful. Most of what I’ve ‘encountered’ about the intersection of biology and astronomy is science-fiction books and movies in pop culture (So, not incredibly realistic stuff). While it is fun to let your imagination go wild and think about all kinds of scenarios, it was very fascinating to listen to the perspective of a researcher on the possibility extra-terrestrial life and the implications of potential findings on Earth/life on Earth. As a food science major, I imagined that there was not much during the talk that I could relate to my major. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the talk about microbes and biosignatures (Two things that have come up in my food science classes).

As was discussed in the talk, the chances are that if we do find ‘life’ on another planet, its most likely going to be in the form of single-cellular organisms. Mostly because, when we observe the evolution of life on Earth, microbes were the dominant form of life for most of history. They’re incredibly diverse, and it’s possible to find many of them with abilities to withstand conditions that are perceived as extreme like adverse pH conditions, high salinity levels, low/high temperatures and low oxygen conditions. Therefore, it is likely that if we do find any form of life on space, it would be something as hardy as microbes. This reminded me of something I had learnt about in my food microbiology class. While it’s not something directly related to space, its an example of the resilience of certain types of bacteria. It was found that cheese washed with brine made with sea salt had microbial communities of bacteria on the rink that were almost exclusively found deep in the ocean. The bacteria, present on the sea salt, were able to survive desiccation and continue to reproduce once they were re-hydrated in the brine.

As for biosignatures, the talk reminded me about something that my food chemistry professor has spoken about. Most of the amino acids present in living organisms are almost always present as L-forms, rather than D-forms (The L or D forms refer the structure of the amino acid). When an amino acid is synthesized in a lab however, the result is a 50/50 mixture of L-forms and D-forms of a single amino acid. While this may seem like a trivial fact, this quirk could be used to search for the presence of extra-terrestrial organisms. An example of this is the study of meteors for the presence of organic compounds. The basis of this thought is: if there is a meteor where there is a greater amount of the D-form of an amino acids, when compared to the L-form, it could be perceived as an indicator about the existence of life outside Earth (Since amino acids made by living organisms on Earth are almost always in the L-form). An famous example was the Murchison meteor. Although it did contain amino acids, it contained it in a 50/50 mixture of both forms of various amino acids, which indicates that it was formed as a result of a chemical reaction rather than synthesized within an organism.

Overall, I found talk very interesting. It was fun to draw little parallels from the talk, with things that I had learned in my food science class. The talk was a great introduction to the vast field of astrobiology. Microbes and biosignatures were just two things among many other aspects of the field that were discussed.

RW 1101: Introduction to Resume Writing

Posted on by

Applications, for anything from jobs to even some extracurricular activities, are stressful. For me, the most straightforward part of the application is the resume. Unlike essays or personal statements, it usually isn’t open to subjective interpretations. It also isn’t as impromptu as interviews tend to be, regardless of how much preparation went into the answers. For these reasons, crafting a good resume would be incredibly helpful and would possibly reduce any anxiety during an application process. During the workshop, Seema spoke about different ways to structure and write resumes. Here are some of the points we discussed:

We discussed the importance of tailoring your resume to fit a particular need. Some ways to do this would be to alter the structure. When applying for a research position in a lab, it would be useful to highlight any prior research projects or papers. This could be done by adding a section about past research experience near the top of your resume, or by making it the most detailed section.

When writing a resume, it is also important to remember that the evaluator may just read it for a very short amount of time. We had an activity where we attempted to read someone else’s resume in 15 seconds or so. This highlighted the importance of considering time constraints of the evaluator, and ensuring that your resume is clear and concise. To make a resume easy to read, a few things to avoid would be excessive amounts of writing, unusual styles of fonts and unusual structuring (Having the content split into two columns of writing).

At the end of the workshop, I came to the conclusion that my resume needs a lot of work. Something that came up at the beginning was that you could always work on your resume, to tweak and improve it. The workshop provided a lot of tips and ideas on formatting resumes that I’m likely to use in the future.

Self-Preservation

Posted on by

Warning: Spoilers

 What Happened to Monday is definitely an interesting movie. The story’s about a dystopian country/region that aims to address the concern of over-population (And supposedly, dwindling resources) by enforcing rules regarding family sizes and ‘cryo-freezing’ any individual who is an extra addition to the prescribed family size. Usually, this would by every child in a family, except the oldest one. The movie followed a septuplet and their fight against the government/Child Allocation Bureau. The movie had lots of different elements and themes, but the one that stood out to me was that of self-preservation.

To a certain extent, all of the seven sisters were guided by a notion of self-preservation. There are multiple examples. The most obvious was Thursday, who complained about the lack of independence and voiced her displeasure about their lives. If I had to guess, I would have definitely assumed that Thursday was the character that was most likely to sell-out her sisters, or cause some other problem.

Another example was Monday, the antagonist. While on the surface, she appeared to be the one most dedicated, she was very untrustworthy and rather malicious. Visually, she embodied Karen Settman, the identity that the sisters adopted to survive. However, she was probably the most opposed to Karen Settman/the shared identity. Due to certain circumstances, Monday hatched a plan to get rid of her sisters, so that she could live her life without any compromises (Another instance of self-preservation).

Apart from these two examples, there are many other instances of self-preservation, ranging from trivial (Like Thursday’s complaints and arguments) to more significant events (Like Monday’s betrayal). Overall, I think the reason that these instances of self-preservation were evident was due to the context of a movie. In a society such as the one portrayed, utilitarianism is a valued principle. This context made the actions that portrayed self-preservation (And agency) striking.

Writing

Posted on by

Last Thursday, I attended a seminar about writing with Magdala, Sara and Sam. I was interested in this event, because of large amount of writing that is required in college. Apart from exams, essays and reports are probably the tool most used to evaluate student performance in a class. Personally, I sometimes find written assignments challenging. It may be because of the topic, or the length required for the assignment. Regardless, I felt that it would be interesting to hear how other people approach their writing or written assignments.

Something that stood out to me was that the purpose of any written assignment is to put across a point, regardless of whether is was a lab report or an essay about a book. While this seems intuitive, it was something that I had not actively thought of before. Sometimes, while planning or writing a long essay, I feel like I tend to think of ways that I could increase the size of the paper (By adding more examples or writing in-depth explanations). Additionally, if I have a rubric to consult, my essay becomes more a “checklist” that discusses points in the rubric. If I think back to assignments that I had written, I feel like any arguments or discussions would have been more convincing if I had maintained focus or connected the sub points back to my main point(s).

Another thing was to find the time of day and place where you write the best or are more comfortable writing. Personally, I like writing in my room because it’s quiet. Also, I tend to do most of my writing in the afternoon and evening, after classes. A popular place discussed for writing was places with ambient noise, like coffee shops or certain parts of a library. Overall, I feel like this is something that varies from individual to individual. While I see the benefits of writing/studying in a coffee shop, I feel like I would likely get distracted so I tend to stick to my room or the quiet parts of a library.
Overall, the event was very engaging. It was interesting to listen to different viewpoints and experiences with writing. It’ll definitely be useful for my next essay or lab report.

West Campus

Posted on by

Although I’ve lived on West for over a year, there is not much that I really knew about it. During the Rose Café, Professor Blalock provided a lot of information about the history of Cornell and West Campus. In particular, I found the early history of West Campus very interesting.

West Campus was initially envisioned to be a ‘terrace’ that overlooked Cayuga Lake. The original plan included a large number of buildings, to form a sizable community for students who lived on campus. The first building to be constructed on West was Founders, in 1914. Unfortunately, the plan was abandoned after the construction of the dorms that we now refer to as the gothics. Although subtle, the early intention for West is visible in the placement of the gothics. They form an incomplete ‘ring’ that stretches from Boldt (Near Cook) to McFaddin (Near Bethe). There were also other buildings called U-Halls, but they were later demolished to make space for newer dorms that could house more people.

The new dorms on West were built from 2004 to 2008. Cook House was the first to be built, while Rose House was the last. An interesting fact about these houses was that they were named after remarkable members of Cornell’s faculty. Additionally, there are underground tunnels connecting some of them to each other. With the construction of these new houses, West also got five new dining halls. Prior to this, there was a single, large dining hall called Jansen’s approximately where Bethe House is located (The dining hall in Bethe is still called Jansen’s, while other four are named after the houses they’re in).

Overall, it was fascinating to learn about the history of West campus. Specifically, how most significant decisions in its construction and development left subtle marks (Like the arrangement of the gothics). It will be interesting to see how West changes in the future, in terms of adding more houses or renovating the current infrastructure.

Chili Weather

Posted on by

Some foods just taste better depending on the weather. For example, while smoothies are great all year round, they are arguably much better in the summer. Likewise, I strongly agree that warm soup tastes the best in the fall and winter (Maybe spring, depending on the temperature). On the day of the Chili Cook-Off, I was a bit worried about the forecast of rain and the low temperature. In preparation, I had bundled myself to the extent that the motility of my arms was severely restricted by the many layers of cloth. However, after getting a chance to try the chili, I was convinced that the weather added to the experience rather than detracting from it.

This was my first experience with chili, and I was pleasantly surprised by the different kinds that I got to try. In total, I tried five different types of chili and each of them had a distinctive flavour. For this very reason, I can’t point out my favourites. For example, the Cayuga Medical Centre chili had a very generous distribution of meat, which would be great for days when I have a larger appetite. On the other hand, the maple chili at Moosewood would be great if I was looking for a lighter dish for lunch or dinner. The other chilis that I tried were the ones made by: Cornell Catering, Ithaca Bakery and Greenstar.

Another aspect that I appreciated was the versatility of chili and it’s sides/pairings. Greenstar’s chili had an interesting smoky flavour, which added to the experience of eating warm food on a cold day. The chili that I got from Ithaca Bakery came with a cube of toasted bread. The ‘crunch’ contrasted the fairly stew-like texture of the chili. Additionally, it was reminiscent of dipping toast in soup, which is something that I’m very fond of. Another interesting topping was that of the fried onions on the chili made by Cornell Catering. Again, it added great texture to the dish. I also enjoyed its sweet flavour, which contrasted the rich chili.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this experience. I got to taste very good food, and did not count the minutes left to getting back indoors, as I usually do during winter. Also, chili is deceivingly filling. I’ll keep this in mind for the Chili Cook-Off next year!

Sports Totems

Posted on by

During the trivia session about the Super Bowl, I encountered an interesting question “Why do Eagles fans wear dog masks?” Since I had not been following any of the previous matches, this took me by surprise. On further research, I found a Washington Post about the masks. It turns out that the masks were a reference to the Eagles’ position as an underdog in the competition. This was so widespread; that the original retailer ran out of German Shepard masks, 230 of them, overnight. This is an example of ‘sports totems’, symbols that act as markers of identity. This could be from something as symbol as painting your face in the colours of your team, to something specified like the dog masks.

While the dog masks were used to express a certain thought, these identifiers can sometimes be arbitrary. The article also discussed a few other ‘sports totems’. One example of this is the rally monkey, a symbol for the Los Angeles Angels that originated during a home game against the Giants. In 2000, the board operators played a clip of the monkey from Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, to great success. When the Angels were down in the ninth innings, they played the clip again with the words “Rally Monkey” superimposed on the clip. The game ended with a win for the Angels, making the rally monkey an enduring symbol for the team.

Other examples include the ‘Rat Trick’, where Florida Panthers fans throw plastic rats onto the ice before a hockey match. This tradition originated in 1996, and has been repeated a few times after. Another example is the Boston Red Sox theme song, “Sweet Caroline”. Overall, it was interesting to find out about sports traditions. It will be interesting to see whether the Eagles fans continue to wear dog masks for the next football season; can they be called underdogs anymore?