DNAGeek: A place for generic geekery.

Gather around children, and hear yet another epic tale. Saturday afternoon, on my way home from Starbucks. I have a delicious beverage in my hand as I get out of my car. I notice on my fence is a male common Florida lizard. He’s doing the head bob and the neck sac extension at me. I’m bored, and could use some fun; so I get out of my car and give the lizard a go about the attitude he’s giving me. “Back off lizard, you don’t know what trouble you’re dealing with; I don’t want to start anything, but I’ll end anything you want to start”. As I say this, a younger couple are walking down the road in front of my house and approach the man they see yelling at his fence.
At this point I have two choices; one keep playing it as if I’m having a rough go with this lizard gone rogue. The other is to say, “I’m really not nuts… please don’t judge”. Of course, I keep it going….
I explain the issue and the female laughs and plays along as the male started to ease back slowly, scared shitless. She explains to the lizard how I just got home, and want to go inside and to leave me alone… I get in the lizards face, who remains stoic on my fence showing his sac (LOL) to me. After 5-10 minutes of the confrontation I decide to be the bigger man and backoff… the lizard didn’t win, I chose to end it there. I was in no mood to fight and he obviously was just showing off…
As I’m going to my front door, a spot of mud was cleverly hidden by the lawn guy. It took one step and my footing goes out from under me I fall down to my knees with my beautiful.. delicious mocha flowing all over my driveway. The couple that was enjoying the show turned to see me on the ground covered in dirt and mocha, I then turn to the lizard and scream “STOP LAUGHING AT ME, YOU JERK!” and I slam my door…. as I sat on my couch, battered, beaten and bloody… I look out the window and my spirit is destroyed even more to find the couple standing in front of my house, still laughing. I have become the bitch of the neighborhood for all lizards…

NASA is one of America’s greatest programs in the 235 years the country has been in existence. With the last two shuttle launches coming up before the doors officially close, I feel we are losing out on resources that are still horribly needed. The space program could make advances in the private sector, faster and more accessible to the public then when funded by the government. Yet shutting down our top branch of exploration and scientific advancement for the last 50+ years is a scary thought.

America has become complacent with American elitism the past few decades, so it seems we’re not progressing but resting on our laurels. Which will do nothing but allow other countries to surpass us, when we could be leading the push for budding technologies as we have been doing.

NASA’s 2008 budget of $17.318 billion represents about 0.6% of the $2.9 trillion US Federal Budget.
Which in my opinion is a tragedy, but it is what it is. We have expensive equipment, laboratories, working relationships, and some of the greatest minds in the country all working for NASA currently. Why are we shutting these people out? What if we helped fund the private market space travel and exploration by having government support of 30% of the current NASA budget ( 5.195 billion). Which will be given to help fund businesses; which will in the long run help space exploration exponentially more than it remaining under the government’s domain.

The remaining budget will be used to fund new research done at current NASA facilities. Energy production research NEEDS to be accelerated.  Not because it’s ‘Green’; and not because ‘energy’ is this decade’s favorite new shiny thing. But because our current source of energy are HIGHLY inefficient and reliant on a finite resource.

Imagine running your house, vehicle, manufacturing plant etc. COMPLETELY on…. Nothing. Electrolysis, simply put, runs an electrical charge through water and breaking the molecular bonds into separate hydrogen and oxygen atoms. Hydrogen is currently being used as a source for energy. As hydrogen is an element, it occurs naturally. In fact it is in the air you breath. Therefore it can be separated from the air and used to power anything that currently uses fossil fuels or nuclear generated electricity. Or seperated form water to create energy.

America needs to push to have OUR money put back into science. Otherwise 17+billion dollars will be lost somewhere between us, and the politicians pockets.

Welcome! My name is Michael Holden. I’m a Biology Student from Florida, working towards a BS in Biology. Then off to a Masters in Molecular Biology!

This blog won’t be complete biological and genetic geekery. Although a lot of it will be. It will also be my own ramblings as well as findings of my own personal research. I will be setting up an RSS Feed pretty soon, so keep checking in until then