Leven in Leuven - A late bloomer

I haven't posted for a long time. But once the madness of the highly changeable Belgian spring is over, posts will come back. For now, the first blue iris in the Groot Begijnhof, right outside my front door.

First Day of Spring...?

Seriously, the weather conditions here in this side of the Low Countries drive me mad at times...

Happy Spring Equinox, folks. (goes back to data processing)

Lusus Naturae - The Rise of the Homo Zapiens

From my tumblr.

Beware of the rise of the homo zapiens...!

Or should we?

The terminology "homo zapiens" was taken by yours truly from the weekly academic news alert I get from KU Leuven: "The trick to learning on the go? Keep it simple".  Because we've gone beyond Generations X & Y...it's Generation ZAP! with all the current electronic technobaubles nowadays--laptops, smartphones, tablet PCs, mp3 players, to name a few.  But coupled with these gadgets is the pull of going on a multimedia multitasking in terms of learning.

Now, the article talks about how "multitasking" nowadays is a myth, because our brains aren't built that way. Well, as Daniel Kahnemann discusses in his seminal book "Thinking, Fast and Slow", there are two modes of thinking--Systems 1 (fast) and 2 (slow).  Try to mix those modes and you're bound to trip over your proverbial shoelaces...not unless you do slow thinking (and learning) while doing something routine and repetitive (but not necessarily boring), like running.  Definitely not Facebook-ing, Tumblr-ing, Tweeting...or surreptitiously checking on my blog.

Leven in Leuven - Almost Spring

We're gaining back the days.

Dear Labby - Frying Pan or the Fire?

From Calvin & Hobbes by Bill Watterson.

Welcome to our weekly agony-column for confused (post)grad-students--Dear Labby!  This week's letter is about how we deal with curmudgeons-in-chief (i.e., your boss...es).

Dear Labby,
I think I'm losing my sanity bit by bit every time my two thesis advisers call me for a one-on-one meeting. Not only do they "highly" suggest that I do additional experiments, they contradict each other when it comes to my project planning! Prof. A wants me to jump, but Prof. B wants me to sit--just to illustrate my point, if you know what I mean. Hnnnnnngh! What am I to do??? 

Torn Between Two Mentors

Lusus Naturae - Persistent as the Common Cold

From GiantMicrobes. You'd want to cuddle up with a fluffy version of the cold bug you have right now.

This transitional time between late winter and early spring is one of the most miserable times in the year.  Not only is the view from the lab office window dreary (a literal 50 Shades of Grey, without the prurient lexicon)--the season is accompanied by a loud cacophony of sneezes.

Yes, it's the cold-and-flu season. And, despite the vaccine I got last November, I still got floored by the bug in mid-February. Whether it's the flu virus or the more pesky rhinovirus (a family of virus behind the bane called "the common cold"), I had no idea. Being a stubborn woman with a PhD-student-guilt, after spending one day at home, I forced myself to report to the lab the next day, with near-disastrous results (i.e., ending up sicker than the day before).

But one email alert caught my eye during that time--a very informative article discussing about the role and mechanism of rhinoviruses responsible for the common cold.  What made me smile is that the secret behind the speed of mutations for these bugs (hence their persistence in infecting us) is their inherent simplicity in structure.

We should be as persistent as the common cold when working for our goals, it seems.

Leven in Leuven - Dusk Silhouette

Exhale, and perhaps the sunset spell will break. Moments like this jolt me into realizing that I am in the Old World, after all.