Ada Lovelace day

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Ada Lovelace, Analytical Engine, Augusta Ada Byron, computers, engineering, Lord Byron, maths, programming, quotes, science, technology, women in science

Many may not know her name but Ada Lovelace (Augusta Ada Byron)  wrote what is considered to be the worlds very first computer program. The algorithm was written in 1842 and in 1953, over a 100 years after her death, Ada’s notes on Babbage’s Analytical Engine were republished, recognizing her notes as a description of a computer and software.

She refereed to herself as a poetical scientist and an Analyst & Metapysician, and considering that she is the only legitimate child  of the famous poet Lord Byron that doesn’t seem quite so odd. However her love for maths grew out of her mothers attempt to keep her daughter away from developing what her mother, Anne Isabelle Byron, called her fathers insanity.

But no matter how hard her mother tried, nor how much she excelled at all things in mathematics she still remained attached to her father, even though he left her and her mother shortly after her birth and died when she was only eight years old.  She was even buried next to him in 1852 upon her request.

Ada died young, at the age of 36 (10.12.1815-27.11.1852) from cancer, but her achievements were great and to honour her today is her day:  the Ada Lovelace day!

Founded by journalist Suw Charman-Anderson this day aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and maths by encouraging people around the world to talk about the women whose work they admire and to be inspired by their success.

The Analytical Engine weaves algebraic patterns, just as the Jacquard loom weaves flowers and leaves. – Ada Lovelace

after-hours mutant

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after-hours mutant, Fbxl3, genetics, late night owl, late nights, miscellaneous, random, science, sleep, thoughts

It’s way past my bedtime but I am still in the throws of preparing classes, organising notes and doing some filing while I am at it. Now this may seem excessive to some but I am a night owl and enjoy the past midnight hours, the quite of the night, the dark skies filled with dancing stars or eerie clouds and my mind free to run wild.

Sadly I can’t often give in to my witching hour desires because convention demands a daytime working schedule. But every now and then I willingly pay the price of lack of sleep to let my nightly surge of energy out.

What I didn’t know till quite recently is that 50% of this nighttime urge of mine could be down to genetics. A study from 2007 by the Mammalian Genetics Unit in Harwell, Oxfordshire, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge and the New York University School of Medicine, USA found that in some cases there is a mutation on the gene Fbxl3, which is linked to the circadian cycle (24hours), and this mutation allows the carriers to have a cycle of about 27hours opposed to the standard 24hours. The scientists named this abnormality aptly the “after-hours mutant” and somehow it makes me think of the X-Men.

So while I sadly do not have the ability to read thoughts, move objects with my mind, change my appearance to match the wall-paper nor can I fly run very fast or turn things into ice or fire, but I do seem to tolerate late nights extremely well.

Further research into night owls and early morning larks has shown mixed result but it does tickle my ego a little to know that on average the nightly mutant tends to be more intelligent and creative, even though the larks get better grades and are more successful in their chosen careers.

With that in mind I better get back to clearing my desk as I do have to get up tomorrow and teach all day, which I can do on little sleep but find hard to do on none at all.

Somewhere here mine could look a little funny

So You Are A ‘Nightowl’? The After-Hours Gene Might Be The Reason Why

coming comet

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Apophis, Armageddon, Astronomers, Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, miscellaneous, nature, random, science, thoughts

Ever seen “Armageddon“, that action si-fi staring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck. In it a team of big burly oil rig workers go up into space to drill through and blow up an asteroid crashing down towards earth. Of course Bruce saves the world in good old Willis style, a firework of meteoric rock filling the sky. Interestingly enough this scenario may not be too far off reality.

The other night I was flicking the channels and stumbled upon a science show talking about the asteroid Apophis. The first time I heard about this hunk of rock and gas was in 2004. Astronomers had calculated that this near earth asteroid could possible enter our atmosphere in 2029 and collide with earth, but luckily that has proved to be incorrect.

My not so scientific mind couldn’t follow the calculations and measurements but what I did understand was that when Apophis passes by earth in 2029 it will be closer to us then our communications satellites.  With only 30,000 km between us and this spinning rock we will be able to see the asteroid on Friday the 13th of April (weird coincidence) as a moving bright light in our sky.  But it will be our lucky day as Apophis will pass us by and not destroy earth after all.

However there is a tiny chance, 1-10,000 (larger than the possibility of winning the lottery),  that Apophis will change it’s mind and decide to demolish life as we know it in 2036. So lets hope that by then NASA will have trained Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck to be the hero’s we have seen them be on the silver screen. And if not maybe someone else will relish the chance!

But either way we will be hearing a lot more about Apophis in the years to come, some hot air and a hunk of rock spinning around in space keeping our eyes fixed on the nights sky.

original thought

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antioxidants, ‘The Uninspired Chronicles’, blog, brain, children, creative, exercise, food, health, ideas, random, science, thoughts, writing

For the first time since I started this blog I have no idea what to write about. As I sit and stare at both the screen and the keyboard I can’t help but wonder where do ideas come from, what makes them and where can I get them?

There seems to be a misconception that there are creative and non-creative people in the world. The one group have this unexplained power to see the world from a slightly different angle and create things that weren’t there before, the others only standing by in awe.  But that is not true, everyone can be creative if they let themselves.

Although scientists have been trying to figure out how ideas are made inside our brain they haven’t really been able to figure out too much. They know that dopamine is a main contributor to the process and that certain areas of the brain tend to be more active than others, but they also know that being intelligent and being creative are not necessarily linked, so no excuses if you were bad in school.

The chemical dopamine is vital for people to actually get up and do things. Without this neurotransmitter we would all feel hungry, but not do anything about it and possibly starve to death.  But Dopamine has been proven to also play a vital role when it comes to learning and remembering things, moving our body and naughty thoughts. This is possibly the reason why opiates (high levels of dopamine) are so highly addictive, not only do they make us feel fantastic but we seem to be able to do things better, faster and have wonderfully creative ideas.

A healthier way to help the flow of dopamine in your brain is listening to music. Not only does our favourite song make us emotional, kick start our memories or inspire us to jump around the living room as if we were a possessed prima ballerina but it also increases the levels of dopamine produced, encouraging our bodies and minds to do and feel things.

Of course there are foods that can help us along too. Sunflower seeds, whole grain and foods high in antioxidants like berries, tomatoes, broccoli and garlic (maybe not all at the same time) are perfect but ripe bananas seem to be the best. Caffeine can give us a quick push but it doesn’t last long. And again (and I hate having to type this as lazy as I am) exercise seems to help too.

When all of that fails, and you still have no ideas, there is the simple trick of bringing your seven-year-old-self out to play. All children are incredibly creative and like anything else creativity needs practice. What we did so instinctively as kids we forget as adults. We stop picking up sticks and turning them into wands and swords, we don’t linger and watch as a spider spins her web or stand in awe as a butterfly opens up her wings and flies away. As adults a box is a box, not a time-machine or a typewriter or a hat, for a child a box is something of endless possibilities. And don’t be afraid to try something and fail, if it doesn’t work try again, maybe a little different and who knows what you will discover. After all children constantly fail at things but they change the rules and discover new possibilities, never lost for ideas and full of surprises.

So now I have to put on a CD,  eat a banana, do a few jumping jacks and turn my cereal box into shoes so that I can come up with ideas of how to fill my day.

To read more on how others try and inspire themselves check out  ‘The Uninspired Chronicles’

Music makes us happy

It takes a long time to become young

Lives of the brain