Jennifer Lopez and Zachary Quinto. Biotech is going mainstream in a big way. That was the message to the more than 5,600 high school and college students crowded into Boston’s Hynes Convention Center for the 2016 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. Lopez’s production company is producing CRISPR, a near-future crime drama named after the […]
Category: Influences
I Wanted To Be Right But Synthetic Yeast News Proved Me Wrong
I was wrong. On Quora, someone asked: How far are we from engineering a completely synthetic, self-replicating cell or organism? My original answer was three years. 2020. My answer was based on research I’ve been conducting for What’s Your Bio Strategy? Then last week, Science ran an issue on the creation of synthetic chromosomes. Scientists […]
How to Create 10,000 Jobs?
How do you create 10,000 jobs? Train 500 brewers. Originally, I was going to write: Train 10,000 teachers. Despite the overwhelming need for teachers [1], the profession currently is looked down upon in the United States and people don’t understand that if you don’t invest in education, you’re not investing in the future. (Cynically, I […]
30 Things I Did Before Turning 30
In anticipation of my 54th birthday, I answered this question on Quora: What are the 30 things you did before turning 30 in your life? Learned to skateboard ramps and pools. Memorized every ditch and was part of an informal word-of-mouth network that knew when a new ramp appeared in Ventura. Convinced my parents to drive […]
You Need 1000 True Fans
That’s the number of True Fans Wired founder Kevin Kelly suggested any creator needs to make a living. “A creator, such as an artist, musician, photographer, craftsperson, performer, animator, designer, videomaker, or author—in other words, anyone producing works of art—needs to acquire only 1,000 True Fans to make a living.” These True Fans, “Will purchase anything […]
My Three Words for 2017
Chris Brogan is an inspiration. If you study internet marketing, you’re bound to run across him. He’s smart, honest and prolific. Anthony Iannarino had him on an episode of In The Arena, where he discussed his book, The Impact Equation. I subscribed to Chris’ newsletter and read every word every Sunday morning. A few days ago, Chris mentioned he chooses three […]
Movie Review: Arrival
Arrival does a good job of showing scientists at work. The movie tells the story of a linguist and a theoretical physicist on deadline to translate the language of an alien species. The aliens arrive in twelve giant, almond-shaped monoliths that float above cities and remote locations across the globe. The US military recruits linguist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams […]
Captain Underpants, BioBuilder and iGEM: Preparing Kids for the Biotech Century
Melvin’s Li’l Scientist Wristwatch had a built-in DNA extractor. Melvin inserted the filthy toenail into his watch and programmed a complete extraction procedure while the Turbo Toilet 2000 chased him back through town… As Melvin ran screaming, his watch quickly pulverized and sonicated the toenail cells, removed their membrane lipids, proteins and RNA, and purified […]
Nag Nag Nag: Cabaret Voltaire vs Akufen’s (karaoke slam mix)
It’s been a while, a long while, since I’ve posted anything music related, so I offer up a contrast of sorts. Here’s Cabaret Volataire‘s brilliant Nag Nag Nag from their 1980 Live at the YMCA album. Simple distorted guitars, bristling synthesizer electronics, this was early – but still danceable – industrial music no doubt inspired by the Cold War […]
Book Review: Ready Player One
It’s 2044, the world’s a dystopian mess and people escape to, learn, live and work in a virtual world called OASIS (the followup to William Gibson’s cyberspace and Neal Stephenson’s metaverse). At the start of the book, videogame designer James Halliday, the ultimate 1980s geek, leaves his vast fortune to the person who can find […]