I have finally seen a “Watchmen” movie – an adaptation of a comic book under a same title created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. Prior to that I had also a dubious pleasure of watching Inglorious Basterds created by Quentin Tarantino. I feel this way. Both Watchmen and Basterds are very intense visual experiences. Both are action movies that are more dialogue heavy than one could expect from action flicks. The first movie deals with the problem what world would be like if costumed heroes would really exists? It also deals with the main scare of the cold war epoch – the threat of nuclear annihilation. This motif is mirroring the one presented in “V for Vendetta”, a comic book that describes Nazi-like regime in the world after the nuclear apocalypse. Fortunately, this bleak possibility seems to have disappeared from our consciousness, which perhaps blunts the impact of the “Watchmen” story. In “V for Vendetta” movie adaptation the source of threat is more modern – terrorism and disproportionate response to it. In “Watchmen” the producers stayed true to the original. I think that the chief reason that I was moved by the movie was that characters were so believable. It really is a depiction of the world that could exist. The heroes we follow are not black and white characters we are used to see in this type of summer block busters. What sort of superhero murders his pregnant former lover only because he does not need her “service” anymore? Is he then really a scumbag that we should not feel any pity for? Perhaps he is a tragic figure – a patriot who was able to fulfill an American dream? What about the only “true” superhero – dr. Manhattan? His personality is a consequence of his godlike skills. Does he feel something anymore? Isn't it ironic that his existence warrants the peace, yet at the same time it increases tension between the superpowers?Is Rorschach – the self-rightous crime fighter representing the ultimate justice or just a crazy hateful man that should be stopped at any cost?
During the movie I literally felt hairs on my back rising – the scenes with dr Manhattan and Rorschach were intense. A lot of violence is depicted in the movie. I do not enjoy it particularly – that is one of my gripes with Tarantino. Nevertheless, I felt that in “Watchmen” violence was not in a focus. It served a goal – to shed more light on the characters. Interestingly, the most violent hero was also the most tragic – Rorschach. As for the others – dr Manhattan's deeds felt like acts of god or a nature. There was something primeval in the scene where he single-handedly wins Vietnam war. Manhattan is not human any more – it just causes awe and reverence.
I cannot comment much on the way the movie was shot, on quality of special effects or character portrayal by actors. I do not like to do that because I am not trained nor interested in criticizing art of movie making. I am more interested in the story and characters than in movie craftsmanship. I can just say that “Watchmen” did not seem to be particularly lacking on the technical side of things – not when compared to other blockbusters. As for actors - I could not care less who actually portrayed them but I was very impressed by both Rorschach – especially in unmasked form and dr. Manhattan. The latter mainly for an excellent depiction of an entity that is not human anymore.
I think that people that look for pure entertainment are going to be a little bit disappointed. The intrigue may be a bit hard to follow and there is a lot of talking. If you like interesting story and morally ambiguous characters you may find it really absorbing. After seeing “Watchmen” I feel very much like after “V for Vendetta” - left questioning the choices made by characters in a face of a plausible crisis.
Now let's talk a bit about the “Misspeled Bastards” - or slightly more correctly “Inglourious Basterds“. Yes, I admit I liked “Pulp Fiction” quite a lot. On the other hand, I was not to thrilled by “Kill Bill”. Well what I expected? There seems to be a rule that seeing violence against zombies and movie-type Nazis is ok. I was never to concerned with fate of German soldiers in “Dirty Dozen” or “Where eagles dare”. On the other hand “Saving private Rayan” left me with the sense of horror, depicting war in such a realistic manner. I expected that “Basterds” will go into the first category and I was not far off. There were great scenes in this movie – full of suspense, so that I felt like I was sitting on a needles. I was moved by the interrogation of French farmer by evil gestapo officer Landa. I think that scene in the bar with British agent blowing up his cover by having wrong accent was great. Then there were scenes with Basterds – a Jewish commandos. These were just plain horrible. I know that this was a movie about movies and not history but still sheer stupidity of these scenes was making me cringe. Hej - I started to feel bad about poor Germans. No small feat in a movie about evil Nazis! I cannot fathom why the director went for such a total “revenge fantasy” instead of making a more believable history? At a risk of making a serious spoiler I will say – come on! Killing Hitler in the cinema? It reminds me a first rule of well behaved time traveler - “Do not go to kill Hitler”. And another one - “The first time everyone tries”. Well in this movie nowhere there is a mention of the fact that this is an alternative history. It is more like a bedtime fantasy – “if I was a badass hero and I could kill Hitler - I would totally do that!”.
I guess that my criticism comes from the fact that I am much more into books than into movies. Perhaps the movie is a game of a postmodernist - what obscure movie are we ripping off right now? I would say then that “Shrek” did it much better and the plot was way, way over this lose connection of stupid scenes that is called a movie. Perhaps if I was American I would enjoy myself knowing that my country kick ass. Maybe if I would be a Jew I would feel some sort of katharsis. Unfortunately, I am a Pole that lived in a small village next to a monument erected in memory of dozens of peasants that were burned alive because of resistance offered by partisans to the Germans. It is hard to enjoy this sort of story knowing that in reality killing one German would mean death of many innocent persons – shot, hanged or burned. I would not like to be in a skin of a officer deciding about execution of German officer. I firmly believe that this movie would be much better if it was based in slightest on history. Contemplate this or this. I am sure that there are many more examples.
30.08.2009
22.08.2009
Honor Harrington for president!
I have just finished reading the fourth book in “Honorverse” series by David Weber. It is entitled “Field of Dishonor” and takes place directly in the aftermath of the “Short victorious war”. I have a special place in my heart for Harrington series. I am fully aware that it will never take a place in the SF hall of fame and Weber's creation is far below the pinnacles of Science Fiction literature such as works of William Gibson's, Neil Stephenson, Asimov, Heinlein et cetera. Yet, I feel such a sheer joy and excitement while reading about brave captain's exploits that I cannot stop myself from picking up consecutive books in the series. The whole cycle tells a story of Honor Harrington, a woman serving in Royal Manticoran Navy as a captain of space warships. She is a larger than life figure – a genius strategist, brave leader, loved by her soldiers, an honest person among scheming politicos and admirals. In a way she reminds me Paul Atreides from Frank Herbert's “Dune” - there is no way such a virtuous person could possibly exists, yet if she did people would sacrifice a lot for her – as they do in these books. She opposes villainous, colorful enemies such as Pavel Young – corrupt nobleman that disregards other humans as toys to be played with and discarded when used, as well as numerous enemies of her kingdom's archenemy – The People's Republic of Haven. The setting is rich in both political intrigue and spectacular battles, full of interesting characters and societies. It is not exactly my favorite type of science fiction – it does not deal with social consequences of technological development. It does, on the other hand, use few scientifically impossible concepts to create a believable basis for a setting and then rigorously sticks to it. So yeah, FTL works, and the drives have a weird side effect that enables return to XVIII-XIX century naval tactics to the cosmic field of battle – but this scientific impossibility is a small price to pay for such a nifty setting. It is a series that will be a pure pleasure for people interested in military, less so for the rest of people. I myself was never particularly interested in war stories but I cannot help but enjoy adventures of Harrington. As a side effect – Harrington's seems to me to be the most awesome female character I ever read about – in the “She kicks ass on the massive scale” sense of awesome, so I guess it makes me a bit less of a male chauvinistic pig with every book I read, which can only be a good thing.
If you are not afraid of high adventure in space – read David Weber!
If you are not afraid of high adventure in space – read David Weber!
5.08.2009
SFFiH numer 25 - recenzja
Staram się nadrabiać zaległości w czytaniu SFFiH. Idzie mi to jak po grudzie. Na półkach piętrzą się stosy nieprzeczytanych książek, na dysku czekają rozliczne pdf-y z naukowymi pracami, z którymi powinienem był się zapoznać przed miesiącami. Do tego internet kusi ciekawymi newsami, filmami itp. Mimo wszystko od czasu do czasu sięgam na półkę po kolejny numer SFFiH, aby nacieszyć się polskimi opowiadaniami.
Ostatnio dotarłem do numeru 25 z listopada 2007. Jak tak dalej pójdzie, to na bieżąco będę czytał to czasopismo na emeryturze.
W tym numerze spodobała mi się „Infernalizacja” Piotra Patykiewicza – przynajmniej jej pierwsza część. Zapowiadało się na prawdę na niezły horror. Szkoda, że końcówka zmieniła się w dziwaczny szpiegowsko/anty-islamski paszkwil. Rozumiem, że autor chciał uzasadnić wydarzenia, jakie zaszły w wykreowanym świecie, ale powstało dziwactwo. Podobał mi się pomysł żony głównego bohatera gotującej mu piekło – ale co w tym wszystkim robiły służby specjalne? Dziwne i trochę rozczarowujące. Czytało się jednak dobrze, dawało do myślenia i pierwsza część wciągnęła mnie niepomiernie, więc z zainteresowaniem przeczytam kolejne produkcje tego autora.
„Zdarzenie na Kaiser-Re” Andrzeja Miszczaka – dobre, krótkie opowiadanie SF. Czekam na więcej.
„Stara Gwardia” Dawida Juraszka nie wzbudziła we mnie specjalnego entuzjazmu. Bardzo lubię opowiadania o Xiao Longu, z pewnością sięgnę po „Białego Tygrysa”, ale tekst o Cairenie był rozczarowujący. Może to zbyt ostro powiedziane – przeczytałem opowiadanie z zainteresowaniem, widzę potencjał na dalszy ciekawy rozwój bohatera i świata przedstawionego. To, co mnie zawiodło w tym tekście to kompletny brak realizmu dotyczący pułapek w grobowcu Cesarza, który jakoby został pochowany w nim przed tysiącami lat. Czytając tekst fantasy oczekuję, że twórca nie będzie mnie zmuszał do zawieszania niewiary ponad miarę. Zrozumiem magię, czy smoki, zrozumiem poruszające się terakotowe rzeźby – dobry pomysł do konwencji. Ale komnata ze strzałami przebijającymi się przez kamień, które następnie powracają do „magazynków” celem powtórnego wykorzystania – powiem kolokwialnie „bez jaj”. Nie chcę zrzędzić, sam nie mam się czym pochwalić, ale jako czytelnik proszę pisarza o nie utrudnianie mi cieszenia się jego skądinąd świetną twórczością.
Na konie mój ulubieniec z tego numeru - „Struktura” Wojciecha Piechoty. Dobre opowiadanie hard science fiction w stylu klasycznym – to znaczy nie „zabili go i uciekł”, ale historia o poznaniu nieznanego. Jestem biologiem, który interesuje się komputerami i wiele razy zastanawiałem się nad problemami przedstawionymi przez autora. Za takie teksty cenię gatunek science fiction. Może przydałoby się trochę przemocy i brutalności oraz głębszych interakcji pomiędzy postaciami, ale nie ma co zrzędzić – gratuluję dobrej roboty.
Ostatnio dotarłem do numeru 25 z listopada 2007. Jak tak dalej pójdzie, to na bieżąco będę czytał to czasopismo na emeryturze.
W tym numerze spodobała mi się „Infernalizacja” Piotra Patykiewicza – przynajmniej jej pierwsza część. Zapowiadało się na prawdę na niezły horror. Szkoda, że końcówka zmieniła się w dziwaczny szpiegowsko/anty-islamski paszkwil. Rozumiem, że autor chciał uzasadnić wydarzenia, jakie zaszły w wykreowanym świecie, ale powstało dziwactwo. Podobał mi się pomysł żony głównego bohatera gotującej mu piekło – ale co w tym wszystkim robiły służby specjalne? Dziwne i trochę rozczarowujące. Czytało się jednak dobrze, dawało do myślenia i pierwsza część wciągnęła mnie niepomiernie, więc z zainteresowaniem przeczytam kolejne produkcje tego autora.
„Zdarzenie na Kaiser-Re” Andrzeja Miszczaka – dobre, krótkie opowiadanie SF. Czekam na więcej.
„Stara Gwardia” Dawida Juraszka nie wzbudziła we mnie specjalnego entuzjazmu. Bardzo lubię opowiadania o Xiao Longu, z pewnością sięgnę po „Białego Tygrysa”, ale tekst o Cairenie był rozczarowujący. Może to zbyt ostro powiedziane – przeczytałem opowiadanie z zainteresowaniem, widzę potencjał na dalszy ciekawy rozwój bohatera i świata przedstawionego. To, co mnie zawiodło w tym tekście to kompletny brak realizmu dotyczący pułapek w grobowcu Cesarza, który jakoby został pochowany w nim przed tysiącami lat. Czytając tekst fantasy oczekuję, że twórca nie będzie mnie zmuszał do zawieszania niewiary ponad miarę. Zrozumiem magię, czy smoki, zrozumiem poruszające się terakotowe rzeźby – dobry pomysł do konwencji. Ale komnata ze strzałami przebijającymi się przez kamień, które następnie powracają do „magazynków” celem powtórnego wykorzystania – powiem kolokwialnie „bez jaj”. Nie chcę zrzędzić, sam nie mam się czym pochwalić, ale jako czytelnik proszę pisarza o nie utrudnianie mi cieszenia się jego skądinąd świetną twórczością.
Na konie mój ulubieniec z tego numeru - „Struktura” Wojciecha Piechoty. Dobre opowiadanie hard science fiction w stylu klasycznym – to znaczy nie „zabili go i uciekł”, ale historia o poznaniu nieznanego. Jestem biologiem, który interesuje się komputerami i wiele razy zastanawiałem się nad problemami przedstawionymi przez autora. Za takie teksty cenię gatunek science fiction. Może przydałoby się trochę przemocy i brutalności oraz głębszych interakcji pomiędzy postaciami, ale nie ma co zrzędzić – gratuluję dobrej roboty.
2.08.2009
Origin of Species
After much struggle I have finished reading "Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin. It took me over a month to go through ~360 pages of the text. True - I read mainly while commuting but still I feel a bit ashamed that I needed so much time and effort to go through a book that started modern life science. In my defense I will say that I am much worse biologist than Darwin was - I know a lot about how a cell work, how the DNA carries out genetic information but I suck when it comes to systematics, botany or zoology. On the other hand, Darwin lacked the knowledge of genetics so his arguments regarding heredity where hard to follow - with understanding of genes things became much simpler.
I feel a deep respect to this book and the man who wrote it. Although it was dry at places and sometimes plain boring, I admire the simple well presented arguments for the theory of modification with descent, as Darwin called theory of evolution. If not for my lack of knowledge, that must have been obvious for a well educated person from that era, this book is popular science plain and simple. Much different from the way scientific works are written nowadays.
Now I need to give a try to the "The Voyage of the Beagle". Before I will do that I need some downtime - I am going to read Wolves of Calla by Stephen King.
I feel a deep respect to this book and the man who wrote it. Although it was dry at places and sometimes plain boring, I admire the simple well presented arguments for the theory of modification with descent, as Darwin called theory of evolution. If not for my lack of knowledge, that must have been obvious for a well educated person from that era, this book is popular science plain and simple. Much different from the way scientific works are written nowadays.
Now I need to give a try to the "The Voyage of the Beagle". Before I will do that I need some downtime - I am going to read Wolves of Calla by Stephen King.
11.06.2009
A trip to Estonia
Recently, I have participated in a scientific conference in Estonia. It was devoted to plant abiotic stress and proved quite engaging. Additionally, I had an occasion to take a brief look at the country.
The flight from Stockholm was a real pleasure. Just 45 minutes in air and a nice view of the sea and land below. The coast of Estonia looks much smoother than its Swedish counterpart but I spotted a few islands. While on the plane, I was reading an article from Wikipedia devoted to the country. I was moved by what I learned from it. We, Poles, tend to think that history treated us badly. I think we should read up more on countries such as Estonia. They had it rough since the time of the Vikings, and it would seem that the only good times in the country history were in between World Wars and after the fall of Soviet Union. The particularly tragic part of their history took place during the soviet reign. At the beginning of WWII they were invaded by the Red Army “protecting” them from Nazi threat. This was, as in case of Poland, accompanied by disposal of politically suspicious elements – by means of mass executions and deportations. Later, when the war broke out between Soviets and Nazis, the only sensible choice was to ally with Germans, but according to Wikipedia, Estonians were quickly disillusioned with their liberators and chose to fight with the Soviets in the ranks of the Finnish army. Tragically, when Germans started to withdraw from Estonia, the government announced a mobilization, and attempted to stop the Red Army. What a desperate decision! It is easy to predict what followed this futile attempt. As a result of political incorporation and pacification of Estonia 200 000 people were killed, deported or fled the country. And Estonia had a population of only 1.5 milllion! Their fate was in a lot of ways similar to ours, but magnified by the fact of the incorporation into the Soviet Union (SU). Interestingly, communists promoted migration from SU to Estonia, especially to Tallin. This led to a current tense political situation since 40% of Tallin's population are Russians.
The ride from Tallin to Tartu, where the conference took place was quite comfortable. The land is flat as a pancake, and seems to be less populous than the typical Polish countryside. Tartu, on the other hand, looks quite familiar. It is a town with a population of 100 000 with a mixture of old, frequently beautiful, houses and new buildings. It has a big shopping mall and a nice hotel. I definitely cannot complain.
During the conference I met prof. Simon Gilroy and his wife Sarah Swanson - an American couple from the University of Wisconsin. They work on mechanical sensing in plants. I found his talk on that subject to be the most spectacular presentation of the conference, largely due to the amazing microscopy pictures and animations that he showed. The most interesting findings made by Gilroy's group regard the presence of pH gradient pulses along the length of a growing root. They also work on the signaling cascade initiated by the root hitting an obstacle. I felt almost like sitting at the cinema when watching this talk. I learned from Sarah that ATP can be used as a signaling molecule outside the cell, a fact I was not familiar with. She also recommended a book on microscopy techniques “Plant microtechniques and microscopy” by Steven E. Ruzin. I need this knowledge desperately, given my poor skills in this area.
Another interesting talk was given by prof. Teun Munnik from the Netherlands. He was talking about phosphatidylinositol 4-monophosphate (PIP) metabolism – and presented data showing that PIP3 is not a signaling molecule in plants. Plant biologists often assume that if something is valid for animal models it also holds true for plants. He presented a nice example to the contrary. This resulted in many speakers having to correct their schemes. I also enjoyed a talk by Israeli professor on the abscisic acid responsive gene (ASR1) that is actically transcribed during drought resistance and is thought to play a role in protecting the plant during this type of biotic stress. Interestingly the protein encoded by this gene is in its native state disorganized and acts as a chaperon. Zn cations facilitate rearrangements of its structure so it can bind to DNA and act as a transcription factor. During the coffee break I asked him about the role of compatible solutes. They have low molecular mass and are produced during drought. One example of such a molecule is proline. The theory is that they help in the transfer of the water to the cell during drought by lowering the water potential of the cell. The experimental data do not seem to confirm it. I was explaining to students that compatible solutes help stabilize proteins in such conditions. To my relief he confirmed it and added that in his opinion the main reason for their existence is as temporary nitrogen storage. Anyway, his presentation was a nice piece of biochemistry in an otherwise physiology heavy program.
The most important presentations for me were devoted to guard cells signaling and were given by prof. Rainer Hedrich and my boss Dr. Maria Israelsson-Nordström. I was especially keen on listening to prof. Hedrich talk. It was a well executed piece – one could easily see that he was one of the most prominent scientists at the conference. His group is working with ABA and CO2 signaling using a clever and state of the art biophysical approach. The talk was very educational although I think that he wants the biology to be simpler than it really is.
Another interesting presentation was given by a German researcher that makes mathematical models of carbohydrate fluxes in CO2-fixing cells. His group used literature data on enzyme kinetics and metabolites concentration to create models. The results showed that the model agrees well with values observed experimentally. Interestingly, they correctly predicted that starch is not decomposed when photosynthesis is active.
There were two more interesting talks – one by an indian PhD working in Czech Republic – he showed some interesting applications of chlorophyll fluorescence imaging in visualizing pathogen infection of the leaves. The second one was a talk by Dr. Seth Davis who works on circadian clock. This was the second best presentation of the whole conference.
During evening banquet I had an opportunity to talk with a professor from Netherlands - Hendrik Poorter. He is an ecophysiologist working with metadata analysis from different field experiments. He described his approach as phenomics – broad range analysis of the phenotypes. We talked about molecular biology vs. ecology, computer modeling and even Linux and Open Access publishing. Prof. Poorter told me a very entertaining story. It concerned the results of his lab experiments vs. the behavior of plants in the field. The transgenic plants were found to have high water use efficiency during experiments under controlled lab experiments. The enthusiastic researchers decided to make a final test in the field. To their utter astonishments; the control, non-modified plants had better use of water under such circumstances. How was it possible? Control plants grew faster than their water conserving GM cousins. They wasted the water - that's true. But on the later stage their well expanded leaves shaded much larger area, thus preventing water evaporation from the soil.
After the conference we went on a tour around Tartu's Old Town which I think is quite lovely and finally we had a festive dinner closing the conference. The restaurant was placed within old fortifications, the so called gunpowder cellar and was quite nice. Especially, considering that there was a live Estonian country band that played loud music at the same time as the Eurovision song contest was in full swing. Overall that was quite an enjoyable experience.
Next day we returned to Tallin and I had a chance to see the old town for few hours. Tallin reminds me of Warsaw in the sense that there is a new business part of the town with shiny skyscrapers and an Old Town. All of this among a sea of old post Soviet buildings. The Old Town is enclosed by city walls not unlike Visby. A lot of the buildings are from the XVI-XVII century and the inhabitants try to create a feel of a medieval hanseatic port. I liked this quite a bit. For me, coming from a Catholic country, it was quite an interesting experience to see protestant churches next to an orthodox cathedral. I believe that anyone that is into history would find Tallin an interesting place to visit if only for a day or two.
To summarize, I must say that it was fun to participate in the scientific conference in Estonia. I would probably be happier to see more things – For example I missed the KGB museum but it was a good experience both in scientific and sightseeing aspect of it. And most importantly, they do have Kvas in Estonia!
P.S. If you are interested, please see a gallery of my photos from Estonia.
The flight from Stockholm was a real pleasure. Just 45 minutes in air and a nice view of the sea and land below. The coast of Estonia looks much smoother than its Swedish counterpart but I spotted a few islands. While on the plane, I was reading an article from Wikipedia devoted to the country. I was moved by what I learned from it. We, Poles, tend to think that history treated us badly. I think we should read up more on countries such as Estonia. They had it rough since the time of the Vikings, and it would seem that the only good times in the country history were in between World Wars and after the fall of Soviet Union. The particularly tragic part of their history took place during the soviet reign. At the beginning of WWII they were invaded by the Red Army “protecting” them from Nazi threat. This was, as in case of Poland, accompanied by disposal of politically suspicious elements – by means of mass executions and deportations. Later, when the war broke out between Soviets and Nazis, the only sensible choice was to ally with Germans, but according to Wikipedia, Estonians were quickly disillusioned with their liberators and chose to fight with the Soviets in the ranks of the Finnish army. Tragically, when Germans started to withdraw from Estonia, the government announced a mobilization, and attempted to stop the Red Army. What a desperate decision! It is easy to predict what followed this futile attempt. As a result of political incorporation and pacification of Estonia 200 000 people were killed, deported or fled the country. And Estonia had a population of only 1.5 milllion! Their fate was in a lot of ways similar to ours, but magnified by the fact of the incorporation into the Soviet Union (SU). Interestingly, communists promoted migration from SU to Estonia, especially to Tallin. This led to a current tense political situation since 40% of Tallin's population are Russians.
The ride from Tallin to Tartu, where the conference took place was quite comfortable. The land is flat as a pancake, and seems to be less populous than the typical Polish countryside. Tartu, on the other hand, looks quite familiar. It is a town with a population of 100 000 with a mixture of old, frequently beautiful, houses and new buildings. It has a big shopping mall and a nice hotel. I definitely cannot complain.
A monument of a pig in front of Tartu's old market
During the conference I met prof. Simon Gilroy and his wife Sarah Swanson - an American couple from the University of Wisconsin. They work on mechanical sensing in plants. I found his talk on that subject to be the most spectacular presentation of the conference, largely due to the amazing microscopy pictures and animations that he showed. The most interesting findings made by Gilroy's group regard the presence of pH gradient pulses along the length of a growing root. They also work on the signaling cascade initiated by the root hitting an obstacle. I felt almost like sitting at the cinema when watching this talk. I learned from Sarah that ATP can be used as a signaling molecule outside the cell, a fact I was not familiar with. She also recommended a book on microscopy techniques “Plant microtechniques and microscopy” by Steven E. Ruzin. I need this knowledge desperately, given my poor skills in this area.
Another interesting talk was given by prof. Teun Munnik from the Netherlands. He was talking about phosphatidylinositol 4-monophosphate (PIP) metabolism – and presented data showing that PIP3 is not a signaling molecule in plants. Plant biologists often assume that if something is valid for animal models it also holds true for plants. He presented a nice example to the contrary. This resulted in many speakers having to correct their schemes. I also enjoyed a talk by Israeli professor on the abscisic acid responsive gene (ASR1) that is actically transcribed during drought resistance and is thought to play a role in protecting the plant during this type of biotic stress. Interestingly the protein encoded by this gene is in its native state disorganized and acts as a chaperon. Zn cations facilitate rearrangements of its structure so it can bind to DNA and act as a transcription factor. During the coffee break I asked him about the role of compatible solutes. They have low molecular mass and are produced during drought. One example of such a molecule is proline. The theory is that they help in the transfer of the water to the cell during drought by lowering the water potential of the cell. The experimental data do not seem to confirm it. I was explaining to students that compatible solutes help stabilize proteins in such conditions. To my relief he confirmed it and added that in his opinion the main reason for their existence is as temporary nitrogen storage. Anyway, his presentation was a nice piece of biochemistry in an otherwise physiology heavy program.
The most important presentations for me were devoted to guard cells signaling and were given by prof. Rainer Hedrich and my boss Dr. Maria Israelsson-Nordström. I was especially keen on listening to prof. Hedrich talk. It was a well executed piece – one could easily see that he was one of the most prominent scientists at the conference. His group is working with ABA and CO2 signaling using a clever and state of the art biophysical approach. The talk was very educational although I think that he wants the biology to be simpler than it really is.
Another interesting presentation was given by a German researcher that makes mathematical models of carbohydrate fluxes in CO2-fixing cells. His group used literature data on enzyme kinetics and metabolites concentration to create models. The results showed that the model agrees well with values observed experimentally. Interestingly, they correctly predicted that starch is not decomposed when photosynthesis is active.
There were two more interesting talks – one by an indian PhD working in Czech Republic – he showed some interesting applications of chlorophyll fluorescence imaging in visualizing pathogen infection of the leaves. The second one was a talk by Dr. Seth Davis who works on circadian clock. This was the second best presentation of the whole conference.
During evening banquet I had an opportunity to talk with a professor from Netherlands - Hendrik Poorter. He is an ecophysiologist working with metadata analysis from different field experiments. He described his approach as phenomics – broad range analysis of the phenotypes. We talked about molecular biology vs. ecology, computer modeling and even Linux and Open Access publishing. Prof. Poorter told me a very entertaining story. It concerned the results of his lab experiments vs. the behavior of plants in the field. The transgenic plants were found to have high water use efficiency during experiments under controlled lab experiments. The enthusiastic researchers decided to make a final test in the field. To their utter astonishments; the control, non-modified plants had better use of water under such circumstances. How was it possible? Control plants grew faster than their water conserving GM cousins. They wasted the water - that's true. But on the later stage their well expanded leaves shaded much larger area, thus preventing water evaporation from the soil.
After the conference we went on a tour around Tartu's Old Town which I think is quite lovely and finally we had a festive dinner closing the conference. The restaurant was placed within old fortifications, the so called gunpowder cellar and was quite nice. Especially, considering that there was a live Estonian country band that played loud music at the same time as the Eurovision song contest was in full swing. Overall that was quite an enjoyable experience.
A view from the city walls
Next day we returned to Tallin and I had a chance to see the old town for few hours. Tallin reminds me of Warsaw in the sense that there is a new business part of the town with shiny skyscrapers and an Old Town. All of this among a sea of old post Soviet buildings. The Old Town is enclosed by city walls not unlike Visby. A lot of the buildings are from the XVI-XVII century and the inhabitants try to create a feel of a medieval hanseatic port. I liked this quite a bit. For me, coming from a Catholic country, it was quite an interesting experience to see protestant churches next to an orthodox cathedral. I believe that anyone that is into history would find Tallin an interesting place to visit if only for a day or two.
To summarize, I must say that it was fun to participate in the scientific conference in Estonia. I would probably be happier to see more things – For example I missed the KGB museum but it was a good experience both in scientific and sightseeing aspect of it. And most importantly, they do have Kvas in Estonia!
P.S. If you are interested, please see a gallery of my photos from Estonia.
12.05.2009
Gumowe Guimony – recenzja książki HELL-P
Kilka dni temu uporałem się z najnowszą książką Eugeniusza Dębskiego pt. „HELL-P”. Bez zbędnego wstępu powiem, że jestem nią zawiedziony. To nie jest dobra książka i wielka to szkoda, bo lubię i szanuję twórczość Dębskiego.
HELL-P opowiada o parze agentów służb specjalnych, którzy zajmują się walką z pomiotem Cthulhu – Guimonami. Notka na okładce zachęciła mnie do czytania, jako że jestem miłośnikiem twórczości H. P. Lovecraft'a. Niestety od samego początku w rozkoszowaniu się sprawnym rzemiosłem Dębskiego przeszkadzał mi język. Jest on przepełniony wulgaryzmami do tego stopnia, że są one niesmaczne. Nie jestem przeciwnikiem używania wulgaryzmów. Uważam, że literatura powinna odzwierciedlać sposób wyrażania się ludzi, szczególnie jeśli dotyczy czasów współczesnych. Zadaję sobie jednak pytanie, czy na prawdę agenci ABW klną jak dresy spod bloku? Tzn. w taki prostacki sposób? Przypomina mi to nieco opowiadania Andrzeja Ziemiańskiego „Toy Wars”. Tam bohaterki klęły jak szewcy. Choć one były akurat najemniczkami, więc może dobrze oddawało to sposób wyrażania się ludzi parających się tym niewdzięcznym zawodem. Jeśli jednak agent ABW jest wulgarniejszy od gościa spod budki z piwem, i to bez żadnego dobrego uzasadnienia tego faktu, to przeszkadza mi to w pełni zanurzyć się w przedstawionej historii.
Właśnie problem z zawieszeniem niewiary sprawiał mi największe trudności w docenieniu „HELL-P”. Rozumiem, że Dębski jest dumny z postaci Owena Yatesa, ale jakoś nie przypominam sobie, żeby była to postać na tyle znana, żeby bohater mógł komentować zaawansowanie technologiczne sprzętu kolegi jako godne „Owena Yatesa”. Może to mój problem, bo znam i lubię tą postać, ale takie puszczanie okiem do czytelnika drażniło mnie w trakcie czytania. „Patrz to tylko głupia historyjka, wszystko jest na niby” - zdawał się mówić autor. To trochę denerwujące.
Pomysł z Guimonami uważam za całkiem udany. Mitologia Cthulhu z pewnością stanowi interesujące źródło inspiracji. Ileż, do diaska można pisać i czytać o wampirach? Spodobała mi się inwencja autora w reinterpretacji Cthulhu, choć z drugiej strony cytowanie całej strony z opowiadania Lovecrafta to chyba lekka przesada. Mam wrażenie, że książka jest zbiorem kilku dobrych pomysłów, rozdmuchanych w sceny, które nie są połączone w zbyt przekonujący sposób. Myślę, że „HELL-P” byłby lepszy, gdyby zamiast powieści Autor napisał kilka połączonych z sobą opowiadań. Miałem wrażenie, że bohaterom zdarza się napatoczyć na interesujące wydarzenie, które nijak nie wynika z fabuły. Po prostu – w każdej lokacji czai się potwór. Autor wyjaśnia. że ilość Guimonów jest ograniczona, jednak kiedy bohaterowie idą, nie wiedzieć czemu pod ZUS, czeka tam na nich dwóch wrogów. Łącznie z innymi, które napotykają, w mniej lub bardziej przypadkowy sposób, ich liczba jest tak duża, że albo wiadomości wywiadowcze bohaterów są naprawdę kiepskie, albo ich spotkania z Guimonami są statystycznym nieprawdopodobieństwem. Wreszcie sprawa łowców Guimonów – Ekstremanów. To, że jest ich niewielu i walczą z bezlitosnym wrogiem cały czas, nie usprawiedliwia ich idiotycznego braku organizacji. Rozumiem, że Kamil Stochard – główny bohater powieści, mógł się dzięki temu wykazać pomysłowością, ale przecież można było znaleźć lepsze uzasadnienie dla dość chaotycznej metodyki działań Ekstramanów.
Interesującym aspektem tej książki jest fakt, że główny bohater jest gejem. Nie wiem, czy istnieją inni w polskiej literaturze fantastycznej, wydaje mi się, że jest to jednak ciekawy chwyt, aby przedstawić Polskę oczami kogoś, kto na pewno nie ma łatwego życia z racji swojej orientacji seksualnej. Wyjaśnia to, po części zachowanie bohatera i czyni go bardziej interesującym.
Najbardziej interesujące były dla mnie wątki niefantastyczne. Wydawało mi się, że są napisane z większą werwą. Są po prostu fajniejsze. Z przyjemnością przeczytałbym o przygodach Stocharda w zwalczaniu „zwykłej” przestępczości. Może autor zechciałby wrócić do tego bohatera i prawie rzeczywistego świata. Chciałbym jednak, żeby lepiej przemyślał fabułę książki.
Podsumowując, nie uważam czasu poświęconego na „HELL-P” za stracony. Dębski jest sprawnym rzemieślnikiem, więc książkę czyta się dobrze. Jest to, niestety, najgorszy tekst jego autorstwa, jaki dotąd czytałem. Trochę szkoda, ale nie traćmy nadziei. Mam nadzieję, że napisze kolejne książki i opowiadania i weźmie pod uwagę głosy krytyki.
HELL-P opowiada o parze agentów służb specjalnych, którzy zajmują się walką z pomiotem Cthulhu – Guimonami. Notka na okładce zachęciła mnie do czytania, jako że jestem miłośnikiem twórczości H. P. Lovecraft'a. Niestety od samego początku w rozkoszowaniu się sprawnym rzemiosłem Dębskiego przeszkadzał mi język. Jest on przepełniony wulgaryzmami do tego stopnia, że są one niesmaczne. Nie jestem przeciwnikiem używania wulgaryzmów. Uważam, że literatura powinna odzwierciedlać sposób wyrażania się ludzi, szczególnie jeśli dotyczy czasów współczesnych. Zadaję sobie jednak pytanie, czy na prawdę agenci ABW klną jak dresy spod bloku? Tzn. w taki prostacki sposób? Przypomina mi to nieco opowiadania Andrzeja Ziemiańskiego „Toy Wars”. Tam bohaterki klęły jak szewcy. Choć one były akurat najemniczkami, więc może dobrze oddawało to sposób wyrażania się ludzi parających się tym niewdzięcznym zawodem. Jeśli jednak agent ABW jest wulgarniejszy od gościa spod budki z piwem, i to bez żadnego dobrego uzasadnienia tego faktu, to przeszkadza mi to w pełni zanurzyć się w przedstawionej historii.
Właśnie problem z zawieszeniem niewiary sprawiał mi największe trudności w docenieniu „HELL-P”. Rozumiem, że Dębski jest dumny z postaci Owena Yatesa, ale jakoś nie przypominam sobie, żeby była to postać na tyle znana, żeby bohater mógł komentować zaawansowanie technologiczne sprzętu kolegi jako godne „Owena Yatesa”. Może to mój problem, bo znam i lubię tą postać, ale takie puszczanie okiem do czytelnika drażniło mnie w trakcie czytania. „Patrz to tylko głupia historyjka, wszystko jest na niby” - zdawał się mówić autor. To trochę denerwujące.
Pomysł z Guimonami uważam za całkiem udany. Mitologia Cthulhu z pewnością stanowi interesujące źródło inspiracji. Ileż, do diaska można pisać i czytać o wampirach? Spodobała mi się inwencja autora w reinterpretacji Cthulhu, choć z drugiej strony cytowanie całej strony z opowiadania Lovecrafta to chyba lekka przesada. Mam wrażenie, że książka jest zbiorem kilku dobrych pomysłów, rozdmuchanych w sceny, które nie są połączone w zbyt przekonujący sposób. Myślę, że „HELL-P” byłby lepszy, gdyby zamiast powieści Autor napisał kilka połączonych z sobą opowiadań. Miałem wrażenie, że bohaterom zdarza się napatoczyć na interesujące wydarzenie, które nijak nie wynika z fabuły. Po prostu – w każdej lokacji czai się potwór. Autor wyjaśnia. że ilość Guimonów jest ograniczona, jednak kiedy bohaterowie idą, nie wiedzieć czemu pod ZUS, czeka tam na nich dwóch wrogów. Łącznie z innymi, które napotykają, w mniej lub bardziej przypadkowy sposób, ich liczba jest tak duża, że albo wiadomości wywiadowcze bohaterów są naprawdę kiepskie, albo ich spotkania z Guimonami są statystycznym nieprawdopodobieństwem. Wreszcie sprawa łowców Guimonów – Ekstremanów. To, że jest ich niewielu i walczą z bezlitosnym wrogiem cały czas, nie usprawiedliwia ich idiotycznego braku organizacji. Rozumiem, że Kamil Stochard – główny bohater powieści, mógł się dzięki temu wykazać pomysłowością, ale przecież można było znaleźć lepsze uzasadnienie dla dość chaotycznej metodyki działań Ekstramanów.
Interesującym aspektem tej książki jest fakt, że główny bohater jest gejem. Nie wiem, czy istnieją inni w polskiej literaturze fantastycznej, wydaje mi się, że jest to jednak ciekawy chwyt, aby przedstawić Polskę oczami kogoś, kto na pewno nie ma łatwego życia z racji swojej orientacji seksualnej. Wyjaśnia to, po części zachowanie bohatera i czyni go bardziej interesującym.
Najbardziej interesujące były dla mnie wątki niefantastyczne. Wydawało mi się, że są napisane z większą werwą. Są po prostu fajniejsze. Z przyjemnością przeczytałbym o przygodach Stocharda w zwalczaniu „zwykłej” przestępczości. Może autor zechciałby wrócić do tego bohatera i prawie rzeczywistego świata. Chciałbym jednak, żeby lepiej przemyślał fabułę książki.
Podsumowując, nie uważam czasu poświęconego na „HELL-P” za stracony. Dębski jest sprawnym rzemieślnikiem, więc książkę czyta się dobrze. Jest to, niestety, najgorszy tekst jego autorstwa, jaki dotąd czytałem. Trochę szkoda, ale nie traćmy nadziei. Mam nadzieję, że napisze kolejne książki i opowiadania i weźmie pod uwagę głosy krytyki.
8.05.2009
Exhalation
I am a keen listener to many podcasts. I love Nature or Sc-Fri for their serious scientific content, FLOSS weekly for the possibility to look under the hood of Open Source projects. Then there are podcasts with audio stories. Today I would like to share with you a beautiful story presented in the Escape Pod. This year Hugo nominee "Exhalation" by Ted Chang is a remarkable piece of prose and the audio version narrated by Ray Sizemore is simply splendid. I feel deeply touched by the cold, slow paced narration in the form of a letter written by a scientists. I am amazed by the fact that Chang presented a story about a scientific discovery, in fact a most fundamental rule of physics in such a way that it enables the reader to wonder about a human nature. This is why I love Science Fiction. It gives me hope that Golden Age of my beloved literature did not come to pass but it continues and will bring more wonder into this world.
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