Lazy Days

After April 15th when I had my presentation things have been very laid back. Since I'm on break I don't have any classes or assignments, but that doesn't mean I don't have anything to do. I was super proud of myself finishing two blogs for my Biology class (click here to see them). After that it's been ridiculously hard to get myself to do much of anything.

For the last week there have been some serious internet issues going on. It was so bad for a little while that I had to go to the library to get anything done. Suddenly it was better, and now it's messed up again. Sometimes if I reload a page a ton of times it might work. I don't mind going to the library but it's not a good place to skype with Matt, nor does it have quick access to food. Also, there's something about the library that makes me feel guilty if I am procrastinating or wasting time there. Hopefully it will get better soon and stay that way.

This last Sunday was fun because I went to go visit the Websters. Stephen and Rosely have a large home in

Stephen and Rosely Webster

Kenthurst, NSW where I stayed in 2009 for my study abroad. They are such and amazing LDS family and I had a spectacular time last time I was here. It was quite difficult to get there actually because I had to take two buses and the closest I could get to their home was the nearest shopping centre. Unfortunately those buses don't run very frequently either so it's impossible to get back home after 7pm. Luckily Rosely was able to pick me up from the bus stop and drive me all the way home after dinner. It's fun catching up with people! I'm constantly amazed at how much has changed in 3+ years.

Tuesday I went on an adventure with my classmate Elayna. We had planned to go to the city to watch the movie Kon-Tiki. I was excited for the movie since I had read the book. Elayna's bus was quite late so she told me just to go ahead and get food without her at Oporto's. As a side note: Australia uses chicken salt on their french fries (chips) which makes them so much better! We decided to follow my phone and just walk to the theater because we had enough time. The GPS had us go through a parking lot (car park) and then work our way to the theater. Luckily we made it on time, only to discover they didn't have the movie Kon-tiki nor had heard of it. I must have misunderstood what theater it was at or something. In the end we decided to watch the zombie movie Warm Bodies. This gave Elayna time to grab some chips and eat before we saw the movie. Warm Bodies definitely exceeded our expectations by being the first romantic comedy zombie apocalypse movie that I have ever seen. Afterwards I had all kinds of fun getting home because I missed the train I planned to take by seconds and then took another train to a city bus stop that would stop right by my house. I got home late, but in the end I had completely finished reading The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis and had a very fun night.

Yesterday I went to a Biology seminar (this one wasn't required) by Duncan Irschick. He is a very accomplished scientist that has worked in many areas but some of the more interesting aspects of his work with geckskin - an example of biomimicry. Biomimicry is innovation that has received its inspiration from nature. Using geckos as the model, Irschick and his team were able to create an adhesive material that works just like gecko adhesion. The simplest explanation is that a soft material (like saran wrap) will adhere but it needs to be paired with a stiff material. Duct tape uses a liquid adhesive on the stiff fibers, but it can't be easily removed. Additionally the liquid adhesive will pick up dust and other particles that make it lose it's adhesive ability. Geckskin uses rubber paired with fabric (the stiffer the better) to adhere. Not only can a small piece of this hold hundreds of pounds, but it can also be easily removed with no residue. Unfortunately it would not hold if it was rotated so they added a tendon like geckos have that helps it to be more stable. It's pretty neat stuff, but I was sad he didn't bring any. Click here to watch a piece of his lecture online. Another interesting part of his seminar was about a spider that rips one of its genitals off and swings it around in a circle which helps it seal the wound. It's got seriously huge genitalia so by removing one it can move quicker and hopefully be able to beat other males at mating with the female (click here for video). Biology is such a fascinating subject! A few other things I learned was that patents in the US cost about $25,000, and an international patent is $35,000. Apparently the business side of inventing things is kind of a nightmare and it's easy to get ripped off, have your project fail, or just go broke.

At the seminar I also met a guy at Macquarie who is working on spider silk. Apparently spider silk is the strongest material known to man, but we can't reproduce it. The silk starts as a liquid form that they then make into a solid. We can reproduce the chemicals to make the liquid, but to make the silk into a solid like spiders is a long way off. If this material could be produced it may have all kinds of uses because it is insanely strong and can absorb a lot of energy. Irschick's geckskin could be ridiculously strong if made with spider silk. I'm interested to see where that research goes.

It's been a fun and relaxing week. Nevertheless, Sunday I am giving a talk in church and next Wednesday I have an assignment due so the rest of this weekend I have plenty to do.