On Monday, Emily and I started our project. We are experimenting with slime mold. The guide that came with the slime mold kit was really unclear, because it was formatted for more than one experiment. So we followed the directions for growing the spores, and then made up our own experiment. Dr. Yampolsky bought some cAMP for us to use. So, our experiment is to vary the concentration of cAMP in each dish, and observe the result. We spent most of the day doing our project, and then we went to the CPA. Then bed.

Thursday morning Dr. Yampolsky came to lecture on population stability. He derived a formula that explained why populations have a carrying capacity. Lunch. Then straight to Brown to finish Wednesday's lab. We looked at the dilution series and applied some famous person's rule of distribution to our results. Then we looked at our petri dishes we contaminated with our fingers. We learned that not all ger-x kills bacteria. My sample was gross looking. Then Emily and I went to Dr. yampolsky's lab to spread E. Coli on the petri dishes we had prepared. Then we put the slime mould on them so it will grow over the weekend and be ready for us to examine on Monday. soccer. shower. Went to eat at Cheddars. Emily and I went to the CPA for a few minutes, then bed.

Wednesday morning, Dr. Knisley continued his lecture on intellegent vs. unintelligent using computer programs as demonstrations. He gave us some homework classifying numbers as RNA-like using a computer program with artificial intelligence. lunch. Then a lab with Susan. We completed a dilution series of E. Coli using good aseptic technique. Then we took petri dishes and poked our fingers in them to let whatever germs were on our fingers culminate in the dishes. Then Emily and I went to Dr. Yampolsky's lab to start our project. We melted some Lactose peptide agar to grow the slime mould on. dinner. Then we went to see a movie. Afterwards we ate TCBY and then came home.

Yesterday morning, Dr. Knisely demonstrated the difference between intelligent and unintelligent organisms using computer programs. He also demonstrated a neural network using the same media. lunch. Homework time. Then Kelly Harris came in to talk about Z-DNA. It is a type of DNA with a differently shaped structure than normal. This makes the Z-DNA unstable, so it can only be found in certain locations on the DNA strand, and occasionally only during certain times. She lectured about some of these special circumstances that allow Z-DNA to form. Then I went to housing to see if i could move into my dorm straight after summer session. Ultimate Frisbee. Beaucoup de pleuvre. Got drenched. Movie. Bed.

Yesterday morning Dr. Knisley came and lectured to us about neurons and some of their properties. Then we had homework time to work on the galla nation project. Lunch. More homework time, and then Dr. Helfgott came to lecture. We went over exponential functions and logarithms. Then the class worked some problems similar to the ones in demonstrated in his lecture. Dinner. Raquetball. MRN. sleep.

Yesterday morning Dr. Godbole lectured about Binomial Distribution. He gave us some formulas for approximating factorials of large numbers. One of the homework problems he gave us was really long. It was almost as if he had left out some information in the problem. We could solve it, it just took us half an hour to do it. We went to Olive Garden for lunch. Then Leanna's brother talked about some of the research he is involved in. He is trying to find an organism that will produce ethanol more effeciently and make the production of ethanol a one step process. In his research, he has classified a variety of aerobic and anaerobic organisms to see which organism could possibly do the job best. Then another speaker was scheduled to come, but we had the wrong time, so everyone left before he came. I stayed behind to finish Harry Potter because I was in the middle of the climax, so I heard the complication. We went to the CPA to play raquetball for a few minutes. We ate dinner, and then had a homework powwow. Bed.

This morning Dr. Godbole talked to us about probability of combinations of alleles and how to calculate them. He gave us some homework problems to work on. Lunch. I read a little bit more of Harry Potter before I went back to class. Then the biology majors went to advisement while the math majors went off to do whatever math majors do. Dr. miller talked to us Bio majors and answered any questions we had about our schedules. We then migrated back to Gilbreth to listen to Dr. Joplin explain his research. He is working on the isolation of diapause genes using microarrays. He said he has a lot of projects he is looking for people to help out with. It sounds like a good opportunity to get research experience as an undergrad. Then Kelly Harrison came and lectured to us about the evolution of cooperation in a society. We are going to the CPA this evening sometime to play soccer. Then dinner. Then sleep.