Tuesday, August 18, 2009

How to deal with Zombies



I was reading the BBC this morning and, I kid you not, I found a bit of news saying that some mathematicians have used a zombie infection as a model for a rapidly spreading infection. Now this might be a good candidate for the Ig Nobel award, were it not for the fact that a lot of people actually took this research seriously. I admit that I might be being a little cynical here, taking into consideration the content of my own blog, but are we scientists not supposed to at least pretend that our research has a tangible real-world result, even if we are only dealing with pet projects and blue sky ideas?
The world is moving forward faster than I can deal with it, and to honor that, I place a zombified image of me in this post.

Friday, August 07, 2009

All Set

After having gone through the byzantine bureaucracy of the US and A, and finally having secured accommodation in my new foster country, I believe I am all set to start my new two-year research stint, away from my original shores. This ended up being the only concrete option I had after trying for six months in securing a firm position in Brazil, so it is with a bit of sadness that I need to be away from family and friends for more time. It is also sad that I ended up in yet another country, as I made excellent friends in the UK, and if it was up to me, I would have gone back to British shores.
At the end of the day, I am happy though, because I am going to one of the top universities in the United States. Now let us see if I am up to the standards of such a prestigious institution.