Have you ever wondered how different some fundamental force fields, like gravity and magenetism, really are from each other? I wanted to elucidate the provenance of these basic physics principles. To help me with that, I asked ChatGPT4 to provide a conversation between 19th century physicists. Then I started to troll them. Me: Does gravity curve space? Yes, according to Einstein's General Theory…
In light of recent UAP revelations , I decided to see if AI could help reverse-engineer, extrapolate, and propose a research program to determine how they work. Here is that conversation, abridged. Me: In context of UAP (unidentified aerial phenomena) describe the most recent event, whether of observation or investigation, in your training set? ChatGPT As of my last update in September 2021, the…
There is a famous person who really should be a lot more famous, even after having earned the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015. Her name is Tu YouYou. She discovered artemisinin, which is now the first line malaria medication for infected cases. What's even more interesting and perhaps more deserving of fame (in light of the result of course) was that she did so by mining traditional…
In Silico effect of Flavonoids on SARS-CoV 3CLpro progressively targeting A and B-chains' HIS41-CYS145 interfaces Results: Micro-discussion: So while I've been a very strong proponent of Hesperidin based on in vitro results. benign cytox values, inherent known safety, and wide suppy availability, this Autodock Vina docking study shows stronger hits in 1. Hinokiflavone, 2. Luteolin-O-7-rutinoside,…
So I've been doing a lot of flavonoid in silico docking runs on SARS-CoV-2's 3CLpro (pdb file 2duc) protein. Posting results here for posterity.
(for storing, not for reading) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Rs9gNn_VTOZBtO5Ffmg5veTUR34PaO9u/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fVADH8AmlOLTkP7GkTcMTXMH8QYFRsvq/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1uY2PICUp0RdNvwM4k_FwNuVw2hXyOCIQ/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mHITkOY22LYs2d89_vyRBeAqOOF6a0rQ/view?usp=sharing…
I just finished watching the Chernobyl miniseries on HBO and couldn't put it down. It's an intriguing docudrama and I highly recommend it. It's been fascinating to research on it, learn more of the scientific and operational details, find the inaccuracies and what *really* happened, etc. Anyway there is reference made to recordings made by the chief scientist who oversaw the disaster mitigation,…
I've found the discussion and speculation around Tabby's Star intriguing. This is the one where a near-steady ~ 0.3 - 2% dimming per year is being observed, with intermittent, near instantaneous 1%-22% dips in brightness being observed anywhere from a month to a couple years apart. Many theories have been posed and many debunked. My favorite theory / debunk combination is that there is a vessel…
So I was researching on another technical musing, related to navigation in the solar system. And I really enjoyed this map I came across by Reddit user ucarion which shows the delta-v's required to get to different orbits of interest in the solar system. And its format is very intuitive, being the same as the globally popular subway map style. What I've been thinking about is a way for a vehicle…
(Images above come from here and here ) Somewhat out of character for this blog, I wanted to post an item more technical than nature than anything else. This is because somewhere, evidently way deep inside this more managerially oriented head, is something still resembling an engineer. So what I've been thinking about a in the back of my mind a lot is hydrofoil-borne and Wing-In-Ground (often…
My first Goa post I wrote most of a decade ago. A lot's changed - for example, the "King of Good Times" Vijay Malia's Kingfisher Villa in Candolim is in lien. Many, many more local Indians (who the vast majority are male) have arrived for the 2017 New Years' celebration, and relatively few foreigners. I've also changed. For example, this time, I haven't arrived alone. You see, last year, my wife…
Strasbourg, September 17 I should be studying right now, but I’m compelled to add some more notes to my journal, especially since it’s so easy to forget one’s activities after a few days. Friday I showed up for the last class of the week, according to the guide pedagogique emploi du temps, and found two others of our little quartet waiting for the instructor of Seminaire Pratiques d’ecriture [MS1]…
Strasbourg, September 12, 2013 Before I start the next set of events, I want to mention once incident which took place the same day I had the encounter with the bus driver (Tuesday September 10). I did some food shopping at a good-sized market in the neighborhood, and on my list was some cheese. I am very partial to Bel Paese (Italian) but the lady at the cheese counter had never heard of it.…
Strasbourg, Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Sunday morning was a rush getting my bags packed, having breakfast, checking out of the hotel and supervising my luggage into a taxi waiting for me per prearrangement. There were now three pieces, plus the backpack, the third being a huge one weighing over 20 kilos (over 45 pounds) which had been fed-exed the week before. My hostess greeted me warmly on my…
I'm very pleased and proud to be putting up this guest post on behalf of my mother, Marie. Ever since our visit together in France in 2008 (described towards the beginning of this blog) we've been planning to get her set up in France to study abroad here. You see, she's 70 years old, and happily very fit and also just retired. And get this,when she was in undergrad in the 1960's, she *majored* in…
The New York Times responded to Peter Thiel's nascent teachings at Stanford. Specifically, David Brooks was addressing the concept of competition located here. Like the best articles, the comments make for an even better read than the content itself. I included two I thought would be most relevant to making today's post. So imagine my elation that Thiel and the Times' David Brooks alike are…
Hi guys! Rick Sheridan here - that's right the until recently anonymous author of this blog. I've got a new set of posts up at http://prodigalmba.rstoem.com . They describe a pretty different way of transacting than we're used to, but they may also reduce unemployment a little. I'm trying to get as much feedback as possible on them. Check out the posts starting from "Roll Your Own Currency", but…
(note the site is moving to http://prodigalmba.rstoem.com . . . !) Well I've participated in a few competitive grant program recently - and actually won one of them. The first was GreenStsrt. It's an incubator right in the middle of San Francisco. Unfortunately I didn't make that one. At that point the pivoting was undeveloped enough that I had to half-a$$ the application, and I'm sure they knew…
I'm a *big* fan of a stalwart like Harvard doing this with their business school curriculum http://www.economist.com/node/21541045 Why? Cuz I, well, did it - and still rockin' and rollin'. Just have to read this blog to see how it all has been playing out. Stay tuned for more, and bookmark The Walkabout Blog's new site at http://prodigalmba.rstoem.com !
November 5th is something called "Bank Transfer Day". It's getting especially propagated on the likes of Twitter with hashtags such as #banktransferday.         If I were either among BofA, Citibank, or Chase, (we can simply call them by their industry association name, the American Banker's Association or ABA) I would be shit-scared right now. Not necessarily over the Bank…
Recap: This is the second of two parts on market trialing of a hand dynamo phone charger called the K-Turn Monster. I'm conducting the trials in a rural part of India's Orissa state near a small town called Parlekhemundi. Orissa is a beautiful state with serene landscapes - the Eastern Ghat mountains are spaced with rice paddies in between them. Take a look: The previous post finished with the…
This is an interim post as I'm completing the (large) post for the recent India work. Indians recently have been supercharged by the protest, arrest, and fasting of a famous activist named Anna Hazare. (Anna's a man's name here). He's an older fellow associating himself with Gandhian tradition. He advocates the passage of a far-reaching anti-corruption bill in Parliament. The photo above shows the…
Although this is a personal blog, so much of my time is spent on efforts developing my company that I thought I would post some company updates here. To remind: I push forward my startup in marketing off-grid mobile phone chargers to markets in the developing world. The chargers run on mobile, hand-operated dynamos. I spent July in Shenzhen, securing exclusivity from my supplier of unique product…
I found the attached image supremely inspiring :) - Which is he more likely to become one day, a finance spreadsheet wizard or a CEO? Enjoy :)
Wow, the internet blocking here in mainland China has become really difficult - Even mobile email status updates don't work anymore. Sorry for seeming out of touch everyone, always here, be back in a week and a half. General update: Shenzhen is changing fast, this fascinating city is whitewashing itself in preparation for summer sports games. For better or for worse, it's definitely starting to…