Polio virus, benevolent or virulent?

Polio virus to kill malignant brain cancer instead of causing paralysis? Too good to be true. It seems like Duke Uni. is making a miracle according to CBS "60 Minutes" tonight. In the US, 12,000 patients died of glioblastoma (惡性膠質腦瘤,12% of all primary brain cancers). Now, doctors can inject re-engineered polio virus into the brain and let polio virus fight with glioblastoma cells during which the dormant human immune system awakes and continues to do the majority of glioblastoma cancer eliminations. This immunotherapy has a stunning success rate with 50% of patients showing the continuous cancer cell shrinkage, even at phase 1 without knowing the appropriate dose, . Cancer is usually dubbed as "emperor of all maladies". Now, there is a slight glimmer at the end of tunnel to fight with cancer.   http://www.cbsnews.com/news/polio-cancer-treatment-duke-university-60-minutes-scott-pelley/

Efficacy of Common Core State Standards tests

Before the end of next month, 5 million 3-to-11-grade students in 10 states in the U.S. will take standardized tests of CCSS (Common Core State Standards) which are designed to reform the US education and, most importantly, to spur the critical thinking. It's not surprising that many students complain that the tests are too hard since some of them lack the long-term training of critical thinking. Time will tell the efficacy of these national standardized tests since schools and teachers are partially held accountable for these testing results. Taiwan has no such accountability-embedded national standardized tests.   

most expensive shipping?

This 0.3M-pixel camera costs US $16,900 plus US $1,762 shipping. Who wants to pay US $1,762 for shipping even this is ITAR-controlled product and only US citizens are allowed to purchase it?  http://www.amazon.com/FLIR-Systems-ThermoSight-640x480-P66000-030000/dp/B00NBW88US/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426816809&sr=8-1&keywords=flir+640

cognitive peak

From the recent article in http://newsoffice.mit.edu/…/brain-peaks-at-different-ages-0…, it seems like only the vocabulary that I have not reached the peak. All others have been on the slippery slope.   

Take a nap in the work time

Google offers one perk that FB does not have, napping pod. I wonder how many perks that can satisfy whippersnappers.  

Princeton Uni. Art Museum

The donation, endowment and bequest of the powerful alumni of Princeton Uni. make Princeton Uni. Art Museum among one of the 15 best small-town museums. The collections of this art museum span globally and into 5,000 years of history. To be the No. 1 university in the whole world is really privileged.
http://photos.nj.com/the-times/2015/03/princeton_university_art_museu_3.html

God is fair

God is fair. If your CAG (genetic C,A,G letters) repeat in DNA segment is more (average is 17), you are smarter. However, if your CAG repeat number is more than 35, you are at the risk of developing Huntington's. Faustian bargain has never been free.  http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21645713-could-key-evolution-human-brain-be-found-dreadful

mellifluous melody "Love to You Taiwan"

Mellifluous melody "Love to You Taiwan" with idyllic video that evokes nostalgic memory of the beauty of Taiwan   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5m5ql7JDV4

garbled patent disclosure

I start to wonder how solid the engineering background that patent lawyers have. Today, I need to change at least one-third of the patent disclosure. Lawyers may be versed in legalese but do not seem to have any obvious electrical engineering background. Probably IC designers have no motivation to become patent lawyers.  

carcinogen-carrying floor panels in many US households

CBS 60-Minutes has an alarming episode tonight, the laminated floor panels in many households made by Lumber Liquidators contain formaldehyde (甲醛), a carcinogen. It seems like Lumber Liquidators only has sales channels in US and none in Taiwan. All these carcinogen-carrying floor panels were made in China to "save cost".

Income equality in public transit system

If you are poor, you pay less when taking bus or train. That is the benefit enjoyed by the poor residents in King County in Seattle starting from today. One of the approaches to battle income inequality?   http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/01/us/targeting-inequality-this-time-on-public-transit.html