Science? Nature? Science? Nature? Science and Nature!

Peter publishes in both!

Read all about it in this week's issue of Science. Not hard to find, because Science only publishes two major research research articles -- it's the one by Peter H Sudmant et al that you'll want to snuggle up with.

What's that? You read Nature but not Science? No problem. Peter also has an article in Nature --the cover story on the 1000 genome project with other scientists pitching in. But Nature didn't want you to miss out on a single thing. That's why the web cover has a related articles link pointing you right back to you know who! Just click on the link, Nature readers, and its right back to our Peter!

West Coast of Ireland

SCENE. An Island off the West of Ireland.
(Cottage kitchen, with nets, oil-skins, spinning wheel, some new boards standing by the wall, etc. Cathleen, a girl of about twenty, finishes kneading cake, and puts it down in the pot-oven by the fire; then wipes her hands, and begins to spin at the wheel. Nora, a young girl, puts her head in at the door.)

...CATHLEEN. Is the sea bad by the white rocks, Nora?

NORA. Middling bad, God help us. There's a great roaring in the west, and it's worse it'll be getting when the tide's turned to the wind...

-From John Millington Synge's Riders to the Sea

I travelled this weekend to Inis Mor, the largest of the Aran Islands, and had a lovely time riding a rented bike along the island's small roads, which are enclosed on either side by ancient looking stone walls. Scattered everywhere on the island are beautiful old stone enclosures, many of which still have animals roaming around in them, munching on tufts of grass. It was really quite spectacular biking along these winding old roads, which occasionally ran by old thatched roofed cottages overlooking rugged cliffs and

the open Atlantic ocean. At a very high point on the island sits a massive three thousand year old ring fort that clings to the edge of sharp cliffs. There were no signs or barriers lining the cliffs, and while many people lay face down to poke their heads over the cliff edge, I was content to sit further back where I could still look across the whole island and the ocean while enjoying the breeze. I was also glad to have read Synge's Riders to the Sea before coming to this island; observing some of the old fishing boats in the harbour made me imagine what type of scene Synge might have observed when he came to the Aran islands to study the culture and language. Truly a magnificent place, essential to my Irish experience!

In Bruges

Hey guys, Happy Thanksgiving!.. if you're celebrating that is. I was going to make a thanksgiving dinner with people here but we found out too late that turkeys are usually only sold around christmas time... so we're making chicken and other tasty things instead. I just got back this morning from Belgium. Walter, you were saying that Brussels isn't a very nice city, but I found it to be rather nice, lots of cool old european looking buildings and fun little old french taverns.
The beer was also a very cool part of the experience: they are famous for the hundreds of different types of beers they have, some are called abbey beers, and there are fruit beers; these sound like they would be bad and too sweet, but some are actually quite good if not interesting. Some are just like really good quality tasting cider, but others are really interesting in that they taste slightly sweet and bitter at the same time, and have a lovely spritsyness to them. One I had was called "gueze", and was my favourite, and another one I had tasted like a cross between a stout, mixed with some sweetness and something tasting like the spices used in christmas ham. Most places I went to had a massive selection of beers, and I didn't end up even getting to sample stella artois; I figured that would be boring. My friends and I met up with Byron in Brussels and we took a train to Bruges, which is a gorgeous town filled with lovely buildings, canals and bridges; just what one would like to find in an old european city. We also stopped in Ghent on the way back, which was also a very nice medieval looking town with canals and cathedrals and whatnot...trop charmant! I took 498 pictures, some of which im trying to put on picassa which won't work right now...Anywho, hope you guys are making some tasty turkey over there, ill try to get some picture up soon if ya like!

Malcolm Gladwell and HHDL (His Holiness the Dalai Lama)

Really fantastic New Yorker this week. I would highly suggest two columns. The first, is Malcolm Gladwell, Why the revolution will not be tweeted. Whether you are a fan of Gladwell or not it is extraordinarily enjoyable to read a piece about how completely bullshit it is to assert that 255 character tweets are capable of motivating the masses and bringing about social revolution and change. "Facebook activism succeeds not by motivating people to make a real sacrifice but motivating them to do the things that people do when they are not motivated enough to make a real sacrifice." OK. that's pretty standard Gladwell pith, but, for gods sake just because you're plugged into daily Darfur tweets doesn't mean a damn thing about your commitment to anything.

The second article is about the worlds most beloved lama (the Dalai), giggly and mischievous and turning 75. But what, with the prospect of choosing a successor looming and discontent brewing in Tibet, does the future hold for a lama who himself says "retirement is also my human right." In 1989 after the death of the Panchen Lama, "the second most prominent lama in in Tibet," a six year old boy was chosen as his reincarnation by the Dalai Lama. "Chinese authorities were incensed by the Dalai Lama's involvement from abroad , and the boy and his family were placed in seclusion. They have not been seen since." In fact, the Chinese government has gone so far as to as to stipulate "that it has ultimate authority over the management of living Buddha reincarnation." As the article notes, this quite astounding given the officially atheist standing of the Communist Party. A really fascinating look at a Nobel laureate who never travelled to the West until he was nearly 40, and to this day has no passport. Incidentally, followers can keep track of the Dalai Lama on Twitter, just search for HHDL (His Holiness the Dalai Lama).