A Letter For Angela Zhang

Dear Angela,

When I heard the news that you, at your young, sprite-filled age of 17, have just created a cancer-killing nanoparticle, a flood, no, a torrent of emotions came rushing in. A heady mixture, for sure, but know one thing: I am in awe of what you have just accomplished.

(Photo courtesy of geek.com)

17 seems like a long time ago, for me, anyway. But what I do remember from my 17 was:

(1) I tried out smoking for the first time, and stayed with it for years.
(2) I was present in my classes only in the physical sense.
(3) I was more excited about the possibilities of a life outside of school.

Years later, I am seeing the same thing repeated in this generation's 17's, in a different context. There seems to be an inordinate obsession with fame, regardless of what one has achieved intellectually, physically, socially. It doesn't matter, as long as you're famous. So you see all the gyrating onscreen, on national television, by kids who should be burying their noses in mounds of textbooks, or teenagers getting into fights just so the "local media" will get a whiff of their "event".

Yes, you may be a genius. (Which means you are in the minority in a statistical sense, and only in that sense.) But beyond that, you have shown me, and everyone else, what single-mindedness, dedication and passion can do, how it can be utilized, and funneled into something that potentially has the chance to change the course of cancer treatment - and humanity - forever. And you're only 17 - I can't imagine what other things you will continue to develop and create over the course of a lifetime that is singularly focused on honing what you have been gifted with.

I salute you, and wish you all the support that is possible to continue doing what you obviously derive great pleasure from. I can't imagine how incessantly proud your parents must be of you - we're not even related and already, I cannot help but feel pride in what you have achieved. Score one for humanity against cancer.

Shine a light, both for our teenagers, and for everyone else in this world. (How apropos that your work is somehow tangent to the world of imaging and optics.)

May you, and your tribe, not just increase, but go forth and multiply.

Sincerely,
The Guy With A Blog


Angela Zhang, 17, has just won $100,000.00, and the Grand Prize in the Individual Category of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. The title of her project was "Design of Image-Guided, Photo-thermal Controlled Releasing Multifunctional Nanosystem for the Treatment of Cancer Stem Cells." Let me quote from the article I am drawing this from:


"Her nanoparticle is award-winning due to the fact it has the potential to overcome cancer resistance while offering up the ability to monitor the effects of the treatment in real-time using existing imaging techniques."

To read more about Angela's achievement, click on this link. And be amazed.


http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/17-year-old-wins-100k-for-creating-cancer-killing-nanoparticle-2011128/

Why Science Inspires Faith In Me

The recent discovery of the fossil named Australopithecus sediba, found in a cave in South Africa, is generating considerable excitement in the scientific community, and rightfully so. It is said to be the oldest known fossil that is tied with our genus Homo, and speculations and arguments have arisen whether or not this strengthens the "missing link between apes and humans" idea or whether this discovery will lead us to another, entirely new path about the origins of man. (See
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Mans-earliest-ancestor-found/articleshow/9930817.cms)

(Photo courtesy of anthropology.net.)

In either case, I welcome the discovery, as well as the ensuing discussions that will no doubt come, because all it does is strengthen my faith in science, in a way that no religion ever could.

You see, science never stops asking questions.

If it did, we would never wonder about gravity, nor have found out on which body our solar system is anchored on. We would just readily submit having cancer as our "fate", or as a "punishment" of sorts. We would never discover that all our emotions are somehow tied to chemical reactions in the body, and that what we think can ultimately affect the body itself. We would never think that humans could one day actually fly out into outer space - or even merely fly, period.

Science is never arrogant.

It demands proof, hard evidence, before it accepts something as truth or fact. It doesn't ever have the audacity to ask anyone to believe in a concept "because I said so!". Once a new discovery is laid on the table, it is open for anyone to challenge, as to how this discovery came to be, how it works and what to make of it. It invites everyone to be part of its' scrutiny, because facts have to withstand any and all questions, no matter how intense or "unfair", in order to be accepted into our body of knowledge.

Science changes with each and every new revelation.

It is not stagnant - for if it was, we would never have cars, computers or contact lenses. And in so short a span of time, they have transformed into space shuttles, tablets and laser surgery. Whenever changes, tweaks, improvements or entirely new ideas come our way, science embraces it with open arms. It doesn't shut anything out, just because "we like how it's always been done, we stick with the old ways!"; instead, with each new revelation, it builds upon what it already knows, and furthers our species and our lives with this attitude.

Science does not have a titular figure.

Instead, anyone is able to bring their own expertise into the equation. Scientists - in general - have this burning desire to make unknown things known, and to share this knowledge with anyone who cares to listen. Voltaire, Curie, Einstein - these are but three in a long list of scientists who have made their mark felt, known, and beneficial to humanity, making the field of science richer the day they left us than the day they entered it, and this heritage has not stopped, it is a continuous process that, in the truest sense of the word, evolves before our very eyes.

Science readily admits it doesn't have all the answers.

How could it? Even when talking about the brain alone, we have barely begun to scratch the surface of what its true potential is. Science is in awe of what it doesn't know, but instead of being frightened by that realization, it forges on with the desire to understand the what, the how, the why. It is never content with what it does know, knowing fully well that what we know now doesn't begin to compare to what we still don't know. It does not panic at the thought of uncertainty, it is challenged and fortified with each new uncertainty that is practically begging for comprehension.

I am excited at what new discoveries there are in our genetic code. I am excited that the stuff of science fiction have not just become scientific facts, they are fast becoming obsolete. Science is compelling, and it doesn't do it in a forceful way; it doesn't beat you on the head, it naturally invites curiosity, wonder and even amazement. It is inspiring, beautiful and wondrous.

Science is something that I appreciate more and more, its value only increasing with time. In an age of useless and empty rhetoric, blind adoration and allegiances, and idiotic forays and emasculation-caused displays of violence and superiority, I cling to the belief that science will surpass all of this, and continue to guide our people, to a hopeful, more enlightened future.

I will always have my faith in science.