Cambridge is pretty. I like space.

Hannah and I went to explore out deeper into Cambridge this evening. I have discovered that there are A LOT of different pubs around, there are quite a few beautiful buildings, streets, and alleyways, and that there are centuries of history that just hang around and are mostly background.
We're definitely going to try to do some more exploring this weekend, but we also may try to go out to some old Roman ruins- lots of history to cover. I love history! This is why I'm a double major.

Castle Hill, William the Conqueror

View from Castle Hill

More from Castle Hill

It's a bee's nest! Oooh! let's get close and take pictures!

Snail/slug. kewl.

Those are definitely snails.

It rained a lot again today, so we have a lot of muddy shoes and pant legs hanging about, but it was worth it. I've decided I really like summer rain. It's cool but not freezing, its more likely to have thunder and lightning hanging around, and it sounds absolutely beautiful on the leaves of these glorious trees they have everywhere. I'm glad I brought my umbrella though. I didn't actually think I would have to use it.

Raining in Cambridge! Photo taken from reputedly the oldest bookshop in England.

In case you are wondering, my test went really well. There were a few questions for which Dr. Kimbrell was expecting one answer and a large portion of the class interpreted it differently, so there was some friction in the self-grading process, but if my particular issue (in which I am technically correct but her answer is more likely to happen and more simple) comes out in my favor, I will have a really really good score on the test. So even if it doesn't, I still did well. Yay!

I also had a really great conversation with her today about her research and the research I would like to do. For those of you who don't know, Dr. Kimbrell studies Drosphilia flies and their immune systems. No one thought they really had immune systems until she started working in the field. Recently (a couple of months ago), she sent some flies to the international space station to see how low gravity environments and travel in space might affect their immune system. I was wowed by this and was subsequently convinced to come to Davis.
Having gotten her flies back, she has apparently discovered that the are indeed affected by space travel. For some reason, flies in space don't respond to fungal infections. Go figure!
I am particularly interested in her research because it is very similar to what I would like to do. I am interested in studying the effects of space travel on the epigenome, the pattern of expression of genes in your cells. I've talked to several professors about it before, and they have all been surprised because they hadn't considered it before. According to Professor Kimbrell, no one is yet studying it, but it is going to be the next thing to come up. Perfect timing for me I hope! I would LOVE to help pioneer this field. It would be so totally awesome!
Anyways, I just had to geek out about that to you guys.
Tomorrow, the class is going to the Sanger institute (sanger is the guy who invented DNA sequencing). I'll tell you guys what happens later.
See ya!

Oh yeah- I eat here also. The not-so-fancy place.