Joulun ja uuden vuoden aika on monessa perheessä rankkaa. Tuntuu kovin polarisoivalta juhlalta - lisäksi kun itselle ja läheisille on käynyt tapahtumia lähiaikoina, mitkä ovat pistäneet miettimään elämää ja elämistä. Tässä siitä jotain pöytälaatikosta vuoden päätteeksi.
Lähdit pois
Viivana vaimeana kirkonkirjoissa
Tyhjyys tyynenä frontaalilohkossa
Jälkensä jäänteet hautakivessä
Kaiverrettuna kaipuu sydämessä
Jossittelun kaikki mahdolliset jälkiviisaat polut
Tavaan toistamiseen ympyrässä muistojen tomut
Liekkisi kun ei vain ole enää kytemässä täällä
Tuhkaantui pala minuakin ajattomuuden äärellä
Sanovat saapuneen satamaan
Jäähyväisensä jätti kotirantaan
Mielen ja materian maailmaan
Tietoisuuden taakatta tuskattomaan
Olin kanssasi matkakumppanina häviävän hetken
Tovin matkaa kai taitimme elon usvaisen retken
Todellisuuden veistäjän teokseen lopulta kuin loven
Viima vaihtui vieraaksi kautta avaamasi ulko-oven
sunnuntai 30. joulukuuta 2018
maanantai 24. joulukuuta 2018
My only Christmas gift 2018
The only Christmas gift I made/gave this year was an open & ad-free mobile game designed by my older daughter Elea when she was 3; today was the first public release of "Princess Versus Creeps", tested by my 2 and 4 year olds: https://youtu.be/gJG-n7E3Tuw
All assets and source code are openly available at: https://github.com/Syksy/PVC
keskiviikko 28. marraskuuta 2018
The dawn of a utopian or a dystopian society for the humankind?
Just in case somebody might've missed it, we possibly just entered a new era of "humankind" just now.
Reports indicate that the Chinese researcher Jiankui He from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen China has produced a trial in which two babies, whose embryos have been altered using the CRISPR/Cas9-technology, have possibly been born. The Chinese researcher He has declined to give conclusive confirmation to the trial (probably waiting for an upcoming big scientific conference). Apparently the consensus is that a mother indeed gave birth to twins, in which one of the two babies - thanks to genetic editing - was born immune to the HIV virus due to experiment-driven changes to the CCR5 gene.
While CRISPR, a revolutionary technology, has been around for a while now, this is now the first reported case of actual human beings altered using CRISPR being born that I am aware of. Mostly ethical constraints and/or practicalities have so far prevented such experiments from being conducted - China to a degree might be a wild west of such experimentation, and have previously raised a lot of eye-brows with their rather liberal use of such techniques. Roughly speaking, Western countries have been more conservative in their use of such advances.
Obviously a lot of questions rise, both negative and positive; are we now playing God, and if so, should we? Are we now capable of saving people from otherwise lethal diseases - or, on the other hand, should we be doing that at all and instead let the natural course of things occur? Will us "vanilla" humans eventually vanish, and genetically tailored humans become the standard? Is this the beginning of the dawn of a utopian (i.e. repair fatal traits, ethical enhancement of our species) or dystopian future (e.g. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and its alpha/beta/.../epsilon-caste humans)? What traits are ethical to alter; IQ? Lethal diseases? Muscularity? Cognitive traits related to e.g. self restraints due to feeling empathy toward fellow human beings (i.e. military utility)?
This is just broad level food for though without going into technical details of whether such experimentation is safe or not and all the specific nuances of how such practices might alter the path for our species. This particular experiment also apparently falls into the grey area of whether or not this is "treatment" or "enhancement", as such technology is not truly available in countries where HIV is rampant. According to researchers working with the particular disease, HIV's not a disease that'd be ideal target for altering a potentially fatal trait in the first wave of such experimentation.
Some reading (there's already plenty even though the news are a couple days old):
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612458/exclusive-chinese-scientists-are-creating-crispr-babies/
http://time.com/5463741/crispr-human-babies/
Reports indicate that the Chinese researcher Jiankui He from the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen China has produced a trial in which two babies, whose embryos have been altered using the CRISPR/Cas9-technology, have possibly been born. The Chinese researcher He has declined to give conclusive confirmation to the trial (probably waiting for an upcoming big scientific conference). Apparently the consensus is that a mother indeed gave birth to twins, in which one of the two babies - thanks to genetic editing - was born immune to the HIV virus due to experiment-driven changes to the CCR5 gene.
While CRISPR, a revolutionary technology, has been around for a while now, this is now the first reported case of actual human beings altered using CRISPR being born that I am aware of. Mostly ethical constraints and/or practicalities have so far prevented such experiments from being conducted - China to a degree might be a wild west of such experimentation, and have previously raised a lot of eye-brows with their rather liberal use of such techniques. Roughly speaking, Western countries have been more conservative in their use of such advances.
Obviously a lot of questions rise, both negative and positive; are we now playing God, and if so, should we? Are we now capable of saving people from otherwise lethal diseases - or, on the other hand, should we be doing that at all and instead let the natural course of things occur? Will us "vanilla" humans eventually vanish, and genetically tailored humans become the standard? Is this the beginning of the dawn of a utopian (i.e. repair fatal traits, ethical enhancement of our species) or dystopian future (e.g. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and its alpha/beta/.../epsilon-caste humans)? What traits are ethical to alter; IQ? Lethal diseases? Muscularity? Cognitive traits related to e.g. self restraints due to feeling empathy toward fellow human beings (i.e. military utility)?
This is just broad level food for though without going into technical details of whether such experimentation is safe or not and all the specific nuances of how such practices might alter the path for our species. This particular experiment also apparently falls into the grey area of whether or not this is "treatment" or "enhancement", as such technology is not truly available in countries where HIV is rampant. According to researchers working with the particular disease, HIV's not a disease that'd be ideal target for altering a potentially fatal trait in the first wave of such experimentation.
Some reading (there's already plenty even though the news are a couple days old):
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612458/exclusive-chinese-scientists-are-creating-crispr-babies/
http://time.com/5463741/crispr-human-babies/
sunnuntai 18. marraskuuta 2018
PhD, 16th of November 2018
Dear all,
10 years ago I started my journey at the University of Turku, or 12 years ago in Aalto University (TKK, Teknillinen Korkeakoulu back then). I stepped into Turku Centre of Biotechnology as a summer intern in 2008 before my Bachelor's, without knowing much of anything, and I was handed over ChIP-seq data and so I became a "data scientist" (without even realizing it). I had no idea what is science (really), how it is done, what people in science are like, and I was frankly quite puzzled. Suddenly my project turned into a Bachelor's thesis at TKK and my first scientific paper, which is still probably my most cited publication. After a series of events I found myself a "PhD student" in 2013.
On Friday we got to celebrate the academic milestone that I now got the right to the title of a PhD after defending my thesis of applying mathematical modeling, statistics, and machine learning in prostate cancer. I hate titles to be frank, but I do value the ever-dripping hourglass of time and events that have come my way. The true meaning of PhD is not so much of the destination (a fancy title and/or "prestige" - I still smell as much of fart and sweat as before obtaining such a title), but rather much more about the journey. I am but a small man, but I dream that some day, somewhere, some patient undergoing a lethal disease will receive better treatment or advice because of something that might've been derived from my work. If there is even one such occurrence, this has been worth it - all else is dust in the wind. This journey is now at an interesting junction thanks to many colleagues (many of whom I am *extremely* happy to also call friends), hard work, mixture of success and failure, a good pinch of curiosity, something of a strange brew of luck and skill, sleepless nights, and special people like Essi without whom this wouldn't have been possible.
I tried to invite as many of you as possible to join me in the celebration, as it has luckily not been a hermit's journey. Thank you to all of you present and also absent, who brought meaning to this task. There were over 80 of you at the defense and over 60 at the Karonkka (the evening party; roughly translates to "Coronation" or "Crowning" in English), but I haven't forgotten the ones who couldn't make it in person.
I don't know where the winds will take me or those that are my companions in life. The following is Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken", which can be (mis)interpreted in many ways. I would say to me it's of the paths we take; looking back questioning our ways and choices, but with a glance to the future acknowledging that whether the road was the better or the worse, it was the path chosen in this gracefully granted sole life that we travel:
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
10 years ago I started my journey at the University of Turku, or 12 years ago in Aalto University (TKK, Teknillinen Korkeakoulu back then). I stepped into Turku Centre of Biotechnology as a summer intern in 2008 before my Bachelor's, without knowing much of anything, and I was handed over ChIP-seq data and so I became a "data scientist" (without even realizing it). I had no idea what is science (really), how it is done, what people in science are like, and I was frankly quite puzzled. Suddenly my project turned into a Bachelor's thesis at TKK and my first scientific paper, which is still probably my most cited publication. After a series of events I found myself a "PhD student" in 2013.
On Friday we got to celebrate the academic milestone that I now got the right to the title of a PhD after defending my thesis of applying mathematical modeling, statistics, and machine learning in prostate cancer. I hate titles to be frank, but I do value the ever-dripping hourglass of time and events that have come my way. The true meaning of PhD is not so much of the destination (a fancy title and/or "prestige" - I still smell as much of fart and sweat as before obtaining such a title), but rather much more about the journey. I am but a small man, but I dream that some day, somewhere, some patient undergoing a lethal disease will receive better treatment or advice because of something that might've been derived from my work. If there is even one such occurrence, this has been worth it - all else is dust in the wind. This journey is now at an interesting junction thanks to many colleagues (many of whom I am *extremely* happy to also call friends), hard work, mixture of success and failure, a good pinch of curiosity, something of a strange brew of luck and skill, sleepless nights, and special people like Essi without whom this wouldn't have been possible.
I tried to invite as many of you as possible to join me in the celebration, as it has luckily not been a hermit's journey. Thank you to all of you present and also absent, who brought meaning to this task. There were over 80 of you at the defense and over 60 at the Karonkka (the evening party; roughly translates to "Coronation" or "Crowning" in English), but I haven't forgotten the ones who couldn't make it in person.
I don't know where the winds will take me or those that are my companions in life. The following is Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken", which can be (mis)interpreted in many ways. I would say to me it's of the paths we take; looking back questioning our ways and choices, but with a glance to the future acknowledging that whether the road was the better or the worse, it was the path chosen in this gracefully granted sole life that we travel:
"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."
keskiviikko 3. lokakuuta 2018
Theater (in Finnish): Taru Sormusten Herrasta @ Turun Kaupunginteatteri
(Lord of the Rings @ Turku City Theatre; dialogue in Finnish so hard to follow for non-speakers, albeit if you're die-hard fan you could still follow and enjoy it.)
Taru Sormusten Herrasta @ Turun Kaupunginteatteri oli parhain teatterikokemukseni ikinä tähän mennessä, tosin en ole tällä saralla mikään pro. Älä lue pitemmälle jos haluat välttyä mahdollisilta spoilereilta. Näytelmä oli suomenkielinen, joten kansainväliset kaverit eivät dialogista pääse perille. Arvosana: vahva 4½/5.
Koko trilogia neljään tuntiin (kaksi välitaukoa); lavasteet, akrobatia ja oheistilpehööri ihan Andrew Lloyd Webber -tasoa, mikä on aika kova fiitti ottaen huomioon että kyseessä on kuitenkin Suomen Turku; kyseessä ei ole tosin musikaali. Näytelmä ammensi sekä alkuperäisestä kirjasarjasta (esim. Tom Bombadil mukana) että leffasta s.e. tietyt skenet (esim. Klonkun viimeset otteet Mt. Doomilla sormuksen kanssa ja Gandalf vs. Balrog -standoff) oli ihan yks yhteen ja ne muistu lavasteiden kanssa mieleen elävästi, vaikka en oo vuosikymmeneen nähny trilogiaa. Lisäksi oltiin tehty omia sovitusvalintoja, esim. Gondorin osuutta oli vähennetty huomattavasti (ainoa maininta oli Eowynin lyhyt taisto Minas Tirithissä Nazgul-noitakuningasta vastaan) ja Isildurin kiroama haamukansa puuttui kokonaan. Sinällään kuitenkin kova veto saada abouttiis koko trilogia menemään näppärästi neljään tuntiin. Esim. valtasormuksen "viettelys" saatiin kuvattua oikein hyvin ja osa näyttelijöistä erityisen oivallisia (esim. Klonkku, muitakaan vähättelemättä).
Ainoina semi-nurinan kohteina:
1) Jos ei ole nähnyt leffoja tai lukenut kirjoja, niin tietyt juonenkäänteet etenee aika harppaillen ja "puhtaalta" pöydältä voi olla vaikea ymmärtää mitä tapahtuu (esim. miksi Konkari onkin yhtäkkiä kuningas jne, tietyt muut poliittiset käänteet). Jos ei ymmärrä/muista taustaa, niin osa hahmojen ihmissuhteista jää juonenkäänteiden lisäksi aika pintaraapaisuiksi (esim. Gimli ja Legolas, ja heidän ystävyyden merkitys ottaen huomioon kääpiöiden ja haltioiden pitkä vihanpito taustalla). Eli esim. en ehkä veis tyyliin omia vanhempiani kattomaan, koska eivät tietääkseni ole nähneet leffoja ja kirjatkin ovat varmasti painuneet pitkälti unholaan, jos ovat niitä lukeneet.
2) Ne merkittävät isot taistelukohtaukset mitkä olivat mukana näytelmässä (esim. Minas Tirith, Rautapiha) ovat hyvin vaatimattomia, mutta tän antaa anteeksi kun pistää kontekstiin, että on yritetty improta n. 20 näyttelijän porukalla. Silti jää kaipaamaan "sitä jotakin", mutta toisaalta tässä on "leffa-bias" - siellä isot taistelukohtaukset kun oli 2000-alkupuolen herkkua ja muistaakseni varsin laadukkaita.
Näine pienine kritiikkikohtineen oikein mainio käynti.
Taru Sormusten Herrasta @ Turun Kaupunginteatteri oli parhain teatterikokemukseni ikinä tähän mennessä, tosin en ole tällä saralla mikään pro. Älä lue pitemmälle jos haluat välttyä mahdollisilta spoilereilta. Näytelmä oli suomenkielinen, joten kansainväliset kaverit eivät dialogista pääse perille. Arvosana: vahva 4½/5.
Koko trilogia neljään tuntiin (kaksi välitaukoa); lavasteet, akrobatia ja oheistilpehööri ihan Andrew Lloyd Webber -tasoa, mikä on aika kova fiitti ottaen huomioon että kyseessä on kuitenkin Suomen Turku; kyseessä ei ole tosin musikaali. Näytelmä ammensi sekä alkuperäisestä kirjasarjasta (esim. Tom Bombadil mukana) että leffasta s.e. tietyt skenet (esim. Klonkun viimeset otteet Mt. Doomilla sormuksen kanssa ja Gandalf vs. Balrog -standoff) oli ihan yks yhteen ja ne muistu lavasteiden kanssa mieleen elävästi, vaikka en oo vuosikymmeneen nähny trilogiaa. Lisäksi oltiin tehty omia sovitusvalintoja, esim. Gondorin osuutta oli vähennetty huomattavasti (ainoa maininta oli Eowynin lyhyt taisto Minas Tirithissä Nazgul-noitakuningasta vastaan) ja Isildurin kiroama haamukansa puuttui kokonaan. Sinällään kuitenkin kova veto saada abouttiis koko trilogia menemään näppärästi neljään tuntiin. Esim. valtasormuksen "viettelys" saatiin kuvattua oikein hyvin ja osa näyttelijöistä erityisen oivallisia (esim. Klonkku, muitakaan vähättelemättä).
Ainoina semi-nurinan kohteina:
1) Jos ei ole nähnyt leffoja tai lukenut kirjoja, niin tietyt juonenkäänteet etenee aika harppaillen ja "puhtaalta" pöydältä voi olla vaikea ymmärtää mitä tapahtuu (esim. miksi Konkari onkin yhtäkkiä kuningas jne, tietyt muut poliittiset käänteet). Jos ei ymmärrä/muista taustaa, niin osa hahmojen ihmissuhteista jää juonenkäänteiden lisäksi aika pintaraapaisuiksi (esim. Gimli ja Legolas, ja heidän ystävyyden merkitys ottaen huomioon kääpiöiden ja haltioiden pitkä vihanpito taustalla). Eli esim. en ehkä veis tyyliin omia vanhempiani kattomaan, koska eivät tietääkseni ole nähneet leffoja ja kirjatkin ovat varmasti painuneet pitkälti unholaan, jos ovat niitä lukeneet.
2) Ne merkittävät isot taistelukohtaukset mitkä olivat mukana näytelmässä (esim. Minas Tirith, Rautapiha) ovat hyvin vaatimattomia, mutta tän antaa anteeksi kun pistää kontekstiin, että on yritetty improta n. 20 näyttelijän porukalla. Silti jää kaipaamaan "sitä jotakin", mutta toisaalta tässä on "leffa-bias" - siellä isot taistelukohtaukset kun oli 2000-alkupuolen herkkua ja muistaakseni varsin laadukkaita.
Näine pienine kritiikkikohtineen oikein mainio käynti.
tiistai 1. toukokuuta 2018
Ad Nihilo
So somebody happened to post on /r/nihilism with an idea for a competition of nihilism, with the best poem rewarded with nothing, naturally. Quickly scooped this up from old remains so I'll have to polish it a bit down stream, but I felt confident enough to post it there-in.
On a seemingly ordinary Monday
Existence promptly ceased to exist
Concept too desensitized to persist
I perceived my self mere electric
Synapses emergent as ego-centric
Wirings not built to last a forever
But to fulfill some temporary fever
History's greatest moments of glory
Deepest pits of whatever is unholy
Melded into an ill-defined convergence
Mundane goals inane just as brilliance
Whenever infinity ends I'll be present
As particles I shall vanish that advent
Quantum memories floating in a void
Lingering residues of us all, destroyed
Ad Nihilo
A simple moment not so far awayOn a seemingly ordinary Monday
Existence promptly ceased to exist
Concept too desensitized to persist
I perceived my self mere electric
Synapses emergent as ego-centric
Wirings not built to last a forever
But to fulfill some temporary fever
History's greatest moments of glory
Deepest pits of whatever is unholy
Melded into an ill-defined convergence
Mundane goals inane just as brilliance
Whenever infinity ends I'll be present
As particles I shall vanish that advent
Quantum memories floating in a void
Lingering residues of us all, destroyed
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