Lies

You fill people with a sense of hope

Every word that you utter

Rolls off your tongue so smoothly

Just like melted butter

Your lies are preconceived

And all truth has been eschewed

You don’t hesitate to deceive the innocent

How can you be so crude?

Weaving webs of fraud and deception

Without the slightest regard

As to where your actions may lead you

You only wish to remain unmarred

All too soon, however, it happens

Your lies have matched your stride

They catch up and ultimately reveal you

For whom you are deep down inside

It is then that you look around you

At the world which you have conjured

And realize the fouls you’ve committed

How many people you have falsely lured

As you attempt to break past the barrier

That separates your world from ours

You are met with unfriendly looks

Faces of contempt, distrust, and scowls

Desperate to regain the trust

Which you have strived to develop for years

You plead and beg for absolution

Gradually, your eyes give way to tears

Unwilling at first, to forgive

The lies and havoc you’ve created

Your friends and family begin to contemplate

All the people you’ve truly frustrated

You allowed the lies to wholly consume you

Leaving not a trace of originality behind

You gave them the key to yourself

And eventually, they overtook your mind

But now that you’ve taken over the reins

Of your mind, body, and soul

I strongly urge you to remember

To ensure those lies never regain control.

Gene Talk

Several diseases in our world have taken their toll on many innocent lives, some of which, researchers have not yet discovered the cure for. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes, HIV AIDS, Parkinson’s and cancer have produced drastic effects, compelling several doctors and scientists to unveil the truth behind diseases, why they occur, how to slow down their progression, and in some instances, even prevent them.

Fortunately, several technology companies such as IBM have pledged their support towards discovering the direct causes and preventions of many incurable diseases by initiating an IBM Research Project. This project, entitled the Blue Gene Project, was inaugurated by IBM, the Thomas J. Watson Research Center, the Lawrence Livermore National Library, and the U.S Department of Energy in December 1999. The Blue Gene project is a research project aimed at unearthing the frontiers in computer architecture by designing several supercomputers built to reach speeds in the PFLOPS (petaFlops) range, or one quadrillion calculations per second (this is extremely fast). Four different Blue Gene projects are in development, namely-: Blue Gene/L, Blue Gene/P, Blue Gene/C, and Blue Gene/Q.

In order for scientists and medical microbiologists to emerge with revolutionary solutions to prevent complex diseases that occur due to the misfolding of proteins, they require massive supercomputers and sophisticated algorithms to analyze the mechanisms behind protein folding, which was why the Blue Gene Project was founded.

Proteins are basically composed of amino acids arranged in long chain molecules. As enzymes, they play a vital role in all of the biochemical reactions which occur in the body, and as antibodies they recognize invading elements and allow the immune system to destroy all unwanted invaders. However, in order for proteins to execute there important roles, it is essential that they transform from their polypeptide form, into a fold or three-dimensional shape. This transformation is known as protein folding. However, when a coil polypeptide folds incorrectly, inactive proteins are produced which eventually clump together or “aggregate” causing lumps to form in an area of the body. This defect ultimately leads to the rise of diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cystic fibrosis, Mad Cow disease, and several types of cancer.

It is extremely astonishing to know that proteins assemble into their fold as fast as in a millionth of a second, giving just cause for companies such as IBM to develop supercomputers built to reach a high range of speed in order to simulate a bimolecular phenomenon like protein folding and discover how proteins fold so quickly and reliably and to identify what happens when this process goes awry.

The Blue Gene Project was awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by the U.S. president, Barack Obama, on September 18, 2009, and one of its supercomputers, Blue Gene/L, was announced as the world’s fastest computer because it had exceeded the NEC Earth Simulator with a speed of 36.01 TFLOPS.

Looking towards the future, The Blue Gene Project is focused on developing several new Blue Gene systems in order to experiment nuclear simulations and advance their scientific research.

S

The Future....

It feels like my life is flashing before my eyes, and before I know it, I'll be off to college, competing with the big dogs, determined to make my stance in this world.

Personally, I feel, that as a freshman in high school, I shouldn't have to worry much about my future just yet. In fact, it's during this year that I should enjoy myself as much as I possibly can, for the world of 10th grade which awaits me, is like a roller coaster ride.... one which I may not have a firm grip on.

At this moment in my life however, I feel as if I'm a rubber band who is being being pulled in one million different directions, and and is about to reach the maximum stretching point.
On the one hand, I am ecstatic for the college life that awaits me, yet at the same time, I refuse to "abandon" my family and venture out into the world displaying independence. It would be like refusing life support during Coma!

In truth though, everyone will have to fly away from their nest one day, and in my case, that day is looming nearer and nearer. Rest assured, I still have four years left of my career as a student, and I truly do want to make the most of them. The best part is, I have a fairly strong idea of which path I am going to choose in the years to come...a path which will allow me to search deep within myself, in order to discover the truth that lies inside of me.

However, no matter what obstacles I may have to overcome, and no matter how tediously I am going to have to work, I know that one day, I WILL fulfill all of my dreams, and I know that I WILL make myself proud.

Now, some may assume that after high school, a cycle will have ended, a chapter will have closed. On the contrary however, a cycle will have just started, a chapter will have just begun. :)