Chemistry Experiments

We had a Bioinformatics Lab meeting today!
These meetings happen about every other week. The students and professors get together and make plans for seminars, event, or activities, talk about their individual research and the progress they are making, or problems they are encountering. Sometimes, one person prepares a talk about a recent paper (ideally, everyone read the paper beforehand, so that there can be ample discussion... but that doesn't happen everytime ;) )

An important part of the Bioinformatics Meetings is the collection of snacks that people bring. This time, someone brought in "Eskimos," which are little marshmallows shaped like eskimos (although I had a hard time determining any sort of shape other than an oblong blob...).
I didn't try one, but apparently they were very sweet, so someone came up with the glorious idea of burning them (to see how well they burn, and how long they last).



Our marshmallows did not burn too well (no, I don't think we can use them as rocket fuel...) :D

Later that day, I went to see a Chinese movie put on by the University of Auckland Dessert Club. Yes, you read that right - they have an official Dessert Club!

The dessert of the evening was shaved ice, the same kind that I'd had last week.
The movie they showed was called "Infernal Affairs," and it's actually the original version of "The Departed." I didn't know that, but Hollywood did a good job copying the Chinese version - the stories are the same!
I liked the movie a lot - sometimes, reading the subtitles are a little tiring, but it had its funny moments and good music! One of the main characters looked familiar, and I found out that he also starred in House of the Flying Daggers.