Mike started researching the Ninja Women competition online as soon as they returned from the family farm. He found out that the competition was actually called “Kunoichi” (female warrior) in Japan and takes place at “Midoriyama” (Green Mountain) studios in northwest Yokohama.

Fortunately, Mike had kept in contact with many of his software colleagues around the world. Nobu was delighted to receive Mike’s e-mail and offered to contact the television station to get details on the application process. Nobu e-mailed back in less than a day.

“It’s a go!” he wrote. Mike could almost hear the excitement in Nobu’s voice. He wasn’t your average IT techie-nerd, that’s for sure. “I told them about your daughter-in-law and they’re hoping she’ll participate, since they’ve got a couple of openings left and they’re looking for diversity in age and ethnicity. I’ll help fill out the attached form. Come next March, Agnes will be on her way to Midoriyama.”

Mike was thrilled. He didn’t want to appear pushy, especially since it was only reluctantly that Mort and Agnes agreed to accept his funding the monthly “learning experience” trips on behalf of the twins. But that didn’t stop him from finding out as much as he could about the Ninja Women competition. Mort and Agnes both work and don’t have the time, he reasoned. Aggie did seem to be more than simply neutral on the idea and his son approved. What an experience it would be for the twins! Not only cultural, but seeing their mom in a totally new dimension. Even if she lost out early in the competition, it would be no matter. It would be a wonderful adventure for the whole family. Mike wished he might be able to go along too, but he felt that the lengthy trip would be too strenuous for him.

Mike called with the good news. Agnes was as much as accepted. “All you need to do is fill out the application,” Mike told Agnes.

“That’s ALL I need to do, Dad? That’s the EASY part. I’ve got to start training, and I don’t even know where to begin!” Her breathless excitement put Mike’s mind at ease. He wasn’t the pushy father-in-law after all. He was opening the door...no, paving the road...to a whole new dimension for his son’s family.

The Maloneys prepared to leave right after the cemetery’s memorial service as it was a long drive back home.

Mort took a peek inside the box Martha had prepared for their lunch picnic. Half the box was piled high with pork sandwiches and leftover chicken, a huge salad and strawberry pie, kept cool by several small blocks of “dry ice” wrapped in newspaper. The other half of the box contained reusable plastic plates, cups, utensils and tablecloth, along with paper napkins and several washcloths. Martha handed Agnes a small cloth shopping bag holding two big insulated travel bottles, one with coffee for the adults, the other with milk – cold milk – for the twins and a six-pack of bottled water for drinking and light clean-up.

"Frank, Martha, we really appreciate all your hospitality," Mort said, amazed and grateful for the warmth and generosity of their hosts.

"Not at all,” Martha replied. "We enjoyed your coming down here to see us and your children were such a big help with the chores. As a matter if fact, Frank and I were thinking that maybe Mal and Mel might like to spend a week with us next summer. Farms are wonderful places to see the wonders of life first-hand."

"That's quite an offer," Agnes said with a wink and a nod to the twins. "You don't know what you might be getting into. That's something we'll have to think about. Thank you! And thanks a million for the cute picnic things. We'll think of you whenever we use them...which will be often. I'll send your travel bottles back tomorrow."

After hugs all around, the Maloneys were soon on the highway leading back home. Mike wanted to take the first shift driving

"Well, Mort. This car certainly handles fine and I sure do like it's zero carbon footprint on the road. Have you thought at all about getting one?"

"This isn't a production car, Dad. Most cars running on fuel cells don't have nearly the range that this does. The max right now would get us here, but not back home. There's another issue of refueling. I hear that it'll be another 10 years before there are enough places to swap the hydrogen cylinders when they run low. And there are a lot of other issues too."

"Such as?" Mike had heard all sorts of conflicting arguments about the impact of using different kinds of fuels and was curious to hear what Mort thought.

Mike set the alarm for 4 AM. It rang far too soon, it seemed to him, as he quickly dressed and went to awaken the twins, who were both sound asleep. They look awfully peaceful, Mike thought, as he gently nudged and whispered to them.

“It’s still dark, grandpa Mike.”

“Yes, I know, but it will be dawn very soon; I’ve heard Uncle Frank already in the kitchen making coffee. And you should have a glass of milk before going out to the barn.” Mike waited until both children were out of bed before going downstairs.

Frank and Mike were having a cup of coffee when the twins came into the kitchen. “Do you want your milk from the fridge, or straight from the cow? Frank asked.

“We always have cold milk at home.”

“Tell you what. Drink a small glass of cold milk now so you can compare how much better it tastes when it’s really, really fresh,” Frank suggested.

Frank and Mike had a second cup of coffee while the twins drank their milk. It was just about 4:30 when the four of them set out for the barn. The sky was beginning to turn from black to a dark gray-blue color. The horizon off to the east was a dark purple, indicating that sunrise was still some time away.

All three cows were munching on hay at the feeding station in the milking area, waiting patiently to be milked. The calf that Frank mentioned to Jake at the meat locker was kept in a separate part of the barn and would be fed later.

Even though the cows were very docile, Frank attached a pair of leg cuffs to the hind legs of the first cow as a precaution against one of the twins getting an unexpected kick. Then he went to the sink and washed his hands, got a small cloth and poured a bit of warm water into a bucket. “First we wash the udder and teats, because we don’t want any dirt in the milk.”

Frank pulled out a short stool and sat down on the right side of the cow. Do you want to feel them? The cow’s bag is called the udder. Those four long nipples are called teats.”

Mel stooped down next to Frank. As Mal started to run around to the other side of the cow, Frank called him back. “Cows don’t like to have people on both sides. Makes them uncomfortable. Mel, let’s let your brother see what they feel like too.”

“All right, we’re ready to start milking.” Mike brought a clean milk pail from the shelf and put it under the teats.

“Watch. It’s really easy and the cow is happy that she doesn’t have to carry around the weight of the all that milk she’s producing,” Frank explained as he took two teats, one in each hand, and started rhythmically squeezing, The stream of milk made a sharp sound as it hit the bottom of the pail. After a dozen or so squeezes on each teat, Frank asked which one of the twins wanted to try first.

“Ninja Mom! Ninja Mom!” “Woof! Woof!”

It was hard to tell who was making the most noise, the twins or Rufus, their black Labrador.

Mort, Frank, Martha and Mike hurried out to see what all the commotion was about. Agnes was still atop the wooden fence, bowing to the left and to the right as though there were a huge audience applauding her performance.

Mort was the first to speak. “Ag! What did you...how did you...?”

“Get up here? Angels lifted me, of course!”

“Mom ran and then just jumped up!” Mal said breathlessly. “She’s a regular ninja!”

“What’s this about being a ninja?” Frank asked what the other adults were wondering about too.

Mel answered, “Dad, don’t you remember? That program on TV, where these ladies have to jump from one block to another and do other stuff like that. Most of them don’t get too far and fall in the water. That was really funny. Falling in the water was the best part.”

Stretching her arms out like a bird, Agnes gracefully hopped off her perch and softly landed on the grass. “Ok, show’s over. Let’s catch us some chickens!”

Everyone could see how happy and excited Agnes was. She had taken quite a chance and could have easily misjudged how high to jump or lost her balance after landing successfully on the fence. Either way, her shins and her ego would have suffered substantial bruising. She also felt a huge sense of pride in hearing her children calling her Ninja Mom.

But this was to be her children‘s time for experiencing some aspects of farming. Ninja Mom was going to be simply “Mom,” at least for now. Agnes promised to tell a bit about her background in gymnastics and athletics over supper that evening and that it was probably time to begin “chasing chickens,” as she put it.

Martha was so amused by Agnes’ enthusiasm about catching and preparing the chickens for tomorrow’s dinner that she nearly forgot the amazing skill she and the others had just witnessed. “Ok. Frank, would you please start the fire?”

“Neat! Are we going to cook the chickens out here?” Mel asked.

No, I’m going to bake them in the oven tomorrow. But you wouldn’t want to eat chicken with its feathers still on, would you? We need to boil water for plucking the chickens,” Martha explained. Neither of the twins said anything, preferring to wait and see what happened next.

“You’re just in time,” said Frank. “Your grandpa and I are ready to drive into town to pick up some pork in town for your picnic lunch on Monday. You’d like to come with us, wouldn’t you?”

“We’re going to the supermarket?” Mel asked.

“This is our own meat, stored in a big freezer, Frank explained. “We’ve got about 250 pounds of meat there, I’d guess. Pork chops, hamburger meat, steaks, ribs.

Mal and Mel looked at each other quizzically. “Uh, ok,” Mal shrugged.

Frank wondered if they could drive the fuel cell car to town. “Sure,” said Mike. “Want to drive?”

In less than 5 minutes, they pulled up to a red brick building. It was very plain looking, not at all like a grocery store or supermarket.

“Well hello, Frank,” said a big man sitting at a desk facing the door. “It looks like you’ve got some company for the weekend. What’s on your menu?” He had big, muscular arms and a big smile to match. The twins liked him right away, even though he looked strong enough to pick up both of them at the same time without any effort at all.

“Hello, Jake. We’re having meatloaf tonight and a nice chicken dinner tomorrow, but Martha wants to make pork chop sandwiches for the Maloney’s picnic lunch on the drive back to the Chicago area on Monday. By the way, this is Mike Maloney and these are his grandchildren Mallory and Melody Maloney. I’d like three packages of our boneless chops.”

“Nice to meet all of you. Well, kids, how do you like farming country?”

Jake pulled a heavy white butcher’s coat from a peg as the twins both said “fine.” “Want to check your inventory?” Jake asked Frank, who answered, “No, I’ve got a pretty good idea what we’ve got. By the way, we’re planning on bringing in the calf in a few months so our shelves will be stocked with veal soon.”

The twins moved to follow Jake into the meat locker, but Frank stopped them. “It’s really cold in there, so cold you’d be blue before you knew it. That’s why Jake wears that big coat. And look at those thick gloves. Otherwise, everything he touched would stick and freeze to his fingers.”

“Aw, gee,” Mel complained. “Well, can we just look around?” Mal asked.

“Not much to see, but sure, go ahead.”

The twins followed Jake. “We just want to see where you’re going.”

“Ok, you can peek in when I open the door. Without a heavy coat like mine, you’d catch your death of a cold or even pneumonia.”

Agnes’s cousin Frank lived in Southern Illinois, where he ran the family farm that had been handed down from Frank’s grandfather. Of course! she thought. What better place to visit during the long Memorial Day weekend at the end of May than a real, working family farm, owned by a member of her own extended family.

It was also the perfect size for the twins to explore, about 10 acres including the farmhouse, with pigs, chickens, several milking cows and a “truck farm” style vegetable garden. The 80 acres of corn and soybean Frank also owned were about a half-mile or so down a dirt road. Its scope would have overwhelmed the twins.

Mort agreed and together he and Agnes began preparing for their next adventure. Perhaps Mort’s dad would want to come along. It wouldn’t be too strenuous and he’d likely welcome the trip.

What do think, Dad? How about coming with us to the farm?”

Mike readily agreed. This would offer a good chance to get closer to his grandchildren, and to Agnes as well. He might even get a few more clues about Mel’s rare non-sensitivity to heat. Perhaps the trait was inherited from Agnes. Certainly it wasn’t from his own son Mort, who had quite normal responses to heat and cold.


Through his activities in various professional associations, Mort came into contact with a lot of scientists outside of his own area of expertise. If we’re going to be taking road trips, he reasoned, why not use the best available – or even experimental – technology that produces the least polluting emissions? Something even better than the hybrid car that he and Agnes owned.
He knew several scientists who were working on fuel cells for cars. He would find out if there were a car available for him and his family to “test drive” over the holiday weekend. The nearly 300 miles each way on the highway plus some driving on rural roads during their stay would be a good test combination under actual conditions that a consumer would drive.

Meanwhile, Agnes contacted her cousin, who was delighted at the prospect of seeing her, Mort and the children. When she let the twins know, Mal asked “Can we bring Rufus too? Even though our neighbors took care of him while we were at Yellowstone, I know he was lonely when we were gone.”

“I suppose it would be alright,” Agnes replied. “I’m sure he’ll be curious about the chickens and pigs, and I think Cousin Frank and his family have several dogs. I’ll ask him, to be sure though.”

The Maloneys were in luck on all accounts. An experimental car that runs on fuel cells was available for that weekend, provided they keep a log on their experiences and write a report for the company.

Certainly, Mort responded, especially since it was an SUV that had plenty of room for everyone – even Rufus. And both Rufus the twins’ dog and Mike, their grandfather, were most welcome, said Frank (not necessarily in the proper order, he apologized).

The twins couldn’t wait to tell Grandpa Mike about their brief trip to Yellowstone. They hadn’t taken any pictures because their parents wanted them to experience the sights with their own eyes and not filtered through the lens of a camera. There would be plenty of time for that when they got older.

They said “Old Faceful” was really neat and described the paintpots, and how these things called extremophiles lived in really strange conditions. And they told how they met this really interesting scientist, who explained many things to them, lots of which they didn’t exactly understand but knew were important.

“Old Faceful, eh?” Grandpa Mike asked. “Did you get close enough to get a faceful?”

“A big wind whooshed a whole bunch of steam into Melody,” Mal blurted out, and then hesitated when he realized he told the secret that was between him and his sister. “But she’s ok.”

“Oh, what did your parents do? Were they worried?”

“No, they don’t even know because we went out early and were by ourselves,” Mel reported. “It felt warm and snuggly, not at all hot, but it burned my little chicken-y brother. Not bad, though. The red spots went away before it was time for supper.”

“Well, I’m happy to hear that.” Mike realized that this strange incident might be only the first indication that his grandchildren did indeed have something special about them. He decided to change the subject because he didn’t want to encourage the twins to hide things from their parents, but he also wanted some time to think and observe their behavior. He would discuss these things with Mort and Agnes soon.

“What is the nice scientist’s name,” Mike asked.

“Dr. Ethyl. That’s what we called her.”

“Do your parents know her full name?”

“She gave a card to mom. Mom put it in her pocket.”

“That’s good. It means she would be happy to hear from you. I’ll bet she has an email address. You could write to Dr. Ethyl from your Yahoo family account, thanking her for all the time she spent with you.

It’s important to thank people for their kindness. And every time you connect with someone, whether you call or email them, or see them in person, you add another thread to the link that was begun when you met them.”

The twins asked Agnes if it was ok to e-mail Dr. Ethyl. “Of course. Let’s do it together.”

BioFables Updates

As we noted last month, we're writing a series of brief BioFables...imaginative stories that incorporate scientific topics and facts while blending in some flights of fancy. You can now read about the first bio-exploits of young twins Mallory and Melody in Parts 1 and 2 of Exploring Extremophiles at:

http://www.techmanage.net/tmablog/article.php?story=20080121152538355
(Part 1)
and
http://www.techmanage.net/tmablog/article.php?story=20080128165801893
(Part 2)

where you'll meet Dr. Ethyl A. Shun, an extremophile expert. Dr. Ethyl and other players will appear in a variety of bio journeys as Mal (Bioloney) and Mel Maloney grow toward maturity.

Beacon on Biotechpreneurs Update

About 15 years ago, a friend was part of a medical team that was trying to raise money to test a nutrient formulation coupled with other courses of action that they had good reason to believe would alleviate the painful symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis. Anecdotal evidence pointed to relief from the painful joint inflammation that arthritis sufferers experience. There are 46 million people with arthritis in the U.S. alone, a huge number.

Unfortunately, the team was unable to raise the funds the necessary clinical studies despite years of effort and considerable financial hardship on the families involved. I firmly believe that if they were able to get their story out to a broad enough audience, millions of people afflicted with arthritis would have been able to enjoy a much higher quality of life with significantly reduced pain and increased mobility.

Beacon on Biotechpreneurs was born from this experience, an experience that we hope to help prevent for promising technologies that might not otherwise be discovered. How? By allowing potential business partners a glimpse of the person (or people) responsible for driving the biotech forward. Certainly business plans, technical papers and articles, patents and other material create a good profile of a technology. With Beacon for Biotechpreneurs, we'd like to support the PERSONAL side of the technology equation with personal profiles of biotech scientists and managers from around the world to reflect the diversity of our visitors who come from more than 60 countries each month and the 50 countries with gene-related patents issued by the US Patent Office that we've cited in our monthly reports. The profiles are completely free.

Who are these hidden scientists and managers who would appreciate a broader exposure for their technology? You probably know several. Or perhaps you are a biotechpreneur yourself. To get an idea of what a profile might look like, please see a brief example at:
http://www.techmanage.net/Biotechpreneurs/InterviewWebTemplate.pdf

Of course, every profile will have a unique set of featured elements and details, and the profiles will vary in length. Click on the link below for some topic suggestions. One possibility is for the biotechpreneur or interviewer to fill it out.
http://www.techmanage.net/Response/forms/form1.html

Alternatively, we can conduct a Skype interview if you also have Skype.

Please contact me if you have any questions at: jogucwa@techmanage.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
January Biotech Report

With this January 2008 update, you have access to 3,367 Web articles, 3,384 gene-related patents and 7,505 gene-related patent applications...14,256 biotech citations in all.

The PDF versions of our selected January 2008 Web articles and the gene-related patents and patent applications issued and posted by the US Patent Office in January will be available by February 11 through the links in the left column of our home page:
http://www.techmanage.net

Alternatively, you can quickly review the article titles with links to the abstracts and full articles, and gene-related patenting activity sorted by country by clicking on "Archives" and then the underlined text (rather than the PDF symbol).

New Feature - BioFables

The field broadly known as biotechnology spans an incredibly diverse universe of technologies that impact our lives and environment, not just in the present, but for future generations.

In our articles section, we select web articles each month that are both cost-free (although several publications require registration) and jargon-free -- and thus
readable by nearly everyone, including those without deep technical backgrounds and our visitors for whom English is not their first or primary language.

Behind the biotech articles we cite and the much larger number of additional biotech articles that are published each month are important scientific discoveries, new concepts and significant consequences, both actual and potential.

We're writing a series of brief BioFables...imaginative stories that incorporate scientific topics and facts while blending in some flights of fancy. These stories differ from
science fiction, which is mostly entertainment blended with some level of scientific reality. Rather, with BioFables, we're hoping to enlighten and educate in a mostly-
lighthearted, entertaining format.

We hope you'll enjoy reading the exploits of Mallory (nickname Bioloney) and Melody Maloney, also known as Mal and Mel. The introduction to the series gives some
background and a first look at other folks such as biology teacher Jeannette Ichs.
http://www.techmanage.net/tmablog/article.php?story=20080105103416769

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
December Biotech Report

With this December 2007 update, you now have access to 3,298 Web articles, 3,317 gene-related patents and 7,386 gene-related patent applications...14,001 biotech citations in all.

Mort and Alice thought that visiting the paintpots next would be a good way to let the twins explore nature’s wonders up close, since Old Faithful’s steamy energy built up from ‘way beneath the earth required a respectful distance. They could walk the half-mile nature trail around the paintpots (or mudpots, as the less-colorful ones were called).

So everyone got in the car to drive the 8 miles between Old Faithful and the area with the paintpots. There would be a lot for the twins to explore and discover in a more-active way and perhaps they’d use up some of that early morning energy, thought Agnes and Mort.

The twins were quiet on the way, but clambered out of the car as soon as the engine was turned off. Their parents were relieved at the twins’ excitement, as they usually had to remind their children to keep their voices down during a car ride.

When Mal and Mel were both out of their parents’ hearing range, Mal whispered to Mel, “Did you hear what dad said about extremophiles? Mel, maybe you’re an extremophile!”