Finland’s 100th independence day is coming in few days, so i wanted to make something Finnish-like. So here’s little Finnish things!

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣

blake kathryn
🪼

@theartofmadeline
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trying on a metaphor
Sade Olutola
cherry valley forever
hello vonnie
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JVL
he wasn't even looking at me and he found me

roma★

izzy's playlists!
sheepfilms
Monterey Bay Aquarium

Janaina Medeiros
will byers stan first human second
let's talk about Bridgerton tea, my ask is open
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ

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@finlantian
Finland’s 100th independence day is coming in few days, so i wanted to make something Finnish-like. So here’s little Finnish things!
Some of my better photos in celebration of Finland’s 100 years of Independence :)
Happy 100 years finland!!!!
Dairy DNA
Milk, it does a body good, and we want to make sure it stays that way. In order to help protect the safety of this ingredient found in so many foods, IBM and Cornell University are working on a way to monitor raw milk straight from the source. By sequencing the DNA and RNA of milk and its surrounding microbes, they hope to be able to instantly detect food safety hazards so they don’t have a chance to make it into your glass or onto your plate.
Learn more ->
oh this is kind of related to what I did this summer! Pretty cool stuff :)
Hei folks!
I’m Tian, the last of the Canadians in Finland this summer. I’m living in the lovely countryside in a beautiful town called Jokioinen (literally River Village), working at the Luonnonvarakeskus (Luke for short) – Natural Resources of Finland. I’ll tell you about my job later, but first! Let me show you my crib for the past 2.5 months!
Jokioinen is quite small, so I’m actually staying at a fellow researcher’s house. They have a 5 acre backyard where they plant fruit trees and veggies, alongside beautiful flowerbeds that double as nests for local birds. What surprised me the most is the in-house sauna! I knew coming into Finland that there’s a sauna for everyone, but “knowing” and “experiencing” are two very different things. I can’t imagine taking a shower now, without the warmth of a sauna after!
Jokioinen is named after Loimijoki, the river that runs from a lake near Forssa, through the centre of Jokioinen, all the way out to the west coast of Finland. It goes from my house all the way to my work place, so theoretically I could take a boat to work and save myself the 10 minute bike ride, but exercise is good for me. I think.
Speaking of work, I’m a research trainee at Luke. I worked on two very exciting projects, which I will explain in excruciating detail because scientific communication is important and I think they’re super cool.
Project #1: MicroRNA from cow milk exosomes!
Before the weird words turn you off from reading further, just bear with me. Do you drink milk? How about yogurt? Can’t live without cheese right, whether it’s on pizza, in a sandwich, or just by itself? Then you have also ingested milk exosomes. Don’t worry, they’re not harmful (we think)! Exosomes are very tiny envelopes full of information that your cells release to each other. It’s one of the ways your cells communicate with each other, and MicroRNAs are the “information” packets within the exosome envelopes.
MicroRNAs are very, very, tiny instructions that can influence your genetic expression. They can turn off genes that tells the cell to grow, which is great for stopping cancerous tumours from becoming larger. They can also promote cell growth by inhibiting the genetic inhibitors. It all depends on what microRNA it is, and where it’s being sent to. Since the exosome has to travel between hazardous environments to reach their targets (your body is very dangerous to random stuff), they are made to be tough and unbreakable so that their precious cargo remains safe until they reach the destination.
Now you may wonder, what does this have to do with milk? Exosomes mainly function as cell-to-cell communication, but recently it has been speculated to also have animal-to-animal functions. In particular, from a mother cow to its baby, after birth. Milk is foremost a nutritious substance meant to encourage the calf’s growth, and exosomes containing intact microRNAs have been found in milk and related dairy products. The implication is that the mother is helping the baby with regulating its gene expression. Of course, the “how” of the process is still being hotly debated. Are the exosomal dairy microRNAs truly functional in regulating gene expression in calves in the amount that they regularly consume? We don’t know, and that’s what I set out to find out. I had the job to confirm that we can extract exosomes from frozen raw milk, and then extract microRNA from those exosomes for further processing.
Obviously the research is still in its infancy, but the implications of it could be huge. Are there specific cells that uptake dairy exosomes in calves? Which genes does the miRNA inhibit, why, and to what function? More importantly, does this genetic regulation extend to humans? If so, to what effect? Positive? Negative? WHO KNOWS, NOT ME. Side note: Is it safe to consume dairy products right now? Yes, I don’t see why not. Humankind is so reliant on the cattle-human relationship that we evolved new ways of withstanding lactose intolerance, we’ll be fine consuming a tiny bit of milk a day.
tl;dr: I did basic lab work to extract miRNA from milk.
Project #2: Global Network for the Development and Maintenance of Nutrition-related Strategies for Mitigation of Methane and Nitrous Oxide Emissions from Ruminant Livestock
This project has a ridiculously long name that I didn’t even learn of until my last day of work. The general gist of it is much simpler: how to keep a cow making the same amount of milk, while eating the same (or less) amount of food, but fart less?
See, cows have this funny process where they ferment the food they eat in an additional organ called the rumen. The rumen contains lots of beneficial bacteria that helps the cow digest its food and make it into product, like milk or meat. Unfortunately, the large amount of greenhouse gases (i.e. farts) the cows produce are often a by-product of the bacteria. Some bacteria combos work better than other bacteria combos in the food:product:waste(farting gas) ratio, so we’re trying to figure out how we can make cows have the identical rumen bacteria community for maximum efficiency ratio. Since the rumen gets colonised by bacteria quite early on in a calf’s life, we needed newborns to be a blank slate. As in all scientific experiments, one must have control groups. It’s quite difficult to control bacterial exposure in a non-sterile environment like a barn + placenta, so the best control is having a twin being exposed to the same thing.
In other words, I helped multiple cows give birth to twin babies. Then I feed one of them bacteria from a cow with a good efficiency ratio, and identify bacteria by extracting DNA from their poop (and other stuff).
The birthing process for this pair of twins was relatively easy. I arrived at 6am on the second day of my barn shift, fed the already-born calves, cleaned cow pens, and lounged around the coffee room.
Around 9:45 somebody noticed something coming out of the cow and called the rest of us over. 9:55am, the first calf’s head + upper limbs came through. 3o minutes later, her sister plops right out as well. All in all, very smooth, zero stress, easy birth. I got the firstborn’s birth on tape, and I got to name the twins, so they’re quite special in my eyes.
It’ll be a long time before we know the results of this study. For one thing, calculating the dairy output of these calves would require waiting for them to mature (1-2 years), be pregnant (9.5 months), and give birth. For the male calves, once they mature we’ll be looking at their weight and how much gas they output for the amount they eat. In the meantime, there’s the 3x/week focal samples and oral swabs to be collected and analysed, as well as blood samples once a week. Not to mention the 4x/day feedings that gets pretty complicated once the number of calves reached 12 in the barn, with many on separate diet plans. Lots of things to do both at the barn and the lab, even after I’m gone! Here’s a link about the project, if you’re interested.
In all, I’ve had an amazing experience in the countryside. I love my job, plus I got to reconnect with nature, get a handle on animal handling, and sauna almost every day. I’ve always thought of myself as a city girl, but this summer has taught me that I can definitely enjoy the quiet, quaint, country life. Just give me a sauna and a garden, and I’ll be set. Thanks Finland, and I hope to see you again!
Wknd 2: Helsinki - Saturday June 10th, Sunday June 11th
Imagine my surprise when I return to urbanisation to find samba dancers and zombies walking side by side. Literally, as the parade was heading north on Esplanadi, Zombies (who walked out from Macdonalds) was walking south on the sidewalks towards... who knows, church? Where do zombies go?
Helsinki was quite wild that Saturday, so Sunday was a nice quiet beach break in Vuossari.
Ah, Jokioinen. It’s a tiny town with a population of 5,000, and it’s the place I’m lucky to call home for the summer. Joki means river, and -oinen is like a county, so the name of the town is literally derived from the river that runs through it. The Loimijoki also happens to run right next to my house, picture 4.
I’m living with a host family, which means I’m lucky enough to live in their lovely house (picture 1), on their 5 acres of land (picture 2, 4, 5). They’ve got a family-farm going, as well as a really intense flower garden. The views are gorgeous, and the sun almost never sets. I took the sunset pictures probably around 10:30pm.
There’s also a ghost story about the White House across my work, which is simultaneously awesome and creepy. The White House actually used to be my work’s old office, before they moved. There’s some sketchy history, hopefully I’ll get to meet the Grey Lady before I leave.
Wknd 1, June 2-4
i think i’ll just label them as Weekend # after road trip onwards, I don’t usually take pictures during the week.
So! First weekend in Helsinki, I crashed at one of the Finn’s apartments and probably walked 15km in a day. Checked out a cute cafe and got a bite of the best donut I’ve ever had in my life, saw the very trip Sibelius Monument, checked out a couple of music halls from the outside, had a 10% off buffet sushi lunch because it was the shop’s birthday, went to the contemporary art gallery because it was free on the first Friday of the month and saw a very weird installation about internet memes and computer-generated dancing (hence the AoT), annnnnnd went to the Canadian Embassy and met with the “Senior Trade Commissioner and Consul for the Canadian Embassy in Helsinki Finland”. Lots to do in one weekend!
Day 9, 10: June 1, 2 Arrived at the archipelago at Kimitoon, and stayed at a lovely new bed and breakfast! The rooms were beautiful and large and spacious, but I really enjoyed the piano the most. Haven't played in a while, so I'm quite rusty, but it's not like other people notice my mistakes! The owners of the bed and breakfast are both alumni of my exchange program, so they gave us free lodging and food, and oh my god the food is amazing. That quiche? Best quiche in my life, I probably finished half the pie. There was also a blueberry pie that was beauuuuutiful. The owners also gave us a tour of their very large property, which includes many trails, saunas, and farm animals! And their pet dog, who is very cute. All in all, a lovely end to the road trip. Thank you for the memories :)))) next stop: Helsinki! Then Jokioinen! Then work!
Day 9, May 31 Leaving Åland ☹️ Did some karaoke on a ship, some tax free shopping, and then on our way to our final destination: the Archipelago!
Day 7, 8 - May 29, 30 Just some views around Mariehamn and Åland :) went to the apteeki (or apoteekt in Swedish) in town, found some stuffed ticks. I guess they're pretty popular? We found an ÅSS hat in the cottage, something related to Åland sailing society maybe? Also found a deer and some horses.
Day 6, 7, 8, May 28, 29, 30! Homemade dinner? Yessssss. Featuring grill masters Philip (grillimakkarra), Kennedy (steak and bananas), and Tuukka (salmon). That flambé grilled koskue banana with warm caramel sauce and ice cream was really something else. Also, authentic Åland pancakes? Yes pleaaaase. Also some beautiful homemade Gin and Tonic with grapefruit and rosemary. I might've gained 3kg, no biggie.
Day 6, 7 Surprise!! Cottage life in Åland! This is the most magical part of the road trip. We stayed at Philip’s ancestral summer house, which is lovingly decorated with a lot of character and style. And it had a sauna and beach shore!!! So we had the classic Finnish sauna three nights in a row, complete with dips in the sea. It was truly an experience, my skin feels SO clear. I also got to drive the ATV and we didn’t flip over, so I can add that to my resume. Got some “tanning” in with the first two days, although it was actually quite cold and windy.
We also spotted deer on the side of roads, went to cute cafes for authentic Åland pancakes, and got lost on our way to a restaurant that was closed anyway. Oh well, at least we got good pictures 👌👌👌🏡🌅🏞🏞🏞🏞🏞
Picture to add onto the previous boat post: me napping in bright sunlight.
Day 6, May 28, pt2 More boat pictures! Where are we going? There's signs in Swedish... Hmmmmm....
Day 6, May 28, pt1 All road trips have to have some sort of a car problem, right? Started the day off nice and early at 7:30, only for one car to not start. Managed to get going on the kindness of strangers though!
Went on a mystery trip on a “ferry”. I’d call this a cruise ship, personally. The Finns didn’t tell us anything about where we were going, and the tickets actually said nothing about the destination either, so us Canadians were left guessing. Stockholm? Tallin? Åland? Only time will tell… but enjoy the journey!
Day 5, may 27th, pt2 Great day to just chill in Turku and explore the area! Tried a Hesburger for the first time, which is like the McDonalds of Finland, but from Turku. The burger is literally as large as my head?? 😁😁😁Also found a Latte Cafe, the Jacky Brown drink was soooooo thick and delicious, went so well with the bun!! 3. Nice buildings 4-5: river bank views!! 6. Found a pharmacy museum! Except it wasn't open lol 7. I spotted my group from across the bank 😜😜😜 8. Drinks on a boat at 8pm :) 9. Boat views 10. After bar selfie!
Day 5 - may 27, pt1 Went to visit a castle :) turku castle! We all got dressed up and everything, so much fun and history! Also found a bunch of harpsichords, I wanna playyyyyyy