Learning, Coding, and Experiments: October
Read to see some learnings from the past month, some stuff I've done, and to (hopefully) gain some value recommendation-wise.
Hey!
I learned an awesome tip yesterday: If you’re cold, literally just stand in a corner for a couple minutes. They’re around 90 degrees. You’ll warm up fast!
Welcome back to my newsletter. Hope you had a spoooooookyyyyyyyy October.
For those who don't know, I'm Nina Khera. You may have met me during a meeting, or at the latest networking event in Boston. I'm a 15-year-old human longevity researcher who's working on projects from topics spanning cellular senescence (zombie cells) to epidermolysis bullosa (skin disease)!
This month I’ve been focusing on Biotein, school, coding a ton, standardized testing :(, and writing for YSM!
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Biotein
This month, we’ve begun wet-lab experiments (finally!!!) after a lot of waiting for reagents, started interviewing people who are into longevity/prevention of aging-related diseases again (sign up here!), and have begun to interview doctors too!
Next month, we’ll be continuing interviews and waiting for the wet lab experiment results to come - we’re so excited to begin developing our test hopefully soon!
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Mindsets and Philosophy
Here are some thoughts I’ve been having!
There is literally no cost to be kind. I was thinking about saying hi to people in the hallway, I realize that sometimes I don’t do it because they might not say hi back. But who cares? It’s not a real cost to be kind, it’s a perceived slight, but if you don’t care, you might make others’ days a lot more pleasant/make more friends. Same goes for complimenting others. If you think someone’s points in a meeting/class were thoughtful & showed good critical thinking skills (notice I didn’t say smart! next point explains that more), tell them! Wha
What is intelligence? No, seriously, what is it? I’m having trouble fully getting it. I think intelligence is sort of an intangible thing that we use as an excuse for why we might not have achieved X or Y - have you ever heard well, I’m probably just not smart enough as an excuse. I definitely have. But what even is it? Probably a combination of critical thinking skills, ability to grasp new material, problem-solving, a pinch of memorization, and a lot more. But why not be more specific? Intelligence makes it sound natural, like, oh, good job on being born with some intangible thing. But it isn’t!! Critical thinking skills, material grasping, problem-solving, and even memorization are honed! Might as well give the person more credit for their skills + it’s harder to make excuses about these ones given that they’re clearly develop-able.
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Coding!
Okay, I coded a fully functional, username and password-requiring, replica-ish NYT Spelling bee. Didn’t even look at any of their code - very proud!
Also did some more coding of fun games like Cosmic Wipeout, Little Alchemy, a maze generator, etc. Prolific month!
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Knowledge Bytes
Here are some recommendations from the month!
- Coding practice platforms: Coding bat is so helpful!
- Coding learning/lookup platform: W3Schools is one of the best coding instruction platforms! So insanely helpful.
- Delicious recc: Chocolate chip ice cream milkshakes!
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Shoutouts
Here are some fun shoutouts:
Spectrus and Ichor Therapeutics for helping Biotein with wet lab experiments! It’s been so crazy to start them this month, and it’s all because of your help.
Mhairi McCann for being super great to work with! You’re very on the ball and helpful about anything I have to ask.
Dr. Bill Andrews and Liz Parrish for your kind words + advice, it was great to speak with you!
1517 Fund for being so helpful this month: answering our questions and helping us out with a ton!
Ms. Anderson for your organization of the EV Unconference - so excited to go this coming month!
Thank you to everyone reading this. Even if I didn't mention you this month. you probably helped me a lot. Thank you!
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Next Month
In November, I’ll be working on developing Biotein’s bio-age test, working on school, going to the EV Unconference (for emergent ventures grant winners), coding, writing more for YSM, and more!
Reach out to me if you want to talk about human longevity (or just life sciences in general) or anything else honestly!
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nina-khera-115b5a175/
Personal Website: https://ninakhera.com/
Email: kheranina@gmail.com (or just reply to this email)