Of Data and Dragons
By Yamni Mohan
Hello! My name is Yamni and I am a data-wrangler. I am the newest Matlab research community co-ordinator at research platform services.
I was recently called dragon-lady by a friend and at first I was a bit uncomfortable with it. I have since then decided that I really like this title. It is particularly relevant that I bring this up in this blog post because from here on, I am going to talk about dragons. If I am a dragon-lady, then my data is my dragon. This parallel may seem absurd but I believe it is quite accurate. Below is a list of all the ways data is similar to dragons.
Both data and dragons come in all sizes and forms.
Types of Data:
http://www.howtoprogramwithcoldfusion.com/coldfusion/wpcontent/uploads/2013/09/variables.jpg
Types of dragons-
When you have ideas, having data supporting your ideas, like having dragons on your side can be empowering.
Here is what it
looks like when your data doesn’t support your conclusions.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/2009/12/08/will-fox-news-enforce-its_n_384612.html?ir=Australia
Here is what it looks like when your dragon doesn’t support your conclusions:
You gotta admit, both will sting a little.
Both data and dragons can be legendary.
A legendary dragon:
the_hobbit_the_desolation_of_smaug_1920x1080
Legendary data:
I am going to tell you the story of Vagusstoff- literally translated to Vagus juice. Vagusstoff, also known as acetylcholine, was the first neurotransmitter discovered. Not only do neurons secrete it to communicate with each other, it is also the neurotransmitter which exists in the nerve muscle interface (neuro-muscular junction). Acetylcholine is secreted by the vagus nerve and when it is present, the heart slows down. Legend has it that its discoverer Otto Leowi conceived the experiment to show that information transfer at the neuro-muscular junction was mediated by neurotransmitters in his dream. He then immediately headed to the lab and conducted an experiment to collect data. If you are a little squeamish, you can easily skip the next paragraph which describes the experiment.
Leowi had a frog heart beating in a saline bath (the heart tends to beat for a while even when taken out of the body). He stimulated the vagus nerve and watched the heart slow down. He then collected the fluid immediately surrounding the heart and applied it to another frog heart in a saline bath devoid of any of its original connections. To his delight (I wasn’t there but I presume he’d be delighted), he found that this process slowed the second heart down showing that neuro-muscular communication occurs with the aid of chemicals.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vagusstoff#/media/File:Vagusstoff2.png
Loewi’s legendary data settled the question of how information transfer occurs at the neuro-muscular junction at that time, but it is one of my all-time favourite because it was so simple and elegant and to the point.
Having read all the similarities between data and dragons, you maybe wondering what I am doing here. I am a PhD student in the department of Optometry and Vision Science and I use Matlab for all my data analysis.
Why Matlab you may ask?
Like many scientists, I fell unwillingly into the programming world, 2 months before my Masters thesis was due. Honestly, I picked Matlab because the software I was using could export Matlab files and I had access to Matlab. As a beginner, I also found the user interface pretty simple to work in given the limited amount of time I had. Of course, my love for Matlab has increased alteast 10 fold since and I will swear by its ability to allow you to extract meaningful information from your data.
Why Vision Science?
This is a harder question for me to answer because it is hard to pin point one particular reason. That there is a system that takes in a lot of simple inputs and compiles these inputs in a manner that allows us to make sense of the world around us in any meaningful way is an incredible feat. Armed with my keen Matlab skills, I would like to contribute a little towards understanding how the visual system does what it does.
Here at Research Platform services, I hope to further your Matlab skills and help you wrangle your data dragons. So dragonlads and ladies; if you ever want to discuss your data or dragons with me, please contact me at ysmohan@unimelb.edu.au or tweet @yamnimohan
I am Yamni: PhD Candidate, Dragon Lady, Data Wrangler.
