Updates
I have done some updates on the webpages of “Unitarian Universalism,” “Senior Society,” and “About Me,”
New Webpage on Religion
I have added a new webpage “Religion” for the purpose of providing the basic theme for the website.
Life Enrichment 2013-2014
I have written a report about the activities of Life Enrichment during 2013-2014. It has been published in the TASS Journal of 2014. See under the page of Senior Society.
Hu Shih's Philosophy of Life
I gave a talk on Hu Shih's philosophy of life on January 28, 2014 at Taiwanese American Senior Society, as part of the Life Enrichment Club that I have coordinated since 2009. The club has spent the past 2 or 3 years in the fields of genetics, brain, and astronomy. It is about time to talk about the relationship between sciences and philosophy of life. This question is at the heart of Hu Shih's philosophy. In order to prepare for the talk, I read and re-read my article written about 30 years ago. My appreciation of Hu Shih has increased. I have also done some research of his later life in Taiwan. Some videos about him available on YouTube are very helpful. His life and thought have become more vivid to me. Though Hu Shih was in Taiwan when I was in college, I did not get to know him in person. But his thought influenced me through one of his most important followers 殷海光, a professor in the Department of Philosophy. The PowerPoint Presentation used in the talk is made available in the "Confucianism" webpage.
My Ancestry Updated
After receiving the Geno 2.0 test results in October of 2012, I have reflected on and digested the report as much as possible. Finally, I have updated my previous webpage on my ancestry on the basis of Geno 2.0. I have also included considerable discussion on the DNA report sent to me from Dr. Marie Lin. Some of my earlier writings and earlier DNA test reports are saved at the end of the webpage for possible future reference.
It is another culmination of my long adventure into genetics, my ancestry, human origins, and human migrations!
American Southwest, Great Falls, and Taiwan
I have written an article, "Geology of American Southwest, Great Falls, and Taiwan," as part of the webpage "Exploring Nature."
Continuing search for my Ancestry
During my visit to Taipei in August 2012, I managed to meet with Dr. Marie Lin (林媽利), the authority on genetic studies of the population in Taiwan. I submitted my blood sample. The results came back on October 14 by email. The haplogroup of my mtDNA is identified as M7b1, and my Y-DNA as O3a2C*. The latter differs from the earlier result of O3a3 from Family Tree DNA. I have been told that the difference is due to a recent change in classification. I need to do further research to understand my ancestry better. In the meantime, I sent another cheek-swab sample to Genographic Project on October 19 for further tests. Genographic Project has recently embarked on a new and ambitious method, known as Geno 2.0, analyzing not only mtDNA and Y-DNA but also nearly 150,000 DNA identifiers. According to the past years of research at Genographic Project, most non-Africans are about 2.4% Neanderthal and 1.6% Denisovan. Incredible! I am going to provide more details on my webpage "My Ancestry" after I get my results back from Geno 2.0. Neverthless, the current information provided in "My Ancestry" is generally correct.
My Ancestry Page
After receiving the genetic report from Family Tree DNA about my paternal haplogroup O3a3 and the genetic report from Genographic Project about my maternal haplogroup M, I worked furiously to understand the reports. As the result, I have created a separate page, apart from the Science and Religion page, for the topic of my ancestry. I consider the new page a major accomplishment and very important for my thinking about science, philosophy, and religion.
Life Enrichment Club
I have written an article summarizing the seven topics discussed during 2011-2012. It has been published in the Taiwanese American Senior Society Journal. The article is now included on the Senior Society webpage.
Horseshoe Crabs
Our photo club made a trip to Delaware to explore horseshoe crabs' annual spawning event. Though we missed the high tide when they invaded the seashore in great numbers, we saw hundreds and thousands of them at Pickering Beach on May 20. It was an eye-opening event for me to observe and get acquainted with these unusual creatures. Their life-cycle has enriched my understanding of the animal kingdom after my recent journeys into human migration, migration of snow geese, turtles, and great blue herons, etc. I also went to Lilypons on May 17 to observe a rookery where blue herons built their nests, mated, and raised their young. Photos about these trips can be found in my Picasa Albums.