User:JuicySquirrel

Juicy Squirrel (JS), otherwise known as Dan Sykora (Sah-Core-Uh), is a current Trinity '15 student (Pratt '15 hopeful) at Duke University. Born fifteen weeks premature at 2 pounds, 2 ounces on January 2nd, 1993 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL, he did not have a high chance at survival, but evidently beat the odds. He has certainly always had a large cranium. His friends teased him in middle school and called him Jimmy Neutron due to his wavy hair and large head. He hasn't grown since the 7th grade, and has been growing a beard since the 8th grade. He has a passion for music, and he was in a local rock band back in his hometown, Hinsdale, Illinois. His favorite bands include:

   * Coheed & Cambria
   * Thrice
   * City & Colour
   * Moving Mountains
   * The Dear Hunter
   * Bon Iver
   * Chevelle
   * Radiohead
   * Saosin
   * Sufjan Stevens

JS is a multi-instumentalist, playing guitar, bass guitar, piano, drums, keyboard, and used to play baritone saxophone and bass clarinet in middle school.

He also loves professional sports. His favorite teams are the Chicago Bulls, Chicago Bears, New England Patriots, and the Chicago Cubs. He will demonstrate his passion for sports upon request. Although he roots for the Duke Blue Devils, he hasn't had the chance to declare himself a passionate fan, yet. His favorite players are Derrick Rose, Luol Deng, Lance Briggs, Earl Bennett, Devin Hester, Wes Welker, Albert Pujols, and Derrek Lee (ca. 2005).

By nature, Dan is not the most outgoing person you'll meet, but if engaged, can be quite charming. He can prove to be quite the friend.

He also finds writing in third person quite pretentious and slightly awkward.

Engineer Challenges (Reverse Engineering the Brain):

Do You Compute? Reverse Engineering The Brain Proves Difficult Office of Naval Research, Alton Parrish, 2 December 2011, accessed 28 January 2012 (Grand Challenge)

Researchers are currently trying to develop machines that model the brain's functions. In learning how the brain computes, they hope to create products that can operate in a similar manner to the brain. For example, the Department of Defense desires an object-recognition system that can pick out the face in a crowd. Using neural fuctions, they hope that they can team up with physiologists to create products in the future to model the brain for professional and governmental use.