Post by Julie Chen on Mar 1, 2012 20:34:54 GMT -5
Daniele, Ivette, Nathan...
Welcome to Part 1 of the final Head of Household competition.
Since viruses have played such an important role in this season of Big Brother Anarchy, it's only fitting that this competition is called "Virology 101."
This is an image of three viral bodies infecting a bacterium. As you can see in the illustration, the virus uses its tail fibers to attach to a host body (in this case, the bacterium) and then injects its DNA into the cell. This new DNA supersedes the original genetic coding of the host cell, thereby changing its functions and properties. When the infected cell undergoes mitosis, the result is two infected cells, then four, then eight, and so on.
In this competition, your goal will be to infect and replicate as many cells as possible. Here's how it works:
You will begin by posting:
[Name] infects 1 cell.
Once a cell becomes infected, replication occurs at ten minute intervals. That means, ten minutes later, you will post:
2 infected cells.
Ten minutes after that, you will post:
4 infected cells.
And so on.
But here's where it gets more interesting: you can infect as many cells as you want, as long as you stick to the rule that replication occurs every ten minutes. (Keep in mind: each time you infect a new cell, make sure to color code it.)
For example:
9:00 - Julie infects 1 cell.
9:01 - Julie infects 1 cell.
9:10 - 2 infected cells.
9:11 - 2 infected cells.
9:20 - 4 infected cells.
9:21 - 4 infected cells.
9:22 - Julie infects 1 cell.
9:30 - 8 infected cells.
9:31 - 8 infected cells.
9:32 - 2 infected cells.
If you're up to the challenge, you may infect multiple new cells in one minute, as long as they are color-coded and their subsequent replications are also the same color.
If you miss the ten-minute mark for replication, that cell can no longer replicate. If you post an incorrect number of infected cells during replication, that and all subsequent incorrect numbers will not be counted. If you incorrectly color-code a string of replications, the incorrectly coded ones, again, will not be counted.
The only way to be disqualified from this competition is if you modify any of your posts. Therefore, if you make a mistake, simply infect a new cell and keep going. If twenty consecutive minutes pass in which no cells are replicated or newly infected, that will signal that you have ended the competition.
You have 24 hours to start this challenge in your Diary Room. The winner will be the person who finishes with the most infected cells. (This may not necessarily be the person who plays the longest.)
If anything is unclear, don't hesitate to ask questions.
Good luck, houseguests.
