microbiology

Arduino-Powered Bioreactors Make Home Experimentation Affordable

Arduino-Powered Bioreactors Make Home Experimentation Affordable

Read about how one doctor was inspired to create an Arduino-powered bioreactor and ended up with an affordable, accurate device.

Continue Reading
Make: Projects – Laser projection microscope

Make: Projects – Laser projection microscope

A couple of weeks ago I posted about this sweet laser stunt from Teravolt.org, and I finally got around to trying it for myself. My laser is only 10% as powerful as theirs, but I can now say with conviction: Everyone should try this.

The only tricky part is getting the laser and the hanging drop of water lined up and keeping them aligned, but this simple stand I built from hardware store odds-and-ends makes it easy. The laser and syringe snap into broom clips mounted on supermagnet bases which allow easy positional adjustments, but hold strongly enough to keep everything in alignment once you’ve got it right.

Continue Reading
Laser + drop of water = microbial movie theatre

Laser + drop of water = microbial movie theatre

According to the anonymous hacker-proprietor of Teravolt.org, shining a 250 mW green laser through a hanging drop of scummy plant water will project shadows of all the little microflora on the wall and you can watch them flitter about with the naked eye. The embedded video is nothing short of amazing. I felt just like that cat.

Continue Reading
GITD Petri dish soaps from Cleaner Science

GITD Petri dish soaps from Cleaner Science

I blogged Sara’s Petri-dish-culture-soaps back in March, and then again a couple of weeks ago when she started selling them through Makers Market. Now she’s just added a couple of awesome new versions with glow-in-the-dark colonies. You can get GITD green or GITD violet. They ship in a real Petri dish and will set you back nine bucks.

Continue Reading