Biology

Waterless sterilizer “washes” hands with room temperature plasma

Waterless sterilizer “washes” hands with room temperature plasma

Before you protest, as I initially did, that some things are so simple and fundamental that they don’t really need high-tech “improvements,” realize that this device is being developed for and targeted at medical professionals, who, per this New York Times article covering the developing technology, “often have to wash their hands dozens of times a day — and may need a minute or more to do the process right, by scrubbing with soap and water.”

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan22
UC Berkeley has “Nobel Laureate Only” parking spaces

UC Berkeley has “Nobel Laureate Only” parking spaces

Well, in terms of available parking, UC Berkeley makes UT Austin look like an airport remote lot in Iowa on a Wednesday in the summer. And according to this official page there are presently seven living Nobel laureates on the faculty there, so I’m guessing there must be at least seven NL parking spaces. Supposedly, regular mortals have to shell out $50 for presumptious malparkage among the elite.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan10
Brilliant red dye made from insects

Brilliant red dye made from insects

This article just drew my attention to the interesting story behind carmine, which is a pigment precipitated from carminic acid (shown above) extracted from the bodies of Dactylopius coccus, the so-called “cochineal” insect, of which the acid comprises up to 24% of dry body weight. The cochineal is a parasite of cacti of the genus opuntia, from which it has been harvested in South America since pre-Columbian times. It is carmine that made the “red” of the famous British “red coats,” and today carmine is still produced in great quantity for use in fabric, cosmetics, and as a natural food coloring. [via Neatorama]

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan4
Printable gel casting kit from cathalgarvey

Printable gel casting kit from cathalgarvey

If you’re interested in doing gel electrophoresis at home, there are certainly easier ways to get a gel casting kit, but I wanted to throw some more props at Thingiverse user cathalgarvey, who has recently also brought us a printable microlathe and a printable centrifuge attachment for a motor tool. He’s fast making a name for himself as a designer of practical printables. Might I suggest a printable microtome next?

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan8
Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results

Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results

This dude is Hans Christian Ørsted, whose 1820 discovery that electric current produced magnetic fields was, supposedly, entirely accidental: He was preparing a voltaic pile for a lecture demonstration and there happened to be a compass lying nearby. He has become a sort of mascot for the Journal of Serendipitous and Unexpected Results (JSUR), a new open-access journal initiative that hopes to provide a forum for life and computer scientists to publish results they lucked into and maybe can’t fully explain. From their website:

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan
How-To: Elegantly simple squirrel-proof bird feeder

How-To: Elegantly simple squirrel-proof bird feeder

I love this bird-feeder tutorial from Instructables user me13lake. It’s not flashy (indeed, with a title like “Small simple horizontally mounted squirrel resistant/proof bird feeder that requires no specialist tools to make,” I’m guessing it was written by a scientist or engineer) but it’s well thought-out, easy and inexpensive to make, and it looks like it would work very well. The clear squirrel-guard rotates freely so they can’t get a grip, and can be made from a 2-liter plastic bottle. Or you could try cutting one from a glass bottle.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan16