Sunset @ Stony Beach, June 7th, 2010
Time for updates!
I've been here for slightly more than a week, and a pattern is finally being established. Most of my time, especially during the week, is spent working.
The EOGs (electroolfactogram recordings) that we do can take anywhere from four to ten hours. The time increases for every problem you encounter. When you hit a snag in electrophysiology, fixing it is usually guesswork. We record such small responses from such delicate epitheliums using such tiny equipment that it's impossible to know exactly what's wrong. There are a myriad of common problems, like excessive noise, inconsistent recording, no response to odors (which means the location of your recording pipette is complete shit and you probably need to move it by 0.0002 cm repeatedly until you get something).
Then there are ridiculous problems, like the left light of your dissecting scope isn't grounded, the suction pipe is broken and your dish is flooding, a cord is an inch too close to your faraday cage, you walked past the rig and all of a sudden your noise shot up. I literally had a gator clip connected to the 'scope foil that refused to decrease the noise unless it was touching a human being. It didn't even want an apple; only a hand would satisfy it. Sometimes, we noodle around with everything until the problem goes away, but we never know for sure what caused it. Hear ye, the Gods of Electrophysiology art easily angered, and let it be known, they were PISSED on Tuesday. They decided to smite one of our solenoid controllers, so Nick and I are currently working with a single rig until Apparatus (Cross-Dressing) Mike fixes the problem.
However, things went relatively well yesterday, despite our equipment essentially being cut in half, and if we work diligently for the Gods of Electrophys, they may reward us with decent responses from timely experiments. I'll seal the deal by offering the life of every mosquito I kill to our fickle deities.
That's all for now. Expect more pictures in the next post! The weekend is approaching, so I'll have time for more photoshoots.
Thanks for reading,
Lila
I've been here for slightly more than a week, and a pattern is finally being established. Most of my time, especially during the week, is spent working.
The EOGs (electroolfactogram recordings) that we do can take anywhere from four to ten hours. The time increases for every problem you encounter. When you hit a snag in electrophysiology, fixing it is usually guesswork. We record such small responses from such delicate epitheliums using such tiny equipment that it's impossible to know exactly what's wrong. There are a myriad of common problems, like excessive noise, inconsistent recording, no response to odors (which means the location of your recording pipette is complete shit and you probably need to move it by 0.0002 cm repeatedly until you get something).
Then there are ridiculous problems, like the left light of your dissecting scope isn't grounded, the suction pipe is broken and your dish is flooding, a cord is an inch too close to your faraday cage, you walked past the rig and all of a sudden your noise shot up. I literally had a gator clip connected to the 'scope foil that refused to decrease the noise unless it was touching a human being. It didn't even want an apple; only a hand would satisfy it. Sometimes, we noodle around with everything until the problem goes away, but we never know for sure what caused it. Hear ye, the Gods of Electrophysiology art easily angered, and let it be known, they were PISSED on Tuesday. They decided to smite one of our solenoid controllers, so Nick and I are currently working with a single rig until Apparatus (Cross-Dressing) Mike fixes the problem.
However, things went relatively well yesterday, despite our equipment essentially being cut in half, and if we work diligently for the Gods of Electrophys, they may reward us with decent responses from timely experiments. I'll seal the deal by offering the life of every mosquito I kill to our fickle deities.
That's all for now. Expect more pictures in the next post! The weekend is approaching, so I'll have time for more photoshoots.
Thanks for reading,
Lila
Ok, love the update, but too many big words, and too much fake religion. :) can you tell us about yourself here as well? We must know if you come down with a cold or something! Love ya like only a cousin can, Susan<3.
ReplyDeletePS; why do they require an account to be able to post something for you?!
Ah, which words didn't you understand? I can try to explain them to you...
ReplyDeleteI will let you know if anything personal and major occurs, like a cold or whatnot. This week has been mostly work work work, so that's what you get to hear about. :)
I'm sorry you had to get an account. It's Google's corporate scheme to collect as many users as possible so that advertisers pay them more money to post ads on the sight.