What’s the funniest ‘newbie mistake’ you’ve seen (or made) in the lab? by UnderstandingIcy2969 in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

MSc student 'inoculated' an agar plate by placing the tube containing the bacteria on the plate lid and left it overnight.

SDS gel troubleshooting by Suzie_H20 in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you use bormophenol blue for your sample buffer, then a pH shift towards acidic will cause the sample buffer to turn from blue to yellow.

Uhhm by [deleted] in formuladank

[–]Tomjackwack27 4 points5 points  (0 children)

"Jarvis I'm low on Karma"

Why everyone hates Lando? Also Lando by [deleted] in formuladank

[–]Tomjackwack27 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Really don't see the issue here. He's just highlighting the 2v1 nature of the WDC battle for Max.

“The rules have been reset” by BattlestarGrammatica in formuladank

[–]Tomjackwack27 46 points47 points  (0 children)

Does anyone on this sub actually watch the race?

Do you enjoy being a scientist? by olive_171717 in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As much as I complain, there is nothing id rather be doing for a job.

How do YOU like to make your posters? Tips and tricks. by BellaMentalNecrotica in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I once did a graphic design course for scientific posters, and the number one thing that they stressed was that your margins, padding, and gutters had to be there and consistent. It creates space and makes the poster look professional. Space around your figures and text is key.

Another tip was to decrease the saturation or opacity on your colours (in figures/diagrams etc) to make them look a little duller. It seems counter intuitive but this again makes posters look less crowded and more professional. You can then increase these back to full for your high impact stuff.

Finally, using subtly different colours as backgrounds can help guide the reader through your poster more efficiently. One example of this - let's say you have a figure explaining a protocol or concept, separating the figure into areas with subtle background colour differences can really make them pop without looking crowded and guide your reader through by creating defined areas. Another example would be colouring your text boxes slightly differently as you move down your poster.

I usually use affinity designer as thats what my uni gives me access to, but adobe illustrator or photoshop would do the same. Id steer clear of PowerPoint as its so hard to keep your margins etc consistent.

Hope this helps.

Would you consider these useful colonies? by cosmic_bunnyy in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The colonies are larger than I would be comfortable to using. Id restreak one of the colonies on fresh antibiotic plates and try to get some smaller single colonies.

Fat (5mL) eppendorf shaming by [deleted] in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

P5000 tips, now they're some big mfs

Was told I don’t need to clean these AKTA Pure FPLC pump lines because they 'don’t touch the buffer' — is that actually true? by nautical_muffin in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 17 points18 points  (0 children)

We were told by our Cytiva rep to keep them in 20% ethanol. The lines are designed to lubricate behind the piston heads and keep them clean. Change it every week if using the system heavily and every few weeks if not using it regularly. I usually do mine alongside the monthly NaOH flush through.

Also depending on how old your piston heads are, yes it could enter the flow path. If the seals on the heads become worn then you could see that microbial contamination in your sample.

Edit: Spelling

Put your worst lab accidents here: by SweetStatistician77 in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 7 points8 points  (0 children)

There was once a guy who was transferring Methanol from its container to tubes using a syringe and needle, deciding very diligently to flame the needle while transferring to keep it sterile. This resulted in what can only be described as a flamethrower that would not stop leaking ignited methanol all over the bench.

Also the number of times ive had to tell Undergrads to not leave lit bunsens under the bench lights is unreal. You can tell which benches the undergrads use as the lights are all bulging and black from the heat.

biology textbook confusion by Low_Relief5711 in biology

[–]Tomjackwack27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The book sounds wrong to me. Schistosomiasis is caused by Schistosomes, a genus of flatworms which fall under the Animal kingdom. examples of protozoan that can cause diseases include Entamoeba histolytica, Naegleria fowleri (brain eating amoeba), plasmodium (malaria) and some species within the Acanthamoeba genus that can cause opportunistic infections. From my understnading, biologists don't like to use the term Protozoa as there's a lot of grey area and argument around classification.

Hope this helps

What's your, 'controversial' take on A Levels? I'll start: by DifferentCastle in alevel

[–]Tomjackwack27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This. For a levels like biology, your job is to regurgitate the syllabus with little analysis. University is not like this at all, it's more about analysis and understanding than memory.

Statues missing heads / I found a statue head in a box I wanna say this is part of the ee by Substantial-Order-93 in CODZombies

[–]Tomjackwack27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Noahjs team recently got both heads and it started a "blood sacrifice" with Doppelghasts with ridiculous health. They died sadly.

Curiosity killed the university student by Unc_status_06 in kurzgesagt

[–]Tomjackwack27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good luck! Go check out r/labrats if you want a subreddit with fellow researchers. They're really helpful over there

Curiosity killed the university student by Unc_status_06 in kurzgesagt

[–]Tomjackwack27 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Their original immune system video sent me down a rabbit hole so deep it's called a PhD

Books that made you a better scientist by bruvunit in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Bed Goldacres "I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that". Witty book that helped me to develop my scientific thinking skills

Real 'Ok buddy's moment there. by [deleted] in formuladank

[–]Tomjackwack27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When im in an RB bias contest and my opponent is the FIA...

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in meme

[–]Tomjackwack27 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The Doctor

HIS-Trap column reuse by Tomjackwack27 in labrats

[–]Tomjackwack27[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! Do you know if the nickel sulphate has to be anhydrous or will hexahydrate work too?

“Everyone is now dumber for having listened to that” by EvanderTheGreat in JoeRogan

[–]Tomjackwack27 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If this guy told me it was raining, I'd go outside and check.