best shirt for storing bats

January 30, 2018 8:19 PM

#Review for Science "We lay-folk have long known that scientists use common objects for strange reasons — see NASA researchers sending rubber ducks into a glacier to track ocean currents, or environmental scientists floating tampons down streams to find pollution. But until now, we may not have understood the scope or, frankly, the grossness of the phenomenon."
posted by dhruva (30 comments total)

Killing botfly larvae AND marking turtle shells for years? What CAN'T nail polish do?
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:45 PM on January 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I really liked the pillowcase that's the right size for holding a gull.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:48 PM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

Part of my job is to um, to do environmental sampling at short notice. Now we do have kits and equipment back in the office we can get to the cargo office at an airport and anywhere in the country (or elsewhere), but that can take a day or two. For the first little while, you may be a little short on equipment, especially if you want to take a box of certified glassware with you on your carry on. Done it, and nearly missed a plane explaining to DHS.

Hardware stores are a fantastic resource. They have pool skimmers, paint roler extension handles, pipe clamps, rolls of aluminum foil, LDPE self-sealing bags and plastic coolers, but best of all, the golden standard for SVOCs, the Bell jar. They come in all sizes and shapes, they come with wide and narrow mouths (both types please!). They come clean and easily sterilized. The only thing they really don't work for is metals analysis, in my experience. For everything else, with a bottle and trip blank, everything works fantastic. You can publish, take it to court even.

So four stars to jam jars (five if they made amber ones) and five to the foil makers---two absolutely essential pieces of any field chemist's improvised kit. And coleman coolers, I can't say enough good things about coleman coolers.
posted by bonehead at 8:52 PM on January 30, 2018 [17 favorites]

Also rubber ducks, tennis shoes and tennis balls (spilled from cargo ships) have all been used as hydrographic drift markers in some really classic ocean current papers.
posted by bonehead at 8:54 PM on January 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

We lay-folk have long known that scientists use common objects for strange reasons

here are all the wacky things ER doctors have found stuck in scientists' asses:
posted by indubitable at 8:55 PM on January 30, 2018 [6 favorites]

WARNING: Angry bees adhere instantly to human skin 1 out of 5 stars indeed.
posted by btfreek at 8:55 PM on January 30, 2018 [8 favorites]

Can't wait for the reviews of duct tape. Not sure of the scientific uses, but the parent uses are almost endless.
posted by AugustWest at 9:28 PM on January 30, 2018

Back when I worked in a lab we used lantern mantles for quick-and-dirty verifying our Geiger meters. If it pegged the needle when you held the wand up to the package, it was working correctly and responding to the thorium in there.
posted by traveler_ at 9:35 PM on January 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love this.
posted by rtha at 10:18 PM on January 30, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love science twitter.
posted by not_the_water at 10:59 PM on January 30, 2018 [4 favorites]

I lost it at "No comment from lizards on mint flavor," but I reeeally lost it at "Do you need to collect whale snot?"

(Sure, we all do!)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:12 PM on January 30, 2018 [2 favorites]

I reeeally lost it at "Do you need to collect whale snot?"

I mean, my aunt doesn't need to collect Fiestaware, but...
posted by atoxyl at 1:36 AM on January 31, 2018 [3 favorites]

Also rubber ducks, tennis shoes and tennis balls (spilled from cargo ships) have all been used as hydrographic drift markers in some really classic ocean current papers.

We used oranges once.
posted by pemberkins at 4:04 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

How do I become one of these scientists?
posted by clawsoon at 4:04 AM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

My own: lingerie bags and deli containers.
posted by pemberkins at 4:05 AM on January 31, 2018 [3 favorites]

Oooh, I should write one about using wedding favor bags from Michael's to isolate insects on plants for mutation experiments.
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:31 AM on January 31, 2018 [3 favorites]

(There's also weird stuff like, supergluing a cactus needle to a toothpick to make the perfect tiny dissection probe...)
posted by Made of Star Stuff at 5:32 AM on January 31, 2018 [7 favorites]

Killing botfly larvae AND marking turtle shells for years? What CAN'T nail polish do?

As a grad student I used nail polish to seal the glass covers on microscope slides. Hot pink of course.

Great thread. I'm trying to think of more things we repurposed in the lab but drawing a blank. Fun fact: everything becomes 10x more expensive to order if it's labelled as a "scientific" supply, including generic things like fridges (with no added features) and tiny things like markers. So that helps drive creativity for cash-strapped labs, which is most of them these days.

I can say that pantyhose makes a great simulated small intestine when doing science demonstrations for kids.
posted by randomnity at 6:47 AM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

God, I love scientists.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:02 AM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]

Made of Star Stuff, that's the best use for anything from Michael's that I've ever heard (I may still shudder when my wife and I walk past, because of pre-wedding raids on our local one).

I'm trying to think of what we've used in ways the manufacturer never intended in various labs. Mostly, I do behavioral vision experiments, which don't have much call for this kind of stuff, but here are a few recollections from labs I've been in back to 2001...

Using PVC pipe, threaded plastic rod, foam core and very expensive red/green filters to make MR-safe anaglyph glasses for an experiment.

Rewiring a cheap LED strobe light to make a classroom-scale demo of the Strobotop (Warning: strobe light). The original is about 6" across; we made a 24" diameter one.

Blacking out testing rooms with heavy plastic tarps for experiments where we couldn't have any visual references.

Having subjects wear a welder's face shield for the same experiment to really block any non-desired illumination or edges.

I also made a bunch of bitebars for head stabilization for MRI work with thermoplastic, but that's not that weird, is it?
posted by Making You Bored For Science at 7:17 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

I love the disclaimer in the WaPo article.

Disclaimer: The Washington Post is owned by Jeffrey P. Bezos, who also runs Amazon, though we really don't think we're doing the site any favors with this article.
posted by The Bellman at 8:21 AM on January 31, 2018 [6 favorites]

I love everything about this.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 9:30 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

The tea ball strainers showed in the review doesn't seem to be available on Amazon anymore. The review is dated about a month ago, December 27 - it looks like the seller wasn't happy with the attention the review got, and pulled it. It used to be the #1 best seller for tea ball strainers.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:24 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Me (reads) *Thin yoga mats make great table covers for fish surgery. *

Me (walks away feeling much better about humankind and the world in general because at least someone is taking care of the fish who need surgery!)
posted by WalkerWestridge at 11:02 AM on January 31, 2018 [1 favorite]

Oooh, I should write one about using wedding favor bags from Michael's to isolate insects on plants for mutation experiments.

Oh right, those too - we used those to bury seeds in field germination rate experiments.
posted by pemberkins at 12:17 PM on January 31, 2018

A scientist at our lab needed chambers for fungus spore germination experiments at different temperatures, so he bought dozens of "lock and lock" food containers and had his technician set them up and monitor them.... for years. When she left the job to get married, he gave her a wedding present: A huge assortment of lock and lock containers!
posted by acrasis at 3:39 PM on January 31, 2018 [5 favorites]

When she left the job to get married, he gave her a wedding present: A huge assortment of lock and lock containers!

Wedding registry -> Food storage items: Complete!
posted by cynical pinnacle at 4:31 PM on January 31, 2018

Those tea ball strainers look perfectly generic to me; I’d be surprised if they weren’t available from one supplier or another.
posted by acb at 5:20 PM on January 31, 2018

OK, I'm ending every product review I ever write with "Also good for throwing at bears."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:12 PM on January 31, 2018 [4 favorites]

Or maybe, "Bonus: works for cheetah scat, too."
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:18 PM on January 31, 2018 [2 favorites]