Whole Lotta Love

One of the great things about Science is, no matter how much time you spend working on something, there is always some super cool fact that takes you by surprise.
In this instance I discovered something about flies that I was completely unaware of until I went to a Fly seminar. Flies have 3 hearts - the main heart and an additional small heart for each wing. That's ONE more than a time-lord!
I was hoping I could find a video of them beating but have failed. I'll try and ask the person who gave the talk if I can borrow the clip.

I guess this is true of many winged insects. Which makes me wonder if a dragonfly has 5 hearts?

Office science

This offensive item is currently living in an office that is acting as a temporary kitchen. It seems to be at the stage where no one will risk touching it for fear of an explosion.
The question is how long will the plastic stand up to the pressure? I guess only time will smell ...

Forget Me Not

At around 9:30 pm last night I was about to make some food, open a beer and watch a film, when I suddenly thought "did I take those mini-preps out of the centrifuge after the final spin?". Surely I had, but the doubt lingered and I knew if I didn't nip it in the bud it would ruin the evening and probably culminate in a night where nightmares about DNA visibly decaying in front of my eyes would ruin my sleep. So I went into work. Luckily, it only takes 10 minutes if I jog.
Unsurprisingly, said mini-preps were comfortably nestled inside the freezer. The centrifuge lid was open in what appeared to be a mocking laugh. I walked back home and got a take-away so the trip wasn't a complete waste and nightmares about work were avoided.

Doubt is a dangerous thing.

Science Songs

 One transformant from my test plate and twelve from my negative control. I'll miniprep it anyway.

Listening to the lyrics of verse 1 and chorus more carefully, I 'm thinking this song should be a science anthem!

Pint of Science Bristol 2014 summary

The pint of science festival happened a couple of weeks ago. More than 200 talks over 3 nights in 6 countries. The themes covered life sciences, neuroscience, chemistry, physics and Earth sciences. I'll admit that the most frustrating thing about being an organiser was not being able to see some of the other talks. Life Sciences was excellent (if i say so myself) but I was particularly drawn to some of the non-biology topics mainly because I know a lot less about them. One of the talks was on "morphing materials for cars and planes" which sounded a bit like transformers cool.

As I was at the life Sciences event I thought I'd do a quick overview of the three days.