Tag: links we love

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Cheryl Hayashi: The magnificence of spider silk on TED

Huntsman spider
Cylon 2012 - the Huntsman spider that has decided to live in our bathroom this year

My spidey sense is really tingling this week.  I had downloaded this TED podcast of Cheryl Hayashi talking about spider silk, where it comes from and all it’s amazing properties.  I listened to it in the car this week and it was so good I’ve tracked down the video for you to have a look at.

Cheryl talks about dissecting an orb weaving spider, which I’ve never done.  But, now that she has put the idea into my head, I’m really keen to have a go.  To be honest I wouldn’t really know where to start, but if I find a dead orb weaver around the property I might see what I can do.

We’ve also had a visit from a pretty magnificent Huntsman spider in the house this week.  She’s taken up residence in the bathroom near the nightlight to hunt.  The photo really doesn’t do her size and hairiness justice.  She’s so big I can see her two rows of shiny eyes without my glasses on – which is really saying something, believe me.

We usually get a couple of Huntsmans a year come into the house to hunt and breed.  We don’t mind and we usually christen them Cylon while they are visiting, but they are very messy eaters and the carnage on the floor in the mornings is a bit much.  One night Mr Vivi looked up at the living room ceiling and hundreds of tiny Huntsmans were coming out between the ceiling boards to say hello.  I think he took a photo.  I’ll ask him to post it here if he has it.

Miss Vivi

 

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Ear, Ear


These little gems were shared by Human Anatomy Education on Facebook.  The first is a great little video that would accompany a head dissection or any discussion of the ear.  I’m on the hunt for one of those video otoscopes now….

The second one is a good description of the ear and it’s parts, but what we really want to know is where did she get that t-shirt? I’ve hunted on the internet but so far haven’t had any luck. If you find it will you share it with me?

Miss Vivi

Dec 8, 2011

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Say hello to my little friend

Organ Donor Plasma from Street Anatomy


A little while ago I posted on the Facebook page that I’d seen these incredibly cute collectables by artist David Foox at the Street Anatomy store but they were sold out.  The lovely Vanessa from Street Anatomy got in touch and offered me the very last one – and here he is!

They are sold as a blind box, so you don’t know which one you’re getting until it arrives.  Mine is Plasma and he came with a little booklet describing all the different organs that can be donated and how they are used.  I don’t know if he’s camera shy, but he’s been remarkably difficult to photograph.

Since I bought mine there has been another release and they are available now at the online shop and every order comes with a free pack of anatomical stickers by artist Rx.

The Red Cross website says that 1 in 3 of us will need a blood donation but only 1 in 30 donates.  You can actually donate plasma every 2 weeks because the red cells are returned to your body after the plasma is separated out.  I’m overdue to donate blood so this is a good kick in the pants to get me back to the donor mobile.  I might even take my little friend along.

Of course, you can also sign up all your other useful body parts to be donated to others when you’re finished with them.  It’s strange that Australia is a world leader for successful transplant outcomes, and we are so generous towards others in times of need, but we still have the one of the lowest rates of organ donation in the developed world (Donate Life).  Why is that?

The End

Miss Vivi

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An eye for an eye

Mr Vivi passes on the tricks of the trade to a couple of budding scientists

Everything I ever learned about this job, I learned from a more experienced Labbie.

4 years of chemistry at Uni meant I could set up a distillation apparatus with my eyes closed and perform multiple titrations in the blink of an eye, but it didn’t teach me to leap tall piles of washing up in a single bound or remember to check if the copper sulphate I’d grabbed off the shelf was anhydrous or not.  I’d always had a labbie nearby to do that for me. Not that I’d ever really noticed.

When I started my first school job I had Andy to look after me, then there was Julie at the next one, followed by Jill at the next.  If I ever needed them, and I frequently did, there was also an army of experienced people available via the LABBIES discussion list, or the LabLINK newsletter or the QEST committee.  That’s how I know how to get a piece of tube through a rubber stopper without jamming it into my hand, how to nurse a microscope through to the next service and how to store eyeballs in the freezer for the next time I need them.

So, when I had a call from a Labbie new to the job recently I was happy to be able to pass on some of the tricks of the trade.  She started the conversation with,

“I’m not sure if you’re going to want to tell me or not, but I’m going to have a few eyeballs left over after the prac and I want to know if I can freeze them for next time.”

I will always be happy to help you get more bang for your buck out of our specimens. It’s my experience that education in Queensland is under valued and horribly under-funded, and that is probably the case in most states of Australia.

So, don’t be shy.  Get in touch and ask away.  And if you have a tip to share then let your colleagues in on the secret.  You just never know when you might need one of them to return the favour.

Miss Vivi

 

By the way, place your eyeballs lens down in a container or petri dish and cover them with 0.9% saline then store in the freezer until you need them.  A quick soak in saline will also plump up any specimens that have dried out a bit in the freezer and get them looking better before you put them into the classroom.