Australia's Science Forum

Asked fume cupboard service guy to check chem store fan and he smoked the outside of door to make sure air was being drawn in, so don't forget the possibility of fumes leaking out from under door if fan is turned off. I always keep mine on.

And you would think the union would be instructing workers not to go shopping for science materials until this problem was rectified?

I know it's becomes a bit of a habit to try and scrimp and save and stretch the Science department budget as much as possible but there are pieces of lab equipment that are essential. A laboratory pressure steam sterilizer while relatively expensive is specifically designed to destroy microbes as op...

Thought I should re post under new heading. If anyone is planning on moving to Brisbane, is already here looking for work or knows someone who is, I will be taking next year off so am looking for a replacement. The position is initially for the first two terms of 2013 with the “possibilityââ‚...

If anyone is planning on moving to Brisbane, is already here looking for work or knows someone who is, I will be taking next year off so am looking for a replacement. The position is initially for the first two terms of 2013 with the “possibility” of extending to include terms 3 and 4. S...

Just re read my post and before I get jumped on, I wasn't calling anyone a "tool", it was meant to read "they are functional too (as well).

The comb holes don't just look professional they are functional tool, as it allows for the small strips of paper that has the dye on it to be inserted and remain (contained) in place without floating away. Also if you have access to micro pippettes students can inject dyes into these wells and pract...

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/labs/gel/ This is the site for a GEL ELECTROPHORESIS VIRTUAL LAB. The virtual electrophoresis chamber explains the process really well. We do the home made version a couple of times a year and I have made a modified version which is a little more robust. I set ...

Not sure of your actual prac, but can I assume you are adding water slowly to the cylinder while holding a tuning fork above it? If so we do something similar here. We use a bucket of water and a"resonance tube", which is a 35cm piece of plastic downpipe.The pipe is raised and lowered in t...

If you assumed that the summer solstice was the beginning of summer, then your summer would include a period when the sun was lower in the sky at the end of summer then it was at the end of the previous spring. So you would think that during the summer period the angle of the sun should be the same ...

No matter how many times you explain the importance of connecting an ammeter in series, someone will always do it wrong. Because it doesn’t go bang or erupt in a ball of smoke teachers do not realise how frustrating it is to repair these things. My latest attempts to reduce repairs was to tak...

WE make forensics foot print casts all the time here. Sand in a tote box and student walks on to leave print, wet or dry sand works, wet gives a little more detail however the sand must be totally damp not just the top surface as it will just stick to students shoe when stepped on. When you have you...

You can repair but a little fiddly, you become quicker with practice. Here's a link to the WA tech site which has repair guides. http://www.rtg.wa.edu.au/repairs/meters/meters.htm I repair mine a little different, when soldering in the replacement reistance wire you will have to adjust its length to...

If you have the money get an incubator. As ovens are cheap you can always get one later. We too have a themoline 43 works well and service is good, however be sure to connect via a surge protector when using. Apparently the temperature control unit is very sensitive and easily damaged by power surge...

Just happen to be browsing Aus.Standards.AS/NZS 2243.1:2005
4.1 REQUIREMENTS FOR SAFE CONDUCT
(i) Do not handle, prepare, store or consume food or drink for personal consumption in the laboratory.

Have heard of people using sausages for testing sun screens,sure you could try lipstick as well.
Maybe you could just get hold of the skins?
Anyway in the process you could also determine if the old saying is true.
You know the one.
"You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig"??

I think it comes down to how the chemical was listed and their search program. If you place the molarity at the front of the chemical name you sometimes get different results then if you placed it at the end, eg. 2M HCL or HCl 2M? I have also had varying results with regard decimal points and spacin...

After you have sterilized glasses using your favourite method how are glasses being stored? I made up a 100 or so vinyl pockets for glasses to avoid stratching, however now me thinks it is a waste of time cleaning glasses only to return to contaminated covers. I originally had cotton pockets (which ...