[p2p-research] Home Labs on the Rise for the Fun of Science (2010-12-16)

[Michel Bauwens]

 Topic: Article: Home Labs on the Rise for the Fun of Science
(2010-12-16)<http://groups.google.com/group/openmanufacturing/t/3885f158ccd760b1>

   Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> Dec 16 10:35AM -0600
^<https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&view=bsp&ver=ohhl4rw8mbn4#12cf43548a6a257e_digest_top>

   Home Labs on the Rise for the Fun of Science
   http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/technology/personaltech/16basics.html

   """
   One day Kathy Ceceri noticed a tick on her arm and started to worry that
   it
   was the kind that carried Lyme disease. So she went to her home lab, put
   the
   tiny arachnid under her microscope, which is connected to her computer
   through a U.S.B. cable, and studied the image.

   “It was,” she said. “Then of course I Googled what to do when you’ve been
   bitten by a deer tick.”

   Ms. Ceceri’s microscope, a Digital Blue QX5, is one of several pieces of
   scientific equipment that make up her home lab, which she has set up on
   her
   dining room table in Schuylerville, N.Y. Home labs like hers are becoming
   more feasible as the scientific devices that stock them become more
   computerized, cheaper and easier to use.

   Ms. Ceceri has several microscopes and a telescope. Other home
   laboratories
   have tools like infrared thermometers, which can be used in the kitchen,
   and
   kits to analyze DNA at home.

   Many of these tools work closely with home computers and come with
   software
   that enhances their power. Others mix low-cost computers into the
   hardware
   to deliver more precise control.

   Some people who set up home laboratories are serious hobbyists in search
   of
   better tools; others are home-schooling parents equipping their children;
   and others are just curious.

   Ms. Ceceri, a writer, seems to fall into all three camps because she
   teaches
   her sons Anthony, 15, and John, 18, at home, and then she writes about
   some
   of their discoveries for a number of blogs like geekdad.com, geekmom.com
    and
   homebiology.blogspot.com.

   “This year we’re doing integrated science,” she said of her home science
   curriculum. “Anything we were looking at, we put under the microscope.”

   She explained that she and her children raised triops, tiny crustaceans,
   and
   examined the eggs under the microscope. “We took a really nice video of
   the
   paramecium and nematodes swimming around just holding a digital camera up
   to
   a microscope,” she said.

   Brian Haddock, a software developer from south of Fort Worth, who also
   writes about science topics on his blog, Reeko’s Mad Scientist Lab,
   particularly enjoys using a microscope with a computer.

   “Those U.S.B. microscopes are pretty cool,” he said. “They don’t magnify
   as
   much as one of those optical scopes would, but you can look at it on your
   computer screen. It’s got a big picture on your screen that’s easier to
   see
   instead of those little tiny images you squint at.”

   “Personally, I like the Carson zPix,” he said.

   The growth in home labs is helped by manufacturers who are building tools
   at
   affordable prices.

   ThinkGeek.com, an online store that sells items for home laboratories,
   among
   other things, offers three models of microscopes at various prices, said
   Scott Smith, a co-founder of the site.

   Prices begin at $99, with models that offer 20x to 200x digital
   enlargements
   of whatever is being examined. The store’s high-end model costs $349, and
   it
   delivers what Mr. Smith characterized as sharper, better quality images
   for
   both hobbyists and businesses like jewelry shops.

   Adding a computer interface to a telescope makes it possible to collect
   more
   detail than might appear to the eye looking through the optics. The
   computer
   can collect multiple images over time and combine the results, enhancing
   the
   appearance of the faintest items.

   “It isn’t just about capturing video or still images. It actually allows
   you
   to stack a whole bunch of still images to get those really beautiful,
   spectacular pictures of the night sky,” explained Timothy Burns, the
   director of marketing at Edmund Scientific, the scientific supplier,
   which
   stocks a wide range of telescopes for the casual and professional
   scientist.

   “It gets the really deep color,” he said. “You could probably get a
   pretty
   cool still picture of the moon, but if you’re looking at a deep space
   object
   like a nebula, it brings out the colors and the definition of the whole
   star
   field.”

   The telescopes come with computerized controls, which Mr. Burns said
   makes
   them easier for children to control. The computer helps find particular
   objects in the sea of billions of stars.

   Edmund Scientific also supplies a digital camera, the Moticam 1000, which
   fits over the eyepiece of many standard telescopes and microscopes to
   capture images.

   Home scientists who want to study animals may be interested in a digital
   camera that can be activated by motion sensors. Cabela’s, the outdoor
   recreation merchant, stocks dozens of models at prices that begin just
   under
   $100 and rise to above $500. The cameras can take pictures during the day
   or
   even at night, adding time stamps. There is no requirement that the
   photographer return to hunt the animals.

   Infrared thermometers, which range from $20 to more than $100, are
   another
   tool home scientists can enjoy. These thermometers measure the
   temperature
   of objects without touching them, by reading the energy of the infrared
   light given off by the object. Cooks might use one of these to measure
   the
   temperature of a pan; I have used mine to look for poorly insulated
   sections
   of walls and to estimate the performance of my heating system by taking
   the
   temperature of the water returning from the heating loops.

   John Baichtal, a contributing writer for Make magazine, said he liked the
   Extech EX210 Multimeter, an infrared thermometer with the ability to
   measure
   voltage, resistance and other properties of electricity for just under
   $70.

   “It would be helpful for homeowners,” he said. “Let’s say there’s
   something
   that you can’t reach. A little laser pointer helps you aim accurately.”

   The tool is also ideal for helping children understand the flow of heat.
   Many exterior walls, for instance, have hot and cold spots that
   correspond
   to the amount of insulation, and the infrared thermometer helps spot
   energy
   leaks in the winter.

   Not everyone is content to fill their labs with centuries-old technology.
   Samara Rubenstein, the manager of the Sackler Educational Laboratory for
   Comparative Genomics and Human Origins at the American Museum of Natural
   History, said home scientists could extract their DNA by rinsing their
   mouth
   with salt water, breaking apart the sloughed-off cheek cells with dish
   detergent, and then rinsing out the DNA with rubbing alcohol. “It’s
   really
   cool,” she said.

   Other experiments for home labs can be found at Ology, a corner of the
   museum’s Web site.

   After the DNA is extracted, more options are becoming available for
   identifying the organism using a technique known as PCR, or polymerase
   chain
   reaction. A new project, OpenPCR, is designing new home tools for DNA
   analysis. Tito Jankowski, who founded the project with Josh Perfetto,
   said
   the kit would give anyone the chance to analyze DNA.

   Mr. Jankowski said one possible experiment for home scientists would be
   to
   test for their reactions to certain food. Only some people, for instance,
   taste the bitterness in brussels sprouts, a trait that has been linked to
   a
   part of our genome that the kit can identify.

   Eri Gentry, an entrepreneur in San Francisco, said she had already tested
   herself for this gene, using a $200 kit from Carolina Biological Supply,
   which sells to school science labs.

   “Some of these things you do not because it’s the quickest way to do it,
   but
   because you learn a lot,” she said.
   """

   - Bryan
   http://heybryan.org/
   1 512 203 0507




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