Equipment

Is there any sort of cheap household oil such as vegetable oil or mineral oil that can be used to substitute the proper oil for lens immersion?

Does anyone have any information about this old cryostat we found? Our lab does neurological research and is willing to use it if salvageable. Pictures are below. What I have found so far is this ad (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1021/ac60186a877), so this seems like a rather old piece of equipment. Has blades and all. Looking for an instruction manual really, but can't seem to locate one on the interweb. Any help is much appreciated!

I happened to stumble upon this article: http://astronasty.blogspot.com/2011/10/neil-degrasse-tyson-and-vic-tandy-on.html which in turn took me to the original 'Ghost In The Machine' citation. I am intrigued and wish to delve into this further. From preliminary research, I assume a signal generator is required? Can anyone list the minimum equipment necessary to conduct experiments? Thanks!

hello all, i am in the process of assembling my own lab. the evil side of me wants to to produce yeast genetically modified to produce pscillocybin resulting in yet another blow to the anals of society. the educated side of me wants to have a basic setup that will not get me into trouble... enough said. so far i have a decent set of chemistry glassware, stereo microscope, slides, dishes, clean box, a decent cleaning procedure along with supplies for it, and a neibor that fusses when i use my drill in hammer mode. what i am looking for is any ideas on creating your own lab experiments with homemade contraptions (i enjoy engineering as much as biology). any …

I bought this microscope http://www.microscopesfromnational.com/product/109%20L used and it came wth no light. can I buy one?

Is there any cool science science stuff that I should ask for? I already have a huge chemistry set, an erector set, a microscope, a lot of electronics components, and a very good telescope.. Is there any advanced physics stuff, or cool astronomy stuff I should ask for. I am asking if I can renew my membership at the planetarium, but that is all I can think of.

So I'm working on a science project for my school fair, which is about traffic safety. In the picture, my vehicle is the yellow one.The other colors are just for identification. The device will search for vehicles in your range ( this will be set), measuring its speed and predict whether its gonna collide or not So, I would like to ask what sensors do I need and how to program them

I understand the principles of AC and DC current. Fine. But somehow until now I never thought of the reasoning behind components specifically for either. What is the difference? Is it just that in AC components that current has to be able yo travel in both directions, and DC components current can only travel through one direction? Then in essence, wouldn't a DC switch, for example, be the same as an AC switch with two diodes facing the same direction in both input and output? I am probably mistaken in my reasoning but a little education here would help.

Hi all, I did not see an equipment support section, and I am working at home with basically small budget and for the pleasure of the science and electronics, so I'd like to ask if anyone has a tech manual for these older equipments. I build or modify a lot of my own electronics when it's not available or otherwise too expensive for a hobby purchase. If this is posted in the wrong place, please excuse me and mods can move or delete. 1.) Spectromagnetics NMR Gaussmeter model 5300 (Spectromagnetics - The Cyclotron Corporation) - same thing, need the whole manual and schematics on this one, and a magnetic field probe for it. Worst case I could make a probe …

I am thinking of buying a used analytical balance with a sensitivity of around 0.0001g. Something very similar to this --> http://www.coleparmer.com/Product/Cole_Parmer_Symmetry_PA_Analytical_Balance_120g_x_0_0001g_115_VAC/EW-10000-15 . If I buy it used, perhaps 7-8 years old, what potential hardware issues could it have? I am not familiar with this kind of equipment. How fragile is it? TIA

Hi all, I am new here, studing equine motion. I am looking to start using force plates (ground mounted) to asses weight transfer on a horse foot. I am looking for the following information / ideas, Sources and prices of existing systems suitable for my use.. Any information on a diy version? Ideally the working of the system would be pc based. Using the sensors in the force plate as pixels they would show on a computer screen much like a thermal image. Ie, they could all be blue when no load is applied, red at full load and various other changes inbetween. The computer would start to 'record a video' as the first one changed and that could then be repla…

Hey guys, I'm new the forum here. I'm no scientist nor anything close to it, however, I am a big fan... I need your help by telling me what this is called and where I can buy it. Thanks for your input!

Every once in a while we find a small bug here and there that we would like to check out with the microscope. We don't want to kill the bug because we want to see it while it's alive. But the issue is that I can't find any kind of containers of any kind to hold the bug. I've been using various things, napkins, whatever, with a light on top (usually a flash light, I just bought a little reading one for exactly this purpose.) But what I would like, is some kind of container for the bug so that it can be seen, but still mobile. In my mind, this container is like a small glass box, with a piece of glass on top that slides open or closed. I can't find any such item though. Any…

I'm working on a project with some friends where we need to measure the potential electrical charge of various things. It is a fairly wide list, including hair, tapwater, the chair of the air around us, etc.... We want to know if the electrical potential is negative or positive, and ideally be able to measure magnitude. This isn't something we typically do, and we can't afford to go to a lab. This is a hobby, and half the point is to learn as we go. So we are trying to research the correct instrumentation to obtain a measurement of the potential. Obviously, a voltmeter isn't the tool for the job. From some preliminary research, it looks like we need a electro…

why do we use conversion factor while calculating TDS from µS to ppm? if i use KCl conversion factor (multiple 0.55xEC), what is KCL role in my measuring water? why we do it? Profuse thanks in advance!

Hello guys, I modified my usb camera to work as a microscope yesterday evening. I was astounded at its magnification power and resolution. I used a cheap ~20$ camera with a resolution of 480x360 pixels. Nematodes are about an eigth of the width of the screen so about 60 pixels (equals about 6 cm) in length. If we assume a nematode is around 1.5 mm in length this would be a magnification of about 40x. I followed the instructions provided by the wiki entry of hackteria.org DIY_microscopy dissasembling the camera to its circuit board, flipping the lens for an even higher resolution, and mounting the modificated camera to a plastic frame. It is a fine apparatus which ca…

To give a little bit of background, I'm a chemist by trade and I have two little girls. My oldest daughter, probably like most kids her age, is extremely interested in learning about the natural world. Looking back at my own childhood and thinking about how I ended up as a "scientist" as an adult, I credit much of it to the toys that I played with when I was a kid. Most fondly, I remember playing with my microscope for years and years - basically until I way outgrew its capabilities. On a recent trip to my parents house I re-discovered my childhood microscope and wanted to start to play with it with my daughters. Well, I've been spoiled by the professional tools I occasio…

I've found a brand new in box dc-dc converter. No description of input/output specs. Can't find anything searching web. It is manufactured by wilson microwave systems, inc, made in japan. Box and unit says it's a DC1000, D3000256 Anyone have any ideas on how I can identify specs?

Hello all, I recently purchased a Chromatography Reservoir Flask that has a 70mm (?) thread adapter on the bottom (on the outside of of the 50/40 spout), and a 50/40 (?) on top. I've measured the best I could, however, if these numbers aren't standard then I'm wrong. I would like to attach a flat bottom flask to the bottom, preferably using the threaded adapter, but not essential. As well, some sort of cap for the top that will allow me to connect to a distilling tube then to a west condenser (20/40). These large-mouths are giving me a hard time in terms of finding reducers/adapters. Thanks for any help.

Hello, I have an Apple iPOD fourth generation bought new 10 or so years ago that plays music fine if it is plugged into the charger while playing and the new battery from DigiExpress in Pa. does fully charge up the battery.It's only good the for about one day. (After charging up ,iPOD is turned off and not used till next day.) DigiExpress says that being this is the 2nd battery I have sent for, if it still will only hold a charge for only one day,the trouble probably is in the electronics of my iPOD and NOT the battery. (I use the ipod for only 4 or 5 hrs.during the day charging goes on) What do you think and have any others had similar experiences with ol…

We recently acquired a used Beckman DU530 spectrophotometer and it did not include an instruction manual. After emailing Beckman we found out that a manual would cost $86. So we are trying to find instructions on how to run the system checks on the machine so it can be re-calibrated. Any help would be appreciated!

hi so i have no idea what a "UV/Vis spectrophotometer" is and i need to know what it does and how it works can any one help me?

I have tried to get an old Leggs egg like when I was a kid that has a reflective surface. What I need is a parabolic mirror with a steep curve ( a perfect half sphere, convex ). Like the eggs used to have. What I would like to do is point a digital camera at this mirror. And then using 3D programming un-wrap the image. Allowing for a live 360 degree image that could be scrolled with the mouse. I have seen it done and it would be interesting to try it on my own. Anyways,.. just a passing interest and if anyone has an alternative, I'd love to hear it. Thanks Jeremy

Does something like this exist, cheap, maybe 10 or 20 cm cubed on the inside and only slightly larger outside, with a precise temperature control capable of various temperatures including those around (just above and just below) the freezing point of water?

I was cleaning out my classroom closet today when i stumbled upon a package of 28 small (~1 cm in diameter) glass discs. On one side they act as gold tinted mirrors. When I look through them, it shows objects as different shades of color depending on how the light hits it. The outside of the package says "Spectra-Physics Optics". Any ideas on what they are? Thanks!