DrDNA

Ah ha. We're professionals. We don't mess around. Have you tried spitting in it and giving it a good wack? There are manuals for it on ebay. $10 and $30 http://cgi.ebay.com/SORENSEN-QRD-POWER-SUPPLIES_W0QQitemZ160162505799QQihZ006QQcategoryZ25409QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem http://cgi.ebay.com/Sorensen-QRD-Series-OP-SVC-Manual_W0QQitemZ7619069376QQihZ001QQcategoryZ25409QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

In all fairness, by his own admission, half his brain is tied behind his back.....or is it half his brain is shoved up his back side? Ah, who can tell the difference anyway? I wish that a predominantly African/American US university would quickly invite Watson to come give a talk...watching that scene unfold would be worth a $50 pay per view charge.

You must replicate the EXACT conditions that were used when it worked correctly. You need to go back to square one ....start with new bottles of polymer, buffers, glycerol, etc. The CE system is not complex. It is not mysterious. Not much besides cleanliness, the injector, the sample, reagents (matrix and buffer) and power can go wrong. It is just a thin tube and high voltage electrical system with an injector at one end. Everything else is important but disposable and can be easily changed. Is the system clean? What about the injector (check manual for cleaning or servicing)? Do you have a manual? Does it have a troubleshooting section? What does the manual say about current dropping and pure vs 1:1 or other ratios? In my experience, the current changes all the time depending on what you load it with and inject (of course ionic strength effects resisitivity, conductivity, etc an therefore current).

I just chalked it up to the ramblings of a (possibly) senile, tired, old man. I felt kind of sorry for him when I heard it. What a fall from grace...its a long way to the bottom from the top. But a lot of people from his generation have antiquated ideas about race that you might be shocked at. The world he grew up in was quite different than the one you see today. Seems appropriate. Where do you believe that it should be?

The Netherlands came immediately to mind when I typed that, it is not considered to reside in a hurricane danger zone. Bangladesh is another hot spot, but as a US citizen, what do you propose that I do, except perhaps donate to relief funds. Little to none. Therefore they are not going to build below faulty levies and then expect nothing bad to happen....because they can't afford to build them in the first place. Of course not. But it may be the only one below sea level that has a unique blend of stupidity and corruption so severe that, in a hurricane prone zone, they built below sea level (proper zoning should have prevented that), would not evacuate before the storm of the century, misappropriated federal levy funds, and then blamed the federal government and racism for all the problems that ensued. I watched the congressional hearings and was shocked. Many people actually believed that the levies were "bombed" to flood them out of the area. They heard the bombs go off so it must be true. You must admit that the major societal stratification and helpless child-like mentality along with severe victim's syndrome, plus insanity is fostered and actually promoted in the US, especially in socioeconomically depressed areas, like no where else in the world. But most of them are located above the level of the surrounding ocean, lake, and/or delapodated levies. New Orleans happens to be below all three. Plus the additional points above.

I'm confused by your pic but it doesn't look "horrible"...... Scale of the features? Where is the "stalk" you have mentioned in your pic? Are each of those things in your pic independent....each ball connected to a "stalk" or is there a stalk somewhere that connects these? Not dandilion or cotton tree?

Quote: "" Contracts With Iran and China Concern U.S. By JAMES GLANZ BAGHDAD, Oct. 17 — Iraq has agreed to award $1.1 billion in contracts to Iranian and Chinese companies to build a pair of enormous power plants, the Iraqi electricity minister said Tuesday. Word of the project prompted serious concerns among American military officials, who fear that Iranian commercial investments can mask military activities at a time of heightened tension with Iran. The Iraqi electricity minister, Karim Wahid, said that the Iranian project would be built in Sadr City, a Shiite enclave in Baghdad that is controlled by followers of the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr. He added that Iran had also agreed to provide cheap electricity from its own grid to southern Iraq, and to build a large power plant essentially free of charge in an area between the two southern Shiite holy cities of Karbala and Najaf. The expansion of ties between Iraq and Iran comes as the United States and Iran clash on nuclear issues and about what American officials have repeatedly said is Iranian support for armed groups in Iraq. American officials have charged that Iranians, through the international military wing known as the Quds Force, are particularly active in support of elite elements of the Mahdi Army, a militia largely controlled by Mr. Sadr. An American military official in Baghdad said that while he had no specific knowledge of the power plant contracts, any expansion of Iranian interests was a concern for the military here. “We are of course carefully watching Iran’s overall presence here in Iraq,” the military official said. “As you know, it’s not always as it appears. Their Quds Force routinely uses the cover of a business to mask their real purpose as an intelligence operative.” “This is a free marketplace, so there’s not much we can do about it,” the official said. At the same time, it is possible to view Iranian and Chinese investment as giving those countries a stake in Iraqi stability. The power plants could also boost a troubled reconstruction effort in Iraq. An American Embassy spokesman said, “We welcome any efforts to help develop Iraq’s energy infrastructure.” “These proposals reflect the ongoing business opportunities that are arising in Iraq that American firms should be competing for,” said the spokesman, who asked not to be named because of standard protocol at the embassy. ......................"" End Quote. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/18/world/middleeast/18grid.html?ei=5090&en=4b892e7422c8bdd6&ex=1350360000&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=print I am a little dismayed to say the least. I suppose that Iran and China are pleased that US efforts to implement a democracy in Iraq is helping their companies and supplementing their economies. One question which immediately comes to mind is, should US firms (and companies from other countries that have "coalition forces" in Iraq) be awarded priority status when bidding on such contracts?

Ah ha, your standards not working correctly is a REALLY important bit of info.....it apparently has nothing to do with your particular unique sample.....you've got to get it worked out with the ladder first obviously or you can never hope to resolve your sample. OK, let's go down the list... Did it ever resolve the ladder correctly? If so, when? By whom? What protocl did they use: ....injection volumes, concentration, size and range of size of the ladders they (or you) used when it worked.......etc?? Have you tried other reagent stocks, (buffers, polymer, etc...)? Can you get your hands on some other stocks? EDIT: I just saw your answers mixed in with my quote. Re: ":using 1:1polymer many peaks showed up in the profile but then current started to drop at some point. we also used 100bp ladder and few peaks showed only at pure polymer and many showed when 1:1 polymer used." Which are you using now? 1:1 or pure? I wouldn't worry too much about current dropping if you are getting resolution.

Do you mean that, because of global warming, we can also expect increases in corruption at local levels? Or that we can expect George Bush to "bomb the levies" elsewhere? Seriously though, wasn't New Orleans a unique case at least in part because: 1. It is a city built in large part part below sea level. Burbon St is mostly above sea level and was spared. 2. US gov allocated (a LOT of) funds to fix the levies but that money was misdirected away from levy upgrades and repairs. 3. The local government was (and still is) apparently corrupt (much more than the norm) and had (still has) victim's syndrome. The problems in the dome were perhaps unique to New Orleans. Nagin was certainly neglect in duty when he decided not to evacuate.....while the school buses sat idle. 4. A lot (most?) of the damage came from flooding as a result of Lake Ponchatrane (sp?) How many cities in the US, or the world for that matter, that are in hurricane danger zones, are like New Orleans (in the aspects listed above)?

Besides the sample itself, your resolution is mainly based on injection load and volume, power, time, column length and polymer density. 1. What kind of sample prep and pre-prep are you doing? In other words, how are you removing the poop? 2. For what size DNA was the CE protocol that you are using optimized? Matrix (polymer) material and conc, time, power, etc....are all important and can be optimized. 3. What is your injection volume and have you tried less volume? Smaller volumes usually mean better resolution. 4. Have you tried injecting a less concentrated sample? Could possibly be overloading....? **5. Do you get expected results from your standard samples? What are they and are they similar (in size and range) to what you are trying to resolve?** 6. Are all reagents fresh?

Yes, but they were beneath me.

Quote: "Most fake bombs missed by screeners 75% not detected at LAX; 60% at O'Hare By Thomas Frank USA TODAY WASHINGTON — Security screeners at two of the nation's busiest airports failed to find fake bombs hidden on undercover agents posing as passengers in more than 60% of tests last year, according to a classified report obtained by USA TODAY. Screeners at Los Angeles International Airport missed about 75% of simulated explosives and bomb parts that Transportation Security Administration testers hid under their clothes or in carry-on bags at checkpoints, the TSA report shows. At Chicago O'Hare International Airport, screeners missed about 60% of hidden bomb materials that were packed in everyday carry-ons — including toiletry kits, briefcases and CD players. San Francisco International Airport screeners, who work for a private company instead of the TSA, missed about 20% of the bombs, the report shows. The TSA ran about 70 tests at Los Angeles, 75 at Chicago and 145 at San Francisco. " ... .... "Tests earlier in 2002 showed screeners missing 60% of fake bombs. In the late 1990s, tests showed that screeners missed about 40% of fake bombs, according to a separate report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The recent TSA report says San Francisco screeners face constant covert tests and are "more suspicious." "" End Quote. http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20071018/1a_lede18_dom.art.htm

I agree with what the Aliene said about Fluorine being covalently bonded to the carbon. The C-F bond is VERY strong. Much stronger than a C-H bond, so it is not going anywhere. And Fluorine has dramitically different properties than difluoroethane, so the risk of contamination is essentially nill. I think you have a great idea there, Entwined, and I am going to try it myself on my pistoles, hunting rifles, and shotguns. Quote: "Difluoroethane 1,1-Difluoroethane, or HFC-152a Melting point: -117° C Boiling point: -24.7° C Molecular Weight: 66.05 Appearance: Colorless, odorless, transparent liquid Chemical formula: CHF2CH3 F H | | H-C-C-H | | F H Update! The Urban Legends Reference Page reports an incident of death by huffing Dust-Off brand canned air, apparently by asphyxiation. Dust-Off contains difluoroethane, and can be used to get a small and short-lived buzz from oxygen deprivation. The compressed air in canned air dusters is either tetrafluoroethane or difluoroethane, both used because they have many attractive properties for a basically safe, effective, inexpensive, and convenient duster. The only real dangers are the highly unlikely possibility of asphyxiation (you'd have to be trying to kill yourself with such a small canister, and even then it probably wouldn't work) and, in the case of difluoroethane, a slight fire hazard. Tetrafluoroethane is not flammable. The dangers of canned air are so small as to be all but ignorable, at least when not deliberately inhaling it. These two gasses are simple asphyxiants, which means that they displace oxygen in the area when sprayed. This isn't much of a problem for the average consumer, even though difluoroethane is heavier than air, since air dusters come in relatively small containers and are meant to be used in short, controlled bursts. Even a small room contains far too large a volume of air for asphyxiation to really become a threat. Although I am unaware of anyone being overcome by canned air fumes by accident, there have been rare cases of difluoroethane catching fire. Rare because in order for this to happen, a very specific set of circumstances must be met. Difluoroethane is only flammable in a fuel/air concentration of 5.1-17.1% by volume, and is heavier than air. Most of the reported fire cases were caused by someone spraying out the catch bin of a paper shredder, where the heavier than air difluoroethane pooled at the bottom of the bin in the required concentration and was ignited by static electricity. There is no good reason to air dust a paper shredder bin anyway, so my advice is to just let those last few stubborn bits of paper go. On the bright side, air dusters have many chemical properties which make them attractive for air dusting. First, they are generally non-reactive with most substances, so they are safe to use with delicate electronics and just about anything else you want to spray down (and do not contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer, although they are mild greenhouse gases). Second, they are canned with a high degree of purity, meaning that there are very few substances like moisture mixed in to cause problems. Canned air is very dry and very clean, leaving no noticeable residue of any sort on your equipment. But the most attractive property is a low vapor pressure. At 25° C, difluoroethane can be liquified at a pressure of just 87 psi. That's just over half the vapor pressure of propane. This means that a large amount of canned air can be kept at a safe pressure in a relatively small can, which is what really makes it ideal for the average consumer. At 87 psi, some of the difluoroethane will be liquid and the remainder will be gas, with the liquid level falling as the product is used. So long as some liquid remains in the can, the gas (which rises to the top) will be pressurized enough to spray a nice, clean puff of cleansing air across your dusty electronics. If kept at a constant temperature of 25° C, the pressure will only fall below 87 psi if the the liquid level falls to zero, and only rise above 87 psi if completely full of liquid and more is forced in (this should not be a situation occurring in the average consumer's home or office). There is just one downside to storing difluoroethane as a compressed liquid. All cans of compressed air come labeled with a warning not to shake or tilt the can during use. Of course, most people don't bother to read the directions (it's a can of air, how complicated can it be?) and immediately give the can a good shake, because that's what you do with spray paint, hairspray, bug spray, and just about everything else that comes in a spray can. Unfortunately this defeats the entire purpose of the canned air! Shaking the can causes the liquified and gaseous difluoroethane to mix together, and some liquid will be sprayed out with the gas. But the whole reason this stuff is marketed in the first place is that it's completely dry – no moisture is supposed to be expelled with the gas. Tilting the can causes a similar but more dangerous problem, the liquid reaches the spray nozzle and is expelled in a frigid cone that can cause frostbite and crack plastic, as well as condense moisture in the air on the target area. The reason for this is the heat engine cycle, the same thing that makes a refrigerator or air conditioner work. It takes energy to compress a gas, and therefore energy is lost when the gas is de-pressurized. This manifests itself as a sudden drop in temperature, and in the case of a liquified gas this drop is substantial. This is also noticeable on a smaller scale as the product is used up in normal operation. As the liquid level drops, the can gets cold. Used properly, difluoroethane air dusters are extremely safe and convenient solutions to dust problems on equipment that would be damaged by traditional dusting methods. "" End Quote. http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=Difluoroethane

I dunno. How big were they? It inspired me to look up how long a whale neuron might be... "A cell in the lumbar posterior root ganglion has a running length greater than the height of the individual. The ratio of the total length to the diameter of the cell body is in terms of at least a million. Needless to say such a cell in a whale would be 100 to 150 feet long. " http://cyberlectures.indmedica.com/show/111/1/Neuron That's amazing, don't you think?

I forgot the creek! Turning over rocks and using a net to catch crawdads, salamanders, minnows, etc....so they could be "studied". Great biology lessons. Plus reproductive physiology games that the dogs and other farm animals played. They let me watch. And did you know that a firecracker won't kill a crawdad ?

Bingo! Neurons in the spine can be quite long.

ROFL Gib, I think mg of caffine for mg of caffine, that coffee and caffine pills have about the same safety profile. Except it is much easier to take a lot of pills really quickly than it is to take drink too much hot coffee. If you drink too much hot coffee too fast, you'll scald your tongue and then fill up your tummy (then your bladder). You certainly should not take too much of either. It can raise you blood pressure (as you mentioned) and make your heart work overtime. Plus, if you take caffine for a while and stop, you'll have to deal with headaches and that awful drowsy feeling for a while. You should do what Elvis, I mean iNow, said. This post is not intended to take the place of medical advice from a medical professional. If you have any questions, see your doctor. Para Espanol, prensa uno. For English, press two. If this is an emergency, please dial 911. If you are being chased by angry dogs, run.

I agree to some extent. But I also remember before thermophillic bacteria were discovered that everyone assumed that life on earth (an elsewhere) must have begun in an environment like we have today. If not oxygen rich, warm for the most part but not too warm, neutral pH, low pressure, no "harmful" sulfides, etc. Then, in the 80s, someone discovered life fluorishing in the thermal vents deep in the ocean, living off really nasty plume gases and solutes. Everyone was shocked. Those critters were thriving at great pressures, great temperatures, low pH, very very harsh conditions where it was thought that life could not exist. Then many scientists came to terms with the fact life probably began under such conditions, because it was known that the environment on earth must have been similar billions of years ago. Maybe those "harsh" environments were even better for biogenesis than our "gentle" environment. So, in the very recent past, the excessive speculation that you mention was directed at finding life in "gentle", not harsh environments. I guess the take home lesson is we should keep our minds open as to what types of environments we might expect life to begin and evolve in.

There is now. Dead animals. Ants. Broken lawnmowers. Broken radios. Broken anything I could take apart. Then there was salt peter, carbon, and sulfur......

Hints. Carry impulses. Part of a book.

"There seems to me to be a major flaw in these arguments. While life may survive today, after 3 billion years of adaptive evolution, in these extreme environments, would life actually begin in those places? Can biogenesis occur in a range of extreme environments on other worlds?" Yes. It is believed that the enviroments that these extremophiles live in may be similar to the environment that existed on earth about 2 and a half billion years ago. Before the cyanobacteria (or something similar) put a bunch of free oxygen into the atmosphere by photosynthesis. For example, the atmosphere was composed mostly of nitrogen, methane, ammonia, carbon dioxide, and water before it was oxygen rich. It is believed that Archaea and some bacteria evolved in these conditions. They are able to live in similar harsh conditions today; including, very low pH and high heat and pressure. So, it is believed that life may have adapted from what we consider to be an extreme environment to the one we have now. http://www.spacedaily.com/news/life-01zm.html http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/296/5570/1066

I think it is very interesting. Although microwaves seem to have gotten a green light in terms of not being a cancer risk, it also seems that the amount of radiation in this case would still be very high (even with a big antenna area). Aren't microwaves still implicated in cataracts (I wonder if this, like burns, is also due to heating effect)? PS: I still think that this would be very difficult to get past public opinion. PSS:UV is nonionizing raditation also, but seems to cause cancer.

Unless I am missing something, after MUCH thought, I still have a problem with the definition you have presented. Mainly because it seems to include things like flashlights, wet and dry cell batteries, fuel cells, fuel tanks, gas stations, even a water tank located up high on a hill (any object with potential or kinetic energy?....even atoms?) For example, a car which has a battery, gas tank, engine, and alternator fits it quite well.

You don't like my idea about tar in smokers' lungs spontaneously combusting like oily rags?

Doesn't sound very skeptical of you, Mr. That would have to be a lot of energy for it to be worthwhile. So how can this power be transmitted from space to the earth via microwaves without risk of harm? My testicles told me they don't want to have anything to do with it.