I need help finding an experiment to do for a subject at uni. It can be anything, preferably biology , and it has to pass the ethics committee.

You can come and do some genotyping for me.

I don't have a lab to work with, it's just a what-i-can-manage-to-rig-up-in-my-garage idea

Hey, if it's free, I need some qPCR done.

Geoff

Maybe you could build explosives out of stuff that's easy to get, to uh... combat terrorism.

Yeah, try making some explosives out of Strepsils and sugar. I did that once for an experiment...pity it was for psychology.

I'm partial to styrofoam and gasoline. Makes for a sticky molotov. For the 'fuse', tampons dipped in gasoline and taped to the outside are far, far safer than the classic oily-rag-jammed-in-hole. The bottle can be capped off, the tampon lit, and then throw it at something hard.

That's not really an explosive, but it burns for a long time.

naphthalene gas bomb!
rarr

I don't have a lab to work with, it's just a what-i-can-manage-to-rig-up-in-my-garage idea

no lab at the uni? What kind of uni is that!!

Get some light sensitive bugs (found under rocks and such). Put them in a petridish. Record their behaviour under different light conditions. (petridish half covered etc - measure movement - divide for instance petridish into zones and measure how many times it crosses zones in a certain time and maybe which zones). Throw in some experiments related to humidity conditions. Or temperature. bla bla
Stick to one species. Make it reliable and simple. Record data meticulously.

You can do this for any bug. Think about what kind of conditions it lives in. Think about if its behavioural patterns might be adapted to finding such favourable conditions. Devise some very simple experiments to test some variables.

keep it simple.

Have controls.

try to find experiments that test one variable at a time.

It's a do at home experiment, uni does have labs but they're busy. We only have a dozen labs or so.

I was thinking magnets and plants, and pumping them full of ferric oxide or something. Some metal ion.

It's a do at home experiment,
i can provide instructions to make a urine bomb

i came across the instructions while surfing the web
i saved the page to cd
it's laying around here somewhere
i'll look it up if you want it

another good project would be to build an accurate triple beam scale

i attempted something like that but discovered i didn't have any accurate
weights to calibrate it

mine was so sensitive it could weight a postage stamp
but since i couldn't calibrate the scale i didn't know how much the stamp weighed

i built a scale that was senstive to the miligram... and i do have calibrated weights.

biology??? humm..

why not build a complete self contained microbiology lab??

i.e.. a large sealed box.. with a large window.. and arm holes.. with set in place gloves and sleeves on the box.. so you can work without breaking the seal.
and a hepafilter with a small fan.. to sterilise the air within...
a hygrometer to show the internal humidty.
a themometer.. for temp.
a or large sealed cup of water in side with a temp controlled water heater to set the temp at 85 degrees.. and hold it there.
a co2 sensor if you can find one...
small lights etc...

and of course, petre dishes.. agar solutions to fill the dishes..

and if you really want to have fun.. grow some real mushrooms..
but for that you will need a second chamber and more equiptment...

if you take this on.. i will offer all i know in the building process.

the nice thing about this project, is that it must be done right.. it is a sterile lab.. and as such can demonstrate the concept of our un-sterile enviorment.

ie.. a new petre dish.. can get loaDed with all kinds of fungis and bacteria, just from one tenth of a sec exposure to fresh air..

a new one in the chamber will stay clean.. the dirty one will grow all kinds of stuff..

all kinds of neat stuff people can look at.. in the petre dishs. but should'nt open and touch.

you can then give a presentation of the basic processes in microbiology studies such as using the sterile enviorment to allow for the controlled growth of specific strains of whatever.. without the mixed bag we automatically get with a non-sterile enviorment.

it explains why operating rooms are sterile..

why it is important to have sterile enviorments at all.. and how we use them.

-MT

i built a scale that was senstive to the miligram... and i do have calibrated weights.

what are they? where did you get them?

I GOT them.. from my local chemical supply store.. tri-ess sciences in burbank CA...

they have everything you could want for your chemistry lab.. but they wont sell somethings without a license.. due to those damm terrorists.
-MT

but they wont sell somethings without a license.. due to those damm terrorists.
-MT
i would imagine the DEA has something to do with that too.