Centrifuge

More equipment. Here, a Sorvall Legend T+ centrifuge. Non-refrigerated and optimal for swing-bucket rotors at medium speeds.

This one is from Beckman Coulter, the Allegra X-22R, a refrigerated high-speed centrifuge. It's a shared resource but I've ordered a high speed rotor that will take it over 20,000 g's.

This is also an opportune time to cite one of my favorite xkcd episodes of all time. I am talking about this. And you are up for even more punishment, here's a video of a paint can being centrifuged in pendicular axes. It's a popular way of mixing various materials to homogeneity.

Five Guys

A colleague who just visited the US brought this back for D and I, a menu from Five Guys, our favorite weekend lunch haunt. Three things to note. (1) They have one of the world's best fries (2) They serve a mean grilled cheese sandwich with fresh toppings of choice (3) The free flow of complimentary peanuts which you heap into your cardboard bowl using a little shovel. Here's the menu taped to my door.

Captain Bulbosa

Meine Freunde, meet Captain Bulbosa. The Captain was a sneaky gift from D for my office. It is a species of Tillandsia and being an epiphyte, it does not require roots for growth. In fact, the presence of nitrogen-fixing bacteria on its leaves are important for the plant's nutrition. The thermometer shows 27 deg C, just nice for the Captain. 

Sim Lim Tower video

This is a follow up to my previous post. OK, seriously, I did not expect that someone would make a high definition virtual tour with awesome music. This will change your life. Check it out.

Sim Lim Tower

D and I visited an old haunt of my childhood. This is Sim Lim Tower, a hackers paradise, an entire building dedicated to the wholesale and retail of anything that will fit on a printed circuit board and more. Radioshack has nothing on this place. I mean, there's a shop selling only cable ties. If the smell of solder and flux excites you, this is the place to be. Also recommended, Tech Publishing in the basement level. It still is easy to get books, mostly published in India, ranging from integrated circuit plans to electronics projects although I will say that the physical quality of the books has increased tremendously. They no longer bio-degrade while you are reading them. Here are some pictures.

First day

Today, my lab doubles in size from one to two. T-25 mins to my research officer reporting for his first day of work on April Fools.

Tekka Market

D and I were at Tekka Market last Saturday to buy veggies and food for a guest we were having that night. Despite having lived in Singapore for most of our lives, we have never been there. We discovered Chia's Veggies which is possibly the most comprehensive collection of fresh vegetables I have ever seen.

Further into the market complex was a hawker center with street vendor type food. Most had generically ethnic names so this one stood out. The food is awesome. Go check it out.

We were in a rush or we would have asked the owners about their stall name. I did however find an interesting reference on the nasa website regarding the evolution of astronaut cuisine.

The task of eating in space got a big boost in Skylab. Unlike previous space vehicles for astronauts, Skylab featured a large interior area where space was available for a dining room and table. Eating for Skylab's three-member teams was a fairly normal operation: footholds allowed them to situate themselves around the table and "sit" to eat. Added to the conventional knife, fork, and spoon was a pair of scissors for cutting open plastic seals. Because Skylab was relatively large and had ample storage area, it could feature an extensive menu: 72 different food items. It also had a freezer and refrigerator, a convenience no other vehicle offered.

What do astronauts do for carbohydrates?

Flour tortillas are a favorite bread item of the Shuttle astronauts. Tortillas provide an easy and acceptable solution to the bread crumb and microgravity handling problem, and have been used on most Shuttle missions since 1985.

Perhaps they should consider some pakora and vadai from skylab cooked food. If you want to go to a restaurant started by a real astronaut, go to Lovell's of Lake Forest a short distance outside Chicago, IL. James Lovell Jr. was the commander who together with his crew MacGyvered Apollo 13 back from near-disaster. Grumman Aerospace apparently issued a prank invoice for $312,421.24 to North American Rockwell, builder of the command module for 'towing' the crippled ship pretty much to the moon and back. Ironically, Lovell did actually join the towing business straight after leaving the space program, eventually becoming the CEO of the Bay-Houston Towing company. My comments on the shady business of towing are best saved for another tangential post.