Do you like lab toys. I like lab toys. Here are some that have arrived since I last posted pics. 

This is an anaerobic chamber (my foot included for scale). When in operation, the internal atmosphere will be devoid of oxygen to allow for the growth of strictly anaerobic organisms. How is that possible you ask?

A gas mixture containing 5% hydrogen is introduced into the chamber following which the device below (essentially a fan blowing vertically upwards) will pass air through an aluminium canister containing palladium. Palladium catalyzes the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen to form water vapor, thus removing oxygen within the chamber.

To keep the reaction favorable, the canisters below contain desiccant to remove water vapor from the air. You can get oxygen tensions from 20% (in the air we breathe) to 1-3% quite easily.

Nikon TS-100 microscope for tissue culture.

Rotary evaporator for organic chemistry. This device uses vacuum and heating to draw organic solvents out of a sample into the gaseous phase. A chiller circulates cold liquid through the condenser glassware at the top, causing the organic solvent to condense and collect in the large round bottom flask (bottom left). This can be emptied as needed.

This is the chiller which feeds cold liquid into the condensing glassware of the rotary evaporator.

Ultrasonic water bath. Good for cleaning jewelry. Also good for dispersing colloidal suspensions.

Large 4 degrees refrigerator. Extra awesomeness points for the brand being 'Yoda'.

PCR machine from Biorad. If you don't know what PCR is, go educate yourself here.

UV transilluminator for visualizing and cutting bands out of DNA gels for DNA purification. Not to be used as Disco Black Light!

One of our biorad gel rigs for gel electrophoresis.