The ultrasonic cleaner is an effective and convenient lab apparatus. But it’s a lot more than a cleaner. The same sound-wave-induced cavitation bubble creation and collapse — and the resultant pressure jets — also have many other uses. One of those uses is to disperse colloids with sonication. Why would you want to do that?

I think I’ve mentioned before that tattoos are something I just don’t understand. I mean, any business that has to have late evening hours on weekends just so they can get customers when they’re drunk enough to decide to mutilate themselves just seems inherently questionable. But if you are going to get wasted and let

Surface properties are the most critical factor in determining a material’s interactions with the world. Whether you’re a tree, a person, or a hunk of metal, your interactions are mediated through your surface. And if you happen to be a metal, you might be concerned with such things as how well you can mate with

The National Center for Electron Microscopy is “”a forefront research center for electron-optical characterization of materials with state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise.”” Obviously, they need to integrate the latest electron-imaging technology to maintain that status. Not quite as obviously, they also need to incorporate the best sample preparation apparatus and processes as well. After all, they’re

When you want different labs to provide comparable testing services, you need to develop standard operating procedures.  An example is provided in the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Standard Operating Procedure for Tuberculocidal Activity of Disinfectants: In vitro Test for Determining Tuberculocidal Activity.”  Such procedures are step-by-step explanations for how to perform a specific laboratory analysis.  If