In short
This was the best AQLM ever.
some notes from AQLM
We (the Blue Group) won the spectral conflict (or at least we had the most logical solution to the exercise)!!!! So as much as the physicists can leave us in the dust with their fancy calculations and physics know-how (I mean sometimes I cant even begin to understand the questions they ask in class), it is also important to know the biology.
It is well after midnight, and most of the data is recorded, and analysis is in high gear. The physicists are in their element, but the biologists are holding their ground.
Yes, it's true. A few of us watched the sun come up this morning, beers still in hand. There are some bad influences around here. You know John Murray is a good teacher when you can understand his lecture on 2 hours sleep.
We would be remiss if we didn't comment on the incredible changes at Swope.
The samples go out tonight, the results are in tomorrow.
after 4 Spaten, we have a question:
First day of confocal, and everything is just humming along. John gave a nice description of SDCMs and Aaron's GFP lecture was clean as always. Whoever called Aaron mid-lecture-- just leave a message.
Last night there were some interesting late night discussions on how to make the course better. We are always looking for ways to improve the course, and we really do value the students opinions.
We've tested the samples, met with the vendors, written the lab, and now it's just a matter of chance.
TIRF, STED, FLIM, FRET, GFP, FRAP...
Today it gets real.
Rainer, Mary-Ann, and Randi are all here now. The Mythical Aaron Straight is set to descend upon us tomorrow. Sadly, the "standard" microscopes in the main lab are being packed away as tomorrow we will begin to deal with out of focus fluorescence.
While the rapidly aging academics puff hot air, it's the course assistants that are making it all happen. Samples getting made, xeroxing, and group assignments and rotations... they ROCK!
We've made it through all the camera lectures, and the students are now characterising all these fancy cameras. It's Sunday night, a bit late, and its a bit tricky with so many operators. but we are seeing some very nice measurements.
We've managed to dim the lights and see the beads. t-tests were a bit tricky, but we are hopeful that the concepts are getting across....
It's a beautiful sunny day in Woods Hole. Perfect conditions for sitting in a dark microscope room. The students are learning how to process images not just for beauty, but for quantitation as well.
We've seen collagen fibrils in furry little rodents, flagellar transport in clammy, and elodea....
As the DIC lab buzzes in the background, the faculty are preparing for the more colorful part of the course...fluorescence. Details of labs are being sorted out, cells are expressing fluorescent proteins, and John Murray sits alone at the back of the lab looking at, what else? Beads.
During the discussion on error propagation, a student asked if calibrations made with the room lights off would work for meaurements made with the room lights on. David replied:
We've discovered a critical component in the imaging light path: The Microscope! It turns out that this device is the major contributor to loss of photons in imaging. We will therefore remove this device from all further measurements requiring ultimate sensitivity.
Champ is running around with his meter counting photons. Graphs are appearing on monitors. And Paul Goodwin is catching up on his email. Near 11pm and the students are still going strong. All in all, a good night. Tomorrow morning the error will begin to propagate.
Tonight the kiddos are doing their step wedges. Our brains are already addled by Nacho Cheese Doritos and the Starburst (supplied by Molecular Devices-- thank you!). Washed down with Diet Coke and Amstel Light.