• Question: what is the weirdest thing you have invented in a lab

    Asked by mr bean on 20 Jan 2026.
    • Photo: Emma Bull

      Emma Bull answered on 20 Jan 2026:

      I’m not sure if it counts as an invention, but I have had to DIY lots of equipment throughout my time in the lab. My favourite DIY included stacking two boxes on top of each other, a whole lot of paper towel, a glass sheet, some special filter paper and then a glass bottle on top as a weight to do a gel transfer! I put lots of signs around it to make sure noone disturbed it because it would be a big mess to clear up if knocked over! It worked really well in the end 😀

    • Photo: Mark Ridgill

      Mark Ridgill answered on 25 Feb 2026:

      We dry our compounds in a glass tube by applying a vacuum and heat to remove traces of solvent, I once made a white solid that turned a beautiful pinky purple when the vacuum was applied and was white again when removed.

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