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Advanced DIY Science for Students?

Posted by Cliff on from the keeping-them-fascinated dept.

Adam Wise asks: "I'm a high school senior planning a career in science, and I don't have any plans for the summer. I'd like to put these two facts together to entertaining and educational results of the do-it-yourself variety. Reading about the home made electron microscope got me thinking along the lines of a similar project. Are there any resources specifically geared towards DIY scientists beyond baking soda and vinegar volcanoes?"

3 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. How about Biology? by jpsst34 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You're a high school senior - about to graduate. Perhaps you could begin your carreer in biology with a minor in sociology. To get started in these fields, first put down the microscope. OK. Now you're ready to begin the experiment. You need sample subjects. Go meet some people. "Make friends" with them. By this, I mean talk to them, socialize with them, see how they act. That takes care of the sociology part. Now for the Biology part. Choose a someone in your sample population who happens to be of the opposite sex as yourself. Socialize more with this one than with the others. Do what it takes to get this one to want to socialize more with you. Continue this until it the socialization becomes much more than that of the other members of the sample population. Eventually, you will learn about biology via the anatomy of the opposite sex. Perhaps you'll even get to see boobies! (Or flying sperm, if you prefer.)

    --
    How are you going to keep them down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus?
  2. organic chemistry by ameoba · · Score: 3, Funny

    If you plan on going into organic chemistry, building a meth-lab in your basement is a good way to get a head start on things. Additionally, it'll help offset the rising cost of tuition.

    --
    my sig's at the bottom of the page.
    1. Re:organic chemistry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Trust me on this one: Don't start out on meth. It's not a particularly easy synthesis for a beginner. I won't go into details but there are some marginal recipes out there. Even when you do it 'right' you've usually got two things nearby:

      (1)Ether
      (2)Tweakers itching for a smoke break.

      No, Virginia, those two don't go well together. Then there is the whole legality issue, and meth isn't that much fun anyway. Who wants to be up for three days cleaning the house and checking outside for cops?

      Weed isn't too hard, and growing things in controlled environments is good science. Again, you run smack into the legal issue. Now if you could take the THC gene and drop it into, say, brewer's yeast, you could make the most popular microbrew on the block. Too hard you say? Maybe, but I'd bet you cash that Phillip Morris has already done this to tobacco.

      Making your own vodka/gin/moonshine is another possibility. You've got to do the distillations right or you fuck up your eyes. The mash stinks and yes, issues with legality and flammability come back into play.

      Do them all in California, and you've just earned life in jail on three strikes. In other words, don't play with anything that the liquor lobby has paid off politicians to make illegal.