How to kill moss, scientifically

I'm on an email list for Grad students at both Vic and Massey uni's, which means I get a constant flow of email about what is going on at both places. These range from "lost USB found in the tearoom" to "Guest academic speaking about bla bla bla"

Anyway, I've just got an email from Vic which I think is a real classic!

Normal people who want to get rid of moss somewhere public would maybe say something along the lines of:

"There is moss in the glasshouse, so I'm going to spray it. Please keep out for a day or two. Thanks"
(Moss & Lichen on Mt Arthur, Nelson)

However, in the scientific world, it sounds like this:

"It is my intention to try to deal with the problem of the slippery glasshouse floor later this afternoon. I am going to water the floors with Watkins Algae and Moss killer. This contains benzalkonium chloride and copper sulphate. I want this left undisturbed over the weekend so I can monitor the effect. Please do not go into the glasshouse after 3pm today until Tuesday afternoon 2nd June Thanks."

NO JOKE, that is the exact wording in the email!!

Scientists are... special :P

Good day

I had a good day today :D

I'm not sure where it came from, I wasn't expecting it to be good at all. But here I am, about to get a good nights sleep and reflecting on the past 12 hours it's actually gone rather well!

While gardening this afternoon I had a few revelations about what to do with my (until then) mess of a thesis project... It's too early in the process (and too late at night) to elaborate, but needless to say I'm very pleased with my train of thought and I think it's all going to work out OK.

PHEW!

If not... I can always defect to this form of science and possibly scrape through:

This one is also quite funny... In a geeky sort of way :P

Ciao for now

Laptop working agian...

After years of abuse my laptop power cord finally stopped working yesterday... and I had no laptop, which isn't very useful when I'm meant to be doing stats and trying to work out what I'm going to do with my thesis...

A replacement would cost $100 from Dick Smith, or AU$30 from ebay... but I really can't afford to wait for it to arrive, and can't afford to by the expensive one, so I've fixed mine!

It doesn't look so flash... but it's very secure and works fine!
Now back into the stats :(

Lab trials in Palmy

This trip to Palmy I'm putting my test subjects into tanks in the lab, and then adding Roundup...
It's ok though - they're invertebrates and don't have rights!

When I got to my lab I quickly learned that there weren't really enough tanks for me to use, so I went out and bought some poly boxes (for $2 each!!) which brings back lots of fish farm memories!

This is what they looked like lined up on my bench....
Unfortunately things haven't been going as planned...

The Daphnia in my control tanks (with no roundup) have all been dying, and out of the daphnia with Roundup, half have been surviving!! This is not what's meant to happen!
We decided it could have been the polystyrene boxes, so used a few glass tanks, but the same thing happened again!

Now I'm trying different water (some tanks with rainwater and some with water from a filter) but the whole thing is really annoying, as I was told the water I was using was from a spring and safe... Turns out it's just lost me 2 days! Oh well....

the frog & the prince

Before I start, I'm not a royalist, and definitely not a republican, but I do think Prince Charles really is The Man!

He's always been outspoken about things important to him, like the benefits of living organically and issues about the environment, and now his latest push is about the worlds rainforest's. With the help of some celebs he's attempting to make us realise the importance of rainforest's, especially in relation to their importance in stabilising the global climate.

Make sure you check out the website, and sign up for their updates

DO IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!

South Coast paddle

Yesterday I went for a kayak along the South Coast with Matt M. We borrowed 2 open kayaks, and it was a bit choppy too so we got quite wet (especially Matt who had a chodey boat which didn't 'cut through' the water, but more just splashed it over him!!)


We went west from Owhiro Bay, and there was a bit of a current which took us into some VERY choppy water (no photos of that I was too busy not dieing!!) I ended up surfing down some large erratic waves which nearly knocked me out!! :S

Then we had to go against the current back to where we started...

The sun came out for the last 30 mins which was a nice way to finish too, aahhhhh :)

It was a nice way to spend an avo, and a good 3 1/2 hours exercise too, thanks for coming along Matt!

You know Winter is coming when...

... the butterflies start looking for places to hibernate!

Today at work this impressive (by far the biggest I've seen all year) NZ Red Admiral spent a few hours in the afternoon flying around the shop looking for somewhere comfy to see out Winter.


We've had a few cold nights in a row now, so it's time for them to find somewhere to avoid the frosts. I don't blame them either, it's becoming harder to wake up in the morning for me too!

I was a bit worried that he might get caught in one of the many spider webs around the ceiling, but I guess the shop is as good a place as any - at least we'll pump some heat into the place over winter which he may like.

It makes me think though - I wonder how human heating in our buildings influences insects which hibernate in them?! (So many questions, so little time :P )

Holiday legacy

Driving over 3,500k's on my recent trip south has taken it's tole on my old car. There are a few bit of wear and tear which I'm currently getting round to sorting out, like balding tyres and a hole in the exhaust system. One of the more visual ones, however, is a look at what happens to a lose bolt (which holds the alternator to the car) which has rattled around over a long drive... It's now missing a bit of thread!

Alternator belt slippage sorted - Monday will be getting the rest done... Urg, money...