GoKawiilA basic toolkit can be useful for coming up with creative solutions to technological hurdles.Credit: skodonnell/Getty
For David Thomas, a walk to the kitchen for coffee is a trip down memory lane. Standing amid the spoons, pans and pantry goods of his home, Thomas — an Arctic researcher at the University of Helsinki in Finland — is reminded of days spent on the ice, swaddled in layers of clothing that keep him alive at temperatures as low as −40 °C. That’s because when some of these kitchen staples are not being used for their usual duties, Thomas brings them on expeditions as crucial components of his field kit.
A DIY approach to automating your lab
Thomas studies the biogeochemistry of aquatic systems, including the role of microscopic algae and bacteria in the carbon cycle of sea ice. To investigate this, he and his team collect ice cores and samples of the salty brine that sits between the individual ice crystals. The brine collects at the bottom of the hole from which the core is taken, about half a metre down, and it can be difficult to retrieve. The hole is too deep to stick an arm down, and when the team tried using syringes, they clogged and broke in the extreme cold.
“We’ve found over the years that a soup ladle attached to a pole is the ideal thing,” Thomas says, adding that once the brine is collected, another kitchen tool — a strainer — helps to remove lingering ice crystals that would otherwise dilute the sample. “You can get very technical sieves, of course, but the one in my kitchen is perfect in that it’s robust, cheap and easy to sterilize.”
At a time when there seems to be a niche scientific ‘unitasker’ for every process, getting back to basics and repurposing, or even developing, simple tools offers a sense of freedom. With a little creativity, scientists are building surprisingly robust kits to aid tasks in fields from microscopy to oceanography. Their experiences highlight what research do-it-yourself enthusiasts have long understood: that compelling science doesn’t always require the most-complex equipment, or the most expensive.
A spirit of improvisation
Thomas’s work in polar systems is an extreme example, but the fact remains that fieldwork demands a certain level of thinking on your feet, particularly when working in remote areas with little support. “When something breaks, you usually have to make do with what you have on hand,” Thomas says. “A spirit of improvisation is essential in a good field scientist.”
As a result, field researchers often travel with essentials such as bundles of zip ties and rolls of duct tape for on-the-fly repairs. But beyond these universal items, some researchers have developed or adopted common, low-tech solutions that are tailored to the specifics of their work.
Creative workarounds
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