Read Lab Blog
Tantalising a mantis
posted by Jenny on April 5, 2013Very excited that Lisa has been making great progress with the mantid behaviour experiments. Here is a video showing 3 trials of one of Lisa’s mantids performing a visual tracking task. The mantis is being filmed from underneath as it … Continue reading
M3
posted by Jenny on April 3, 2013Spent some time this morning with Lisa coding up a stimulus she thought might attract the mantids’ attention. Apparently it worked – the first time she presented it, the mantis leapt right off its perch onto the screen!
Zoltan’s diary: Tuesday 26/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 27, 2013There is an old Hungarian saying: ‘A puding próbája az evés’. That is, the only way to see if your pudding (as in dish) is any good, is to eat it. Well, we had our very long, very detailed pudding … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Monday 25/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 25, 2013Finally got the gadget to work. Tested against the results I managed to get earlier, and it seems to hold. Since I am just about to finish this project (well, at least, time is up), it’s worth taking a look … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Thursday 21/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 21, 2013After some fiddling with the code, the circuit works. Delays seem to be fine. Results seem to be fine. Found out how to control the serial port. I should upload some shell scripts to make life easier when using a … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Wednesday 20/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 20, 2013Things now slow down a bit. I expected much more rapid progress with the micro. There were some obstacles that should not have been obstacles: The default reset value for an output pin is analogue input (took a good 3-4 … Continue reading
Michael at Centre for Life
posted by Jenny on March 18, 2013In February, physiology undergraduate Michael Widdall ran a “Meet the Scientist” event at Newcastle’s Centre for Life, in which members of the public carried out a stereo psychophysics experiment.
Mantids meet the public at Moorbank Botanical Gardens
posted by Jenny on March 17, 2013MRes/PhD student Lisa Hindmarsh ran a public engagement activity at the Open Day at Moorbank Gardens. Adults and children alike loved seeing the mantids, and using the microscopes to look at oothecae and other biological specimens.
Zoltan’s diary: Friday 15/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 15, 2013The moral of today: One measurement is not a measurement. Practically the only two things I can do is to build the stimulator circuit and get an other photometer to make sure it’s not a calibration artifact. Then, all I … Continue reading
Proud PI
posted by Jenny on March 15, 2013We just hosted a lab tour of shortlisted applicants to Newcastle’s Wellcome-Trust-funded 4-year neuroscience PhD theme. We only had half an hour, but in this time Paul, James, Zoltan, Parto and Lisa each gave a dynamic and lucid summary of … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Thursday 14/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 15, 2013The weird result I am seeing is not caused by the monitor. Also, it is not caused by the different refresh rate and stabilised plate current. I am getting the same things over and over again, and the test show … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Tuesday 12/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 12, 2013Do you know what is the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything? If you say 42, well, you are at least as much of a nerd as I am. I think I found today the … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Monday 11/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 11, 2013Spent pretty much all day playing with Matlab. I have my experiment done (it works, verified), I also have my initial result processing script done (which also works, I verified it). What I don’t understand is why things go haywire … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: 08/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 10, 2013Got more results today. I see people getting bored with the experiment. For instance, my arm will be zapped for two hours in exchange for an experiment. But also it includes the more generous spreading of chocolate, teas, etc. I … Continue reading
Zoltan’s diary: Thursday 07/03/2013
posted by Zoltan Derzsi on March 8, 2013Had meetings almost all day. Still managed to add more functionality to processing and do some more experiments. More will follow tomorrow.
← Older postsNewer posts →