Lily's Laboratory: How to Grow Bacteria

Since the human took Shepard off to a biotech (actually, it's for design automation in synthetic biology.  Big words, I know.) conference last week, I took the time to get settled in the lab and start engineering some bacteria of my very own.  Nothing too hard, just your normal glow-in-the-dark bacteria with jellyfish fluorescent proteins.

The rest of this is going to read like the protocols section from a science journal paper.  It's what I get for letting the human proofread.

 We start by filling the petri dishes with agar.  The petri dishes are little jewelry organizers from Michaels, and the 'agar' is EasyCast resin tinted with a drop of off-white paint.  (I believe the actual color is 'Graveyard Bone' by Reaper Miniatures.  We may or may not have raided the DnD mini painting supplies for this project...)

For 'bacteria' (trust me, you do not actually want to be growing lab strain E. coli in your kitchen.  Or basement laboratory.  They smell.), we used some glow-in-the-dark fabric paint, and very carefully streaked the plates.  Alas, we did not have red paint for RFP, so no flow cytometry for us.

Biology lesson of the day:  'Streaking plates' is how you get a single colony of bacteria that's all descended from one cell.  You start by growing up some bacteria in liquid culture, and then spreading that out on a plate.  You dip a sterilized loop in the liquid, and zig-zag across about  a quarter of the plate.  Then you sterilize the loop again, and starting at where your previous zig-zags ended, zig-zag across another section of the plate.  And you do this until you fill the plate.  At the very last zig-zags, you'll have spread out the bacteria enough that you'll only have single cells.  Then you grow them up overnight and voila, colonies!

We have a whole 9 plates of 'bacteria', three green, three yellow, and three blue.  They may or may not be adorable, depending on your sensibilities when it comes to genetically modified organisms.

If you're interested in a set of petri dishes for your very own, please contact the human at jinjia.mixed.goods@gmail.com.  We have a set of 9 petri dishes (3 empty, 3 plain agar, and 3 with bacteria) ready to ship to any miniature lab in the US.  The price (including all fees and shipping) is $30.  If there's demand, we can take custom orders for more.

Mix and Match Challenge! (Part 1)

Here's my take on the AGC Mix and Match challenge.  I'm doing this in two parts:  AG branded clothing, and homemade clothing.

Part 1:  American Girl Branded Clothing

The Spread:

 Tops:

1. Plain or subtly-printed t-shirt: grey tshirt (Drawstring Cargos and Plaid shirt 1999)
2. Tank top: white stretch tank (Play Outfit 1998)
3. Printed t-shirt: substituting denim buttondown shirt (Play Outfit 1998)
4. Camisole: light blue cami (Blue tank and briefs)
5. Long or 3/4 length sleeved shirt: Grey striped turtleneck (School Jumper 1996)
6. Comfy sweater: green sweater (Plaid skirt and sweater 1999)

Bottoms:

1. Blue jeans (Blue Jean Basics 1995)

2. Colored jeans: substituting navy blue ripstop cargo skirt (Urban Outfit 2000)

3. Capris:  substituting denim shortalls (Earth Day Outfit 1996)

4. Shorts:  khaki cargo shorts (Hiking Outfit 1998)

5. Skirt:  plaid skirt (Plaid Skirt and Sweater 1999)

6. Khakis:  drawstring cargo pants (Drawstring Cargos and Plaid Shirt 1999)

Layering:

1. Cotton:  substituting wool jumper (School Jumper 1996)

2. Cardigan:  blue cardigan (Rebecca's School Outfit)

3. Denim or "leather" jacket:  WW2 Bomber Jacket (Molly's Aviation Outfit)

4. Hoodie:  navy blue hoodie (Drawstring Cargos and Plaid Shirt 1999)

5. Leggings:  blue leggings (Apres Ski Wear 1997)

6. Vest (any color, style, pattern, etc):  substituting plaid flannel shirt (Drawstring Cargos and Plaid Shirt 1999)

Shoes:

1. Black flats:  black strap shoes (Ruthie's Meet Shoes) -> not used

2. Colored flats/ballet flats:  grey polka dot flats (Souvenir Accessories)

3. Espadrilles (any color): substituting black loafers (Plaid Skirt and Sweater 1999)

4. Sandals:  blue strappy sandals (Kanani's Meet Shoes)

5. Calf (or knee) boots:  black boots (Rebecca's School Outfit)

6. Stompy boots:  doc martens (School Jumper 1996)

7. Sneakers:  navy blue sneakers (Drawstring Cargos and Plaid Shirt 1999)

Extras:

I ignored this.  I'm not one for little accessories, and none of my dolls are either.  And frankly, if I can't be bother to wear jewelry myself, it's highly unlikely I will try to track down little matching accessories for my dolls.

The Final Outfits

Shepard and Kana have very similar tastes, that being 'plain and functional'.  The difference is that Kana hates to wear shoes and would go barefoot all the time if she could.

Shepard:  grey tshirt, WW2 bomber jacket, cargo shorts, doc martens

Kana:  blue cami, navy hoodie, drawstring cargo pants, strappy sandals

Nellie is being super stylish, but we're not sure what happened with Sam.  The 90s attacked, and it isn't pretty

Nellie:  white tank top, denim buttondown, plaid skirt, navy leggings, grey polka dot flats
Sam:   grey striped turtleneck, denim shortalls, sneakers

Lily is being her usual preppy Slytherin self:  green sweater, grey tshirt, wool jumper, black loafers.

And finally Anora is being a hipster before being a hipster was cool:  plaid flannel shirt, white tank top, navy blue cargo skirt, grey polka dot flats

Shepard at the Pacific Science Center

The Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA

Here we are in scenic Seattle.  The human is now occupied with her conference, but yesterday we had plenty of time to go exploring.  She *almost* didn't take me with her, but her friends persuaded her otherwise.  I was getting tired of the dorm room.  We took the bus to downtown Seattle, and then walked to the Seattle Center.

Outside at the pools

The human has a museum membership with membership reciprocity around the country, so that was abused immediately at the Pacific Science Center.   The pools and fountains outside were very attractive.  Less attractive was the fact that at least 3 day camps had kids there, and both the human and I got stares.  (The human was wearing a Charmander Shepard t-shirt.  It was her own damn fault.)

Gemini Capsule

Wonder of wonders, there were no small children in the Gemini Capsule, so I could get a quick picture there.  The small children showed up approximately 2 minutes later, so we went elsewhere.  To the giant bugs.  Of course there are giant bugs everywhere.  (Also naked mole rats, but those pictures didn't come out so well.)

Giant animatronic praying mantis/rachni

Bugs are meant to be ridden, right?

Giant animatronic scorpion too

The next building had some fun hands-on exhibits, which is why I'm in a giant carbon nanotube structure.  No small children tried to help the human build this, but some adults did.  It ended poorly.

Platonic solids

Trapped in a carbon nanotube

Back outside again, we found these sea life sculptures that the human and I had to take pictures of. 

The bronze sculptures outside

Further adventures (no pictures) included a ride on the monorail and a trip to Pike's Market where the human bought some more fabric and convinced someone to buy an AG doll for their daughter.

Casual Summer Mix-and-Match

Summer causal mix-and-match

Just something simple this time:  doll shirts made from old tank tops and some denim mini skirts.  The stripes on the tshirt actually match at the sides and back!

 

The Astronomy Display (Free Science Printables)

Astronomy models for the lab

With the introduction of the astronomy science project display from AG, we (Kana, Shep, and I all agree on this) have decided to make our own science project.  It's not quite up to the human's standards of science projects yet, but she has her own problems at the moment and can't make us that working computer setup yet.

In this case, we're expanding on the astronomy theme from AG with a model of the structure of the sun, a lunar globe, and a star chart.  These were originally from Canon Creative paper projects (here), but the human resized them.  I'd recommend a heavy paper (matte photo paper, maybe cardstock) for this.  The human used plain copy paper, but it's on the flimsy side.

Construction tips:
You will want a pair of very small, very sharp scissors.  And about 2-3 hours of free time to make each globe.
Use a toothpick to apply the glue to all the little tabs.  There are a lot of little tabs, especially on the globes.

Model of the sun and a mini science book

The model shows the cut-away of the interior of the sun, and all its layers.  It's the hardest and most complicated of the three to make, mostly with all the little slices of the interior layers.  The little science book has 16 pages of text and glossy pictures.  (Some of the text ended up being white-on-white.  Oops.)
Model of the Sun
Science Book
Instructions

Lunar globe with facts inside

The lunar globe shows all the named features of the moon, and opens up to reveal little cards with extra information about the moon.  This is going to be simple compared to the solar model.
Lunar Globe
Instructions

A star chart for the Northern Hemisphere

The star chart is the easiest of the three projects.  It really spins around, and you can see what constellations are in the sky at any time of the year.  It's set for a latitude of 35 degrees N, so constellations are going to be different if you're at a different latitude.
Star Chart
Star Chart Instructions

Lily and her laboratory

 

I'm Lily Cordelia Evans, the newest member of the crew of Jinjia Mixed Goods.  I firmly believe that sufficient advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic, and as such, would like to be the best scientist and mage possible.

My lab originally started out as an Our Generation retro diner, but that didn't suit anyone here very well at all.  I've since claimed it for myself and my equipment.  We took the black board, bakery case, and counter off the floor.  The blackboard and counter were repainted to get rid of the pink.  And the formerly pink phone is now the emergency phone because every lab needs one.

I keep the counter pretty bare normally.  Just enough things for taking notes and doing a literature search.  I don't think anyone really needs a giant stack of science papers to read right now though.

I do have a full set of various glassware, most of which is stored in former bakery case.  We'll pretend it also functions as a fridge for when I fill those petri dishes.  The little wire thing you see coming out of a beaker is actually a spreading tool for streaking plates with bacteria.  I'll be showing that off in the near future.  The test tube holder is made from cardstock.  It fits those little bottles you buy in a pack of 9 at Michaels or another craft store.  In the background you can see my new digital scale.  It's actually a tiny working jewelry scale, and I have plenty of weigh boats for it.

Test Tube Holder Printable:  print on cardstock for best effect

My favorite part of the lab is the bookshelf.  We've been looking forever for a small bookshelf that actually fits all the books we own, and after many attempts, gave up looking and built our own from a sheet of foam core.  It's ~20" tall, 6" wide, and 3.5" deep with 5 shelves for books and other goodies.  Four of the shelves are 4" tall and the last one is 2.5" tall (the numbers add up once you factor in the thickness of the foam core.)

From the top down, we have:

• Astronomy models of the sun and moon (papercraft, tutorials to come later)
• A tiny mineral collection
• The old AG science set with microscope, test tubes, and slides
• Spell books (I did say magic earlier) and fossils
• More spell books, a Book of Hours, the Voynich Manuscipt, a star chart.  And my wand.
• Historical readers and math books and any other book that needs a place

 The human went to a rock show the other day, and picked up the herring and the trilobite fossils for me.  We've had the ammonite fossil for some time, but this is the first time it's had a display stand.  All the display stands are made from cardstock scraps.

And if you were wondering what sort of spell books I had, wonder no more.  I'm slowly acquiring all the books a Hogwarts student needs, starting with 'The Standard Book of Spells', 'A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration', and '1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi'.  (I actually have all 7 books of standard spells, and the intermediate and advanced transfiguration books too.)  All the books  have at least 22 pages of text and images, and have a hardcover style binding.  I'll be getting 'Magical Drafts and Potions' and 'A History of Magic' soon.  Also, 'Quidditch Through the Ages'.

Tang Dynasty outfit for Kana

This is an outfit based on Tang Dynasty (690-900AD) costumes for women.  It consists of an under-robe of very lightweight cream silk.  The sleeves of the robe fall over the hands.  The skirt is very full and ties just under the arms over the bust.  Alas, Kana does not actually have a bust, so the skirt keeps falling down.

I used four different types of kimono silk to make this outfit, one for the robe, one for the collar and scarf, and 2 for the skirt.  I had to dig through a lot of my silk stash to find these since color choices for Tang Dynasty outfits don't match color choices for modern kimono.

No, this is not a kimono.   No, this is also not a hanbok.  And no, this is not a qipao or cheongsan.

Yes, this is based on historical patterns for Chinese clothing.

'But why does it look like a hanbok or a kimono?'

That's because China was a very cosmopolitan place in 700AD, and emissaries from surrounding countries (including Japan and Korea) took a lot of cultural inspiration from the Tang Dyansty.  Including writing systems and fashion.