Thursday, January 6, 2011

Out of the house #1

It’s the first day of work! I’m kinda nervous the night before since I do not have much working experiences except for my very first part time job in Apex. It only lasted for 5 days but that was torturing. Also, I’m afraid that I might have to deal with high technology devices. I never like technology. A friend of mine always regard me as a caveman cause I can’t even work a Casio calculator well. So what? I prefer to do it manually. Cannot la now? =.=”
I have to get ready extra early this morning cause dad’s busy. I’ll have to follow aunt’s car to work. Don’t wanna be late on the first day of course. Bad impression =D  We didn’t chat much on the way there. I was distracted. Her driving speed..faster than mine by 6.023x10^23 times? I was holding tight to my seatbelt. Haha.. I was showed to my “office” when we reached. I’ve a desk of my own =) and a chair of course. There are two other staffs who share the same room as mine. They are the professional who will guide me =)



First and for most, I was introduced to our two best friends, the armyworm and the diamondback moth. And also I discovered something new! POME, abbreviation for Palm Oil Mill Effluent. It is a mixture of sterilizer condensate, separator sludge and hydrocyclone wastewater which is non-toxic. It is often applied as bio-fertilizer on crops. Bacteria can be cultured in a POME medium without any additional nutrient. So nutritious! =D 

armyworm


diamondback moth


POME


We didn’t stay long in the office though. Went to the collect some plants and off to the lab soon after, by car. We spent almost six hours in the lab today. They were trying out a new method cause the previous one was a failure. Larvae were introduced directly onto the plants this time. Previously, larvae were introduced into petri dishes containing a piece of leaf each. The leaves turned yellow too quickly. Larva died due to starvation and not toxicity.  A lot of work was going on in the lab. Results will be collected after four days. If the readings are inconsistent, we’ll have to start all over again. We’ll have to improve on our method and make some modifications.




The larvae's food


Everything is so precise!


Spraying..


Covering the leaves with plastic. Hard work, for me =.="


Cause i accidentally detached one from the main plant! xD


Choosing larvae. Normally the 2nd or 3rd instar is chosen. They are so tiny!


Sealing up.


Left under the sunlight to photosynthesise.


I love this apparatus =D An adjustable pipette. So much better than the one in school. 

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