TuKoKe success for our TET interns!

Wed, 09 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Here in Finland, 8- or 9-graders make a one- or two-week “Introduction to working life” internship at a workplace of their choice ( TET, työelämään tutustumisjakso ). The Covid-19 pandemic has also screwed this one thoroughly up, but our lab did manage to host a few interns when the Covid-19 numbers were pretty low in the autumn.One group, consisting of Pessi Bask, Rasmus Pouta and Okko Siljander from the Käpylä Primary School did study the suitability of run-of-the-mill plastics used for 3D printing for the culture of mammalian cells . Under the supervison of Niklas Koppatz, they entered with this project the TuKoKe nation-wide science- and technology fair and not only won the third price , but also additionally the Aalto University’s Design Factory Award and a stipend from the Finnish Invention Foundation (Keksintösäätiö) for the inventive nature of their work. Congratulations!

Strawberry fields forever

Sun, 02 Aug 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Seldom does one find wild strawberries in amounts that allow you to pick liters, but this summer we did. I hope that genetic engineering will sooner or later bring back this amazing taste into the cultivated varieties, which have lost most of it over the centuries of breeding for size and appearance. When that happens, I suspect that GMO opponents will continue eating the conventional, GMO- and taste-free, but pestidicide-surcharged breeds (read more about GMO plants).For now, we have to make do with the cultivated varieties. Cultivated strawberries are sold at the grocery store by weight, whereas on the market they are sold by the liter. Being frugal by nature, I never liked this as it makes comparing prices difficult. Assuming that strawberries can be approximated by equally sized spheres, the maximum theoretical packing density could be 0.74 kg per liter (using regular packing) and 0.63 kg per liter (using random packing). Assuming that strawberries can be squeezed a bit, these number could be slightly higher. However, this is again offset by the measuring jar’s small size, which leaves lots of slack space between the walls and the strawberries.I bought a few times 1 liter of strawberries and measured their weight, which averaged at 0.517 kg. Now my thumb rule is that if the liter price it equal or less than half of the kilogram price, you should buy by the liter.UPDATE: I measured now also blueberries and they (due to their smaller size) fill better the 1-liter jar used by the market vendors. I liter is approximately equal to 0.575 kg. Another take home message is that market vendors do usually give you a bit more. If you buy a liter you often get 1.05 or even 1.1 liters. Are they are generous or do they only respond to being watched by the customer during the process of weighing?

Price on Michael’s Domain

TuKoKe success for our TET interns!

Strawberry fields forever