PhD shenanigans

A sort of journal to document my journey as a PhD student with ADHD in an attempt to keep me sane

[doctospongiae]

[hometoursandotherstuff]

[monidoll]

dna is often explained as if it was computer code, but its important to remember its literally a bunch of physical strings. just as important as the sequence itself is how these physical strings are packaged and where proteins attach to them, because this determines which parts can even be read

[monidoll]

purified dna looks like this in bulk

[transmechanicus]

my beautiful singular gram of DNA

[elbiotipo]

Here are some other images:

It's not ALL DNA, I don't recall the specifics right now, but yes, it does turn into this stringy thing when you purify it for DNA extraction. I was amazed when I saw it for the first time, it really looks like what you would imagine it to be.

[doctospongiae]

Are you fucking kidding me

[crabussy]

thinking about diatoms again

[crabussy]

microscopic living stars made of glass that eat the sun. and they're all around us. in every body of water. glass sun-eating stars.

[crabussy]

I like them a lot. they produce up to half of all earth's oxygen. the air you breathe is thanks to sun-eating stars made of glass. and that's pretty cool.

[crabussy]

and you know. like oblongs and triangles and some other bullshit

[ur-favorite-fishgirl]

sex is a distraction from your true purpose in life which is to go to the aquarium and look at the fish and go "wooooooaaah.... fishies". cmon guys we all need to lock in.

[bandicoot]

im majoring in making my life a living hell at idiot university

[batsandboba]

“scientists don’t want you know” is a phrase that always cracks me up because if you actually meet a scientist they will be shaking and crying like an overstimulated chihuahua with the need to let you know

[onlytiktoks]

[markovchaingang]

in academia. straight up "winging it". and by "it", haha, well. lets justr say. My theasits

[chimonantus]

Academia is truly thinking you had a good idea thinking this might be the key just to be proven wrong around 7 minutes and 43 seconds later and feeling like the worst imposter out there, getting discouraged, working harder and thinking you had a good idea and being proven wrong once again, and again, and again.

You just want to make a difference, but are you actually the right person to make a difference or are you there just by chance? Is good will and wanting to help others enough? Or are you doomed to feel fundamentally stupid everyday for the rest of your life?

And working, reading, analysing, writing, deleting, rewording, walking at 3 am in your living room while talking to yourself because you are alone in this and you are not just walking back and forth you are chasing that thought, that thought that will finally be a good idea and will make a difference and prove that you, too, are worth of being in that room and are able to improve the life of at least one other person out there

[doctospongiae]

Went on a phd-decontamination trip with a friend this weekend to see the snow, then spent the rest of the weekend playing breath of the wild (never got to it when it first came out). Now ready to go back to business

[eatcopperwire]

[doctospongiae]

Today's results make sense we are so back!!!

[doctospongiae]

Me day 1: I'm not too sure about the first standards I've made, seems like the volatile compounds dissappear too fast, I'll spend a bunch of resources doing many

Me day 700: Standard 2 is my best fucking friend

[melodaia]

Last night I dreamed that I had you in my lab arms...

[doctospongiae]

Turns out we do have one in the lab, I just can't use it due to the kind of samples I have...