Monthly archives: November, 2012

Cellophane as a half-wave plate

The last post on cheap optics reminded me of this 2003 paper where they showed that kitchen grade cellophane acts as a half-wave plate.

It was experimentally verified that an ordinary 25-????m-thick cellophane sheet possesses properties…



50% off at Edmund Optics

If you’re like most people, you can get the vast majority of your holiday shopping done at Edmund Optics. They’re having a Cyber Monday sale this Monday, November 26th. Use code Cyber12 at checkout.

Here’s the deal,…



Death of the impact factor

There will probably always be a need for metrics like impact factor so that non-experts can estimate the significance of a scientist’s publications. These metrics are problematic, as we all know.

Interestingly, the relationship between an article’s…



Online Scientific Python: Wakari

If you like Python, want to analyze data online, and are interested in a standardized environment that can be easily shared, read on:

Continuum Analytics is offering a new beta: Wakari. You can register…



Inventables: raw materials source

Inventables is a web retailer with a decent site that makes it easy to find raw materials and interesting components. E.g., stretch-sensing rubber and conductive velcro.



GCaMP6 now available

If you’ve been waiting to jump on the GECI bandwagon, you just ran out of excuses.

GCaMP6, a legitimate breakthrough, is now available at Addgene.

Hat tip to ybot.



R&D budgets in perspective

A sense of scale can be valuable. Here are the 2012 Research & Development budgets of several tech companies and pharmaceutical companies compared to approximate annual disbursements from the Wellcome Trust and the HHMI….