Which piece of lab equipment would you find handy at home?

[SS-18 ICBM]

I'd probably go with an autoclave. Caked-on residues don't stand a chance against 121°C steam at 25 atmospheres of pressure. And it seems it might be useful for canning too.

 

[Antilogic]

Autoclaves for sterilization and cleaning. An oven designed with magnetic stirring would be really useful when cooking--just drop a magnetic stir bar in and you don't have to worry about stirring your soup.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Stir bars are neat, but rather easy to misplace (or even swallow). It can also be loud if not placed properly.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

A shaker table so I could rent it out to every single university satellite team in the region. XD

 

[Patroklos]

Hydroponics. So many uses...

 

[Perfection]

A shaker table so I could rent it out to every single university satellite team in the region. XD

If I had a shaker table, I'd be attracting a different sort of university student.

 

[El_Machinae]

The magnetic stirrer is an awesome idea, but I think it could just be replaced with an alternative, self-powered stirrer.

I'd like the ability to do genotyping, cause I see cool allele-based papers all the time.

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

At home? I suppose if you have the space and power, why not.

Hydroponics. So many uses...

Grow-op?

Though I am curious which edible plants can't be grown with a typical garden.

 

[El_Machinae]

At home? I suppose if you have the space and power, why not.



Grow-op?

Though I am curious which edible plants can't be grown with a typical garden.

There's remarkably little equipment needed for genotyping; an electrophoresis gel stand and a pcr machine...

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Not sure why I was thinking of sequencing. But depending on your method of genotyping, you might need additional equipment like a hybridization oven. Still benchtop, but it adds up.

 

[El_Machinae]

Oh, I'm gonna get my genome sequenced eventually, but I'd not want the machine for that!

 

[Bartleby]

Ethanol still. Distil absolute ethanol from magnesium ethoxide and mix it with rainwater.

 

[madviking]

An automatic pipette would be pretty useful, but I would need an industrial size one for useful kitchen use.

 

[BvBPL]

Too complex!

Erlenmeyer flasks make bomb cocktail shakers and wine decanters.

 

[Crezth]

Wind tunnel. Oh, the things I could blow...

 

[GoodSarmatian]

A still.
I'm not really interested in pure ethanol, but it offers sooo many possibilities.

 

[Antilogic]

There's remarkably little equipment needed for genotyping; an electrophoresis gel stand and a pcr machine...

I worked with a similar electrophoresis setup that would fit within a cubic foot, although I'm not sure what you would need this technology for at home.

Might this be the difference between scientists and engineers?

Ethanol still. Distil absolute ethanol from magnesium ethoxide and mix it with rainwater.

If we are talking chemicals, then an ethanol still for any number of reasons, including the greatest sanitizing agent ever. Seriously, it dissolves organics and salts, kills tons of bacteria, can even remove permanent marker...

Also, a liquid nitrogen system because you can make some awesome food with that--liquid N2 milkshakes, instant ice, slushees and sno-cones, and so on. And a carbon dioxide tank for cheap bubbling of beverages.

 

[dutchfire]

A black board

 

[hobbsyoyo]

Lasers.

Just cuz

 

[emzie]

A centrifuge. Dunno why.