But it gets bad at times!

    Toothpicks, ready for insertion!

I've worked with many people over the years.  Being specialized in northern ecosystems, you run into northern peoples, like Russians.  I've had good experiences with Russians, and I've had horribly bad ones.  Not horribly bad as in I was going do physically die at their hands, but I did feel like was going to die because of their science at times- like here.  These toothpicks were for a soil decomposition experiment- you stick them in the ground for a while, then pull them up and check how much decomposition took place- maybe run a few tests on them like for lignin or cellulose or something like that.  But what did this guy do?  He gave us a precision instrument called a "tensometer" for a mechanical breakage test for the toothpicks.  And what was this high tech device?  It was a Russian fish scale!  I wish I had a picture here to show you, but I don't.  But I swear to you that it was a real fish scale with little cartoon fish on it that looked like it was hammered together in 2 minutes.  Of course we tried to give it a fair shot, but we never could get it to break toothpicks uniformly, which was the whole point of the thing.  Also, what made this experiment really bad was that the PI wanted us to keep exact track of the toothpicks as well as randomizing their insertion into the ground.  So how do you do that?  Tie them together with string and hope that it doesn't break before you collect them.  It was painful, extremely painful to do this- you go and tie 20 strings of 20 toothpicks with fishing line- I dare you!  At least in atmospheric sciences they don't use toothpicks- I hate the things now!

    The toilet facilities here at ARO....

This next example isn't really a science experiment, but more about the scientists themselves.  Yes, really smart people do really dumb things as I will relate to you here.  During the summer, we had a group over from Georgia Tech to do some very specific measurements.  Overall, really smart people.  But one of the NOAA guys decided to play a trick on them- you see the toilet with "Do Not Use" covered in plastic?  That's because it means exactly that- don't use!  Well, he put an old Baby Ruth (a candy bar) in the plastic as a joke- you remember the pool scene in the movie "Caddyshack", well, it was like that.  We thought it was funny anyway.  But one of the visiting scientists saw the candy bar in the toilet and took that as a sign that it was all clear to go, and that's what he did!  And do you know what else happened after that happened and one of his more responsible colleagues cleaned up after him?  He did it again the next day at almost exactly the same time!  I thought it was hilarious (and pretty gross), but I didn't have to clean it up :-)  But these guys are supposed to be smart, right?  I guess smart in certain ways, but completely clueless in others.  The funnel by the way is the urinal- the real urinal has the plastic plant in it to keep people from going in there.  No water, so that doesn't work either, but a funnel connected to a 55 gallon drum downstairs doesn't need any water, so that's what we use while we're at work.  But if you leave it open- someone's going to do it at some point, guaranteed.

    Nuts and bolts when unpacking the new greenhouse "kit" (thanks Randi!)

My last example of bad science is the new greenhouse itself.  There's quite a story behind it and not many kind words about it as well.  I usually walk by it most days because it's next to the store.  Since I work in the old greenhouse, I'm curious to see how the new one is going and I'm pretty eager to see it running like everyone else in the station who likes fresh produce.  I guess the workers here have had quite a time with it from the very beginning, even while unpacking it.  These boxes are how the nuts and bolts and other small fittings were packed for shipment.  Now, I'm not an expert at these things- that's the construction worker's realm, but that looks pretty bad to me.  They tell me that the nuts and bolts were just thrown in a box- no sorting, no individual baggies to keep them separated.  If I were put to work on something like that, I'd probably get a little upset- why should you have to sort through things like this to get the job done?  I'm sure that in the real world, this doesn't happen (too much at least).  Actually, I think if you were working in construction and did something like this, you'd probably get yourself fired.  I'd want to fire you anyway!  And this goes back to the rewiring of the panel- extremely ugly to totally beauteous.  I bet I could wire the panel better than that.  I bet I could train one of my undergrad assistants to wire the panel better than that!  They also tell me that this is supposed to be a prototype for a Mars mission- I hope they don't expect the astronauts to do their own rewiring of their greenhouse, but then again, the astronauts on a Mars mission will have plenty of time on their hands like us at the South Pole!  NASA wouldn't put up with such a hokey job, would they?  I hope they're better than that.

Well, that's my little rant for today.  And while I think neatness counts, it's not always needed, but it sure looks good.  I'm a simple guy here- just make it pretty and I'll forgive you for just about anything!

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