Welcome to my strange alternative world of wargaming with toy soldiers: a game for boys from twelve years of age to one hundred and fifty and for that more intelligent sort of girl who likes boys' games and books (HG Wells, Little wars)
Monday, 22 November 2010
Life is a funny business. My most successful scientific project came to fruition after I retired. See Nerc News
As A Professional gardener of over 25 years worms and soil life in general are an important although overlooked part of my job...interesting article.. Cheers Paul
Dear Sons I once cut the head off a nematode 20 microns from the front and rotated it in jelly such that when it set I could look into the mouth with a high power oil-immersion interferance-contrast microscope and draw the exact shape of the teeth - thuis proving that the species on the west coast of Scotland was different to the one from the coast of France.
Dear Lee I studied ten thousand eight hundred transparent, microscopic worms under high power microscopy for my PhD thesis. I have, of course, been quite mad ever since, J
Dear Paul Nematodes are just as diverse on land as in the seas. Nematode clades have switched from sea to land and visa versa several times. We still don't know where they evolved as we can't find the right part of the DNA to work does suggest they are related to Arthropoda (insects spiders, crustaceans and so on). These two groups make up the most important animals on earth - everything else is rare and unimportant.
Congrats!
ReplyDeleteWhen you say you're into miniatures, you're not kidding! ;-)
Nice one prof!
ReplyDeletecool
ReplyDeleteJohn
Congrats!
ReplyDeleteWow. I'm not sure which is more impressive. the new technique of 'environmental metagenetics' or the fact that you did this manually!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations btw.
As A Professional gardener of over 25 years worms and soil life in general are an important although overlooked part of my job...interesting article..
ReplyDeleteCheers
Paul
Dear Sons
ReplyDeleteI once cut the head off a nematode 20 microns from the front and rotated it in jelly such that when it set I could look into the mouth with a high power oil-immersion interferance-contrast microscope and draw the exact shape of the teeth - thuis proving that the species on the west coast of Scotland was different to the one from the coast of France.
Molecular biology ain't half speeded things up.
John
Dear Col, SC & Igi,
ReplyDeleteThanks - amd my manager said my ideas were crap. Ha!
John
Dear Lee
ReplyDeleteI studied ten thousand eight hundred transparent, microscopic worms under high power microscopy for my PhD thesis. I have, of course, been quite mad ever since,
J
Dear Paul
ReplyDeleteNematodes are just as diverse on land as in the seas. Nematode clades have switched from sea to land and visa versa several times. We still don't know where they evolved as we can't find the right part of the DNA to work does suggest they are related to Arthropoda (insects spiders, crustaceans and so on). These two groups make up the most important animals on earth - everything else is rare and unimportant.
Dear Lurker,
ReplyDeleteThanks,
John
For a moment then, I was back in that pub (the Gypsy Moth ?) marvelling at your tales of the so microscopic.
ReplyDeleteDear Zzz
ReplyDeleteI remember the beverages we consumed at the dear old Gypsy Moth with some relish - excelent conversation too.
J