This is not the culture you're looking for.
Ah, the joys of science class.
One of the last classes I need, BIO100, wasn't available this term, so I made arrangements to take it as an independent study class. The professor had me meet with him at the same time as some Microbiology students who were also stuck doing independent study, since the first few chapters of each course cover the same thing (elements and cell structure).
This meant we also did labs together. Or rather, I got to join in on their labs on basic microscope use, and making things grow in a petri dish. This was... interesting. We were each to pick some spot on campus that we thought would have icky things growing, swab it, and attempt to culture it in 3 different growing medias. The usual spots were picked - bathroom faucets, door handles, gym equipment - and some unusual ones. I choose the "push here to get your food" door of the vending machine, and the bottom of my shoe. Then we set up the dishes and let them grow in the incubator.
Technically speaking, these are not the kind of "cultures" I expected to be examining as part of my Anthropology major. But I've made an interesting connection between the two sciences - I now have a fairly good idea as to why Eastern cultures remove their shoes before entering a home. The bottom of a shoe, and the floor it comes into contact with turned out to be absolutely DISGUSTING.
Fortunately, that was my last lab with that group - they're getting more advanced (pathogens!) and I'm going to work on examining the microorganisms in local streams. Whee...
One of the last classes I need, BIO100, wasn't available this term, so I made arrangements to take it as an independent study class. The professor had me meet with him at the same time as some Microbiology students who were also stuck doing independent study, since the first few chapters of each course cover the same thing (elements and cell structure).
This meant we also did labs together. Or rather, I got to join in on their labs on basic microscope use, and making things grow in a petri dish. This was... interesting. We were each to pick some spot on campus that we thought would have icky things growing, swab it, and attempt to culture it in 3 different growing medias. The usual spots were picked - bathroom faucets, door handles, gym equipment - and some unusual ones. I choose the "push here to get your food" door of the vending machine, and the bottom of my shoe. Then we set up the dishes and let them grow in the incubator.
Technically speaking, these are not the kind of "cultures" I expected to be examining as part of my Anthropology major. But I've made an interesting connection between the two sciences - I now have a fairly good idea as to why Eastern cultures remove their shoes before entering a home. The bottom of a shoe, and the floor it comes into contact with turned out to be absolutely DISGUSTING.
Fortunately, that was my last lab with that group - they're getting more advanced (pathogens!) and I'm going to work on examining the microorganisms in local streams. Whee...