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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 4d

Years ago, I had a perfect Ig Nobel project that actually proved an interesting proof of concept. I was rejected because while truly informative and useful, it was "silly".

It was the beginning of my mad scientist journey. #stillmad

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 4d

The halo is temporary, the rest is permanent.

Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

Poor. Electrical. Connection. (Intermittent).

Great for testing grounding, looking for loops, etc, but once that’s done? Banana plugs!!

Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

Lolol. We have an older model (not even sure it’s Thorlabs??) and the power supply just died. I swapped it out with a laptop power supply I had and it worked great!! It works but just doesn’t like to stay off.

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

Booooo!!! I was looking to buy one of those. Ground wire coming out of a BNC sounds is genius!!

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

I’ve gotten to the point that I have:

1) run a ton of water through the lines to remove any residual salt
2) replace the tubing every ~2-3 months
3) run a ground wire through tubing

I hate it.

Electronics on the rig that don’t properly ground are the devil. Best reason to buy from “ephys folk”

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

When it’s not that it’s usually a salty bridge in the bath, the pipette holder, or the damn vacuum line (my personal nemesis).

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

I’m always trying to tell people it’s less complicated than you think. 99% of the time, something isn’t grounded (or is improperly grounded, ie, a poor connection). It might be a lamp, a manipulator, the microscope, etc. Use a central grounding station with banana clips (no alligator clips).

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

Apologies if this is too <old man yells at cloud>

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 5d

I haven’t used HumSilencer, these devices may help give better recordings/traces, I don’t recommend them, it’s always better to work out and minimize noise directly. Occasionally noise sources may be ungroundable (once had a manipulator that had 20 kHz noise + harmonics from a stepper motor).

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 8d

Did you call the Code Red on Secretary Hegseth?

a man in a military uniform is asking " you want answers "

Alt: Jack Nicholson in a few good men asking " you want answers "

media.tenor.com

Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 10d

Finally!! One good thing happens in Peoria! What's next, Moline? #probablynot

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 11d

It doesn’t take long to declare war on Portland….

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 11d

ETTD, competitive golf edition:

Trump is the first sitting president to attend the Ryder Cup

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 13d

I was all about Montgomery, having grown up with a daily view of their test tower, but they’re owned by KONE now. A purgatorial option?

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 15d

Update^2: Still still here. #fuck #RaptureWatch2025

Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 16d

Update: Still here. #RaptureWatch2025

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Michael Kasten @madscientistphd.bsky.social · 16d

Update: Still here. #RaptureWatch2025

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Reposted by Michael Kasten

Kevin Bender @neurobender.bsky.social · 21d

Thank you!

This is the first for CRISPRa for a neurodevelopmental disorder, as far as I'm aware, but Navneet Matharu (also an author here!) and @nadavahituv.bsky.social used this approach to treat obesity related to Sim1 and and Mc4r: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

CRISPR-mediated activation of a promoter or enhancer rescues obesity caused by haploinsufficiency

Obesity caused by loss of function of one gene copy can be rescued via CRISPR-mediated activation of the normal copy.

www.science.org

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Reposted by Michael Kasten

Kevin Bender @neurobender.bsky.social · 21d

SCN2A loss is strongly linked to neurodevelopmental delays and, at times, seizure. In an amazing collaboration with @nadavahituv.bsky.social, led by Serena Tamura, Andrew Nelson, and Perry Spratt, we leveraged CRISPR activator approaches to rescue this loss.

rdcu.be/eGU0W