(April 12, 2012)
       Last week I had inoculated some liquid media in order to mix with the substrate, but when I came back this time I found that it had again become contaminated, and we needed to throw it away. Though I was bummed that I couldn't continue with that experiment, Amanda assured me that a contamination like that actually occurs frequently. So instead, we took some of the finished parts and tested them in a machine called an instron. This measures flexibility and strength, by applying pressure, to each piece of our "eco-friendly foam". I tested some of my finished products and was surprised to see that some of them were actually pretty strong. I was even able to bring two pieces of my product back! I will try and show them to everyone at our next meeting!