Spring arrived abruptly yesterday, in a flurry of warmness and sun. Ian (my supervisor) told me before I left that there was a reason why so many English poets have expended so much time and ink extolling the virtues of the period between Winter and Summer, and he was right. I went for a wander by the banks of the Cam, took some photos, and generally enjoyed the sunshine. It was all frightfully pleasant and relaxed. It's raining again today, but it's still quite warm, so no complaints really.
Lab-wise, I finally got to run some samples on the NMR. Juan's extraction protocol is the ducks nuts and allows us to pick up a swag of metabolites, but the signal intensity is quite low, so we're going to try doubling and quadrupling the biomass that we extract from, which will (obviously) increase the signal. NMR is quite a cool technique, and unlike MS based techniques people tend to share their spectra, making the identification process quite a bit easier.
On the ergosterol/steryl ester analysis front, I still haven't got a reply from the mass spec guy, although I know he's around because he's a climber and has been posting to the Cambridge Uni Mountaineering Club mailing list. I'd shake my fist, but I think it's bad for my elbow.
It looks like I won't be able to meet up with Franz and Terry for climbing in the Pyrenees because it would have meant taking a Friday, Monday and Tuesday off, which I just can't do. Still, Terry is going to be in the Peak in June, and I might get to visit Franz in Germany. It's unfortunate, but I need to get a thesis written at some stage.
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