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050: Lab Fail – Radioactive Tritium Spill

We’ve all had bad days in the lab: you throw out the supernatant you were supposed to save, or contaminate all the cells in tissue culture.

It hurts, but the next day, you can start over and try again.

Today on the show, we hear the true story of a woman who dropped a tube and splashed radioactive tritium all over her self, her bench, and the floor.

And then things took a turn for the worse.

Stop.  Just Stop.

This week, our guests Nicole and Craig regale us with a tale of simple mistakes compounding with bad decisions.  We won’t spoil it for you – you have to hear it for yourself!

We’re also excited to announce the launch of a website called Labmosphere by friend-of-the-show Juan Villalobos.  You’ll remember him from Episode 41 and his work on Peer Support at Oxford.

Labmosphere has links and resources to improve and maintain your mental health while you complete your degree.  There’s even a place to share your stories and experiences with others.

A few other resources we mentioned in this episode:

The BenchWarmer’s Podcast – More tales from the world of science like the one you heard today.

The National Postdoc Survey – Hurry up and take the survey if you haven’t yet!

Prickly Paybacks

This week, we’re drinking the Shiner Prickly Pear Summer Seasonal brewed in Shiner, Texas.  This was meant to punish Josh for making Daniel drink the ShockTop Lemon Shandy a few weeks ago.

This beer combines all the fun of eating cactus with the flavor of blue Kool-aid.

Just watch out for the spines!

 

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