tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post7719213390751089860..comments2024-03-29T09:05:29.819-04:00Comments on Chemjobber: Lab pranks? Chemjobberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15932113680515602275noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-32864410737981615542017-09-19T16:49:16.693-04:002017-09-19T16:49:16.693-04:00The radiosynthesis lab at the first company I work...The radiosynthesis lab at the first company I worked had a leaky roof. The chemists working there couldn't get it fixed, so in frustration ordered a canoe from a catalog. It was delivered.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-81450706264461778882017-09-19T15:21:29.408-04:002017-09-19T15:21:29.408-04:00were you in the jacobsen group? I've heard tha...were you in the jacobsen group? I've heard that story before, i think...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-34418060072529380322017-09-15T03:29:39.830-04:002017-09-15T03:29:39.830-04:00That reminds me of a story from my old university....That reminds me of a story from my old university. Each group would have a guy (usually a grad student) responsible for IT. Said guy would be in touch with the higher up IT guys from university. So one day, a complaint of central IT comes in: "Can you check who is hooked up to that IP in your group? That persons consumes an awful lot of porn". Turned out it was a visiting professor.Young Padawannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-82864624703710804062017-09-05T23:15:38.963-04:002017-09-05T23:15:38.963-04:00Here's a harmless one. We used to confiscate ...Here's a harmless one. We used to confiscate lab mates high vacuum pumps and replace them with little army figures with a sign "vacuum pump". Our pumps worked on an external switch so when the researcher would come in and try to turn it on to nothing they'd have to find the army man. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-1517222912953266452017-09-05T11:29:37.513-04:002017-09-05T11:29:37.513-04:00There were wholesale firings of academics after th...There were wholesale firings of academics after the failed army mutiny in Turkey. Anyone know if she was effected?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-28048826826714628272017-09-03T22:06:57.830-04:002017-09-03T22:06:57.830-04:00she ended up a faculty member as well:
http://www...she ended up a faculty member as well:<br /><br />http://www.gtu.edu.tr/en/personel/356/5411256/display.aspx<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-19718705992834701792017-09-02T17:32:40.934-04:002017-09-02T17:32:40.934-04:00A much less horrendous version: in my old lab one ...A much less horrendous version: in my old lab one guy would think of the worst, most embarrassingly specific porn he could imagine, then whenever his colleague left his laptop open, type the words into the search bar - but NOT press enter. And leave the laptop open for all to see. <br /><br />That could be pretty funny; I wouldn't say the above comments were okay though! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-20144483811829084122017-09-02T11:20:22.703-04:002017-09-02T11:20:22.703-04:00Prank between theoreticians: a former labmate alia...Prank between theoreticians: a former labmate aliased "emacs" to "vi" on my desktop.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-45358476474736700392017-09-01T14:47:56.059-04:002017-09-01T14:47:56.059-04:00What does that achieve?What does that achieve?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-68065742182567120822017-09-01T14:46:41.247-04:002017-09-01T14:46:41.247-04:00Anon 3:38, not to be pedantic, but they are report...Anon 3:38, not to be pedantic, but they are reporting 0.01% of an inorganic compound. Either way, if you refer to the reddit post where they are questioned on this, it becomes clear they did not perform anything beyond integrating a 1H NMR spiked with an internal standard.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-32661703337061660822017-09-01T05:57:25.892-04:002017-09-01T05:57:25.892-04:00this is pretty good, I think it does not qualify a...this is pretty good, I think it does not qualify as messing with your reaction, which is where I would draw the linemilkshakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08188961610554710616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-5539688110409379982017-08-31T20:57:12.951-04:002017-08-31T20:57:12.951-04:00Where I was, someone in another group printed out ...Where I was, someone in another group printed out some salacious material late at night on his group's computers for personal use. Apparently he forgot to pick up the last sheet or two, and one of the early risers found it. She was...not pleased. I don't think his advisor was happy either.Hapnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-65636149665114414612017-08-31T14:01:39.620-04:002017-08-31T14:01:39.620-04:00Sometime in the 1990s, a kid in my advisor's g...Sometime in the 1990s, a kid in my advisor's group operated a porn website off a lab computer. Campus IT noticed that a computer in my advisor's lab was chewing up 10% of the entire university's bandwidth. It was before my time, but I heard it caused an enormous shitstorm!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-22427800102501182012017-08-31T11:28:30.944-04:002017-08-31T11:28:30.944-04:00..I did more or less the same except that the pers.....I did more or less the same except that the person was stealing my Benzene. Yes during those days it was an acceptable solvent for silica column purification! In my plot, I filled up a bottle with water and little benzene at the top. The talk of the lab after few days was some stupid fellow used water to purify his sample. The culprit was was confronted and in private I warned him not to pilfer my solvents!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-52500170121054827452017-08-31T10:37:20.731-04:002017-08-31T10:37:20.731-04:00I'm surprised there has not been mention of th...I'm surprised there has not been mention of the old "switch out the flask of beautiful crystals for one of charred sugar routine."<br />We all know what happens when someone in the lab gets a yield of gorgeous crystals; they go around and show EVERYBODY. When they put them on the pump and go to lunch simply replace with a flask containing black tar (burned glucose, etc). Gets em every time!Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12435068661584665910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-43741087924505967012017-08-31T10:12:38.121-04:002017-08-31T10:12:38.121-04:00One time I was running a Pd/C hydrogenation on lar...One time I was running a Pd/C hydrogenation on large scale (~2L flask). The product was stable under the reaction conditions and I had other scale-up work to do, so I let the reaction stir for quite some time in my hood. Only after starting the work-up and emptying the flask weeks later did I learn that one of my co-workers had drawn crude pictures on the flask in black sharpie that remained hidden by the black reaction mixture. He had a lot of patience waiting for me to work the reaction up.anonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04987597450700241339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-60482764366932013042017-08-31T09:56:47.734-04:002017-08-31T09:56:47.734-04:00unwanted prank: a chemistry colleague who also dou...unwanted prank: a chemistry colleague who also doubled as IT support guy thought he would please our dirty joke-loving boss and he installed a screensaver on his PC, with skeletons demonstrating various copulating positions. This was in early 90s. He did not expect that our boss would get an important visitor, a prominent professor at major university, and the screensaver would kick in just as the two were sitting at his desk. Apparently the visitor was scandalized, turned red in his face and left the room.milkshakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08188961610554710616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-2763096210628516102017-08-31T09:22:08.570-04:002017-08-31T09:22:08.570-04:00While I was a postdoc, I had a labmate who would d...While I was a postdoc, I had a labmate who would download porn onto people's computers while they were working in lab. Not funny at all, but he thought it was a prank.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-29472713825227845732017-08-31T06:31:34.589-04:002017-08-31T06:31:34.589-04:00It was just a joke...It was just a joke...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-39987774302243288002017-08-30T21:58:43.076-04:002017-08-30T21:58:43.076-04:00Dude, is it you writing completely unhinged commen...Dude, is it you writing completely unhinged comments about Sames in the comment section of In the Pipeline? Why don't you get your own blog to vent your grievances; if it is a good story I am sure people will read it.milkshakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08188961610554710616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-67775675804031175822017-08-30T21:41:53.041-04:002017-08-30T21:41:53.041-04:00Thought a colleague of mine was fabricating result...Thought a colleague of mine was fabricating results, so I switched one of the reagents in my flask without telling her. Somehow the product from the *original* reagent ended up in there. What a riot! The PI had to retract eight papers based on her work! Think she ended up in Turkey or something. I still chuckle over that one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-65371164436682638042017-08-30T21:40:28.389-04:002017-08-30T21:40:28.389-04:00Put dry ice in a latex glove. Tie it off, and tos...Put dry ice in a latex glove. Tie it off, and toss it under their desk while they are writing. Eventually, the growing object under their desk will hit their legs and get their attention.... If it doesn't pop and startle them first.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-22300962527580140352017-08-30T20:52:39.695-04:002017-08-30T20:52:39.695-04:00A favorite of mine is to clean out a rotovap recei...A favorite of mine is to clean out a rotovap receiving flask, fill with water, and add a goldfish. Just make sure you're in lab early the next morning to witness the confusion!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-62546133249150125302017-08-30T18:21:20.893-04:002017-08-30T18:21:20.893-04:00What kind of grad school is this? A grad student p...What kind of grad school is this? A grad student prepares 10g! of iridium catalysts and ships them.. Where is the original research here? What is he/she learning here?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8964719845369935777.post-73836575746327452362017-08-30T16:34:37.349-04:002017-08-30T16:34:37.349-04:00I've extracted a full rotovap bath at least 2 ...I've extracted a full rotovap bath at least 2 times in my life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com