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Asked by anon-279150 to Martin, Isabel, Amal, Alice on 1 Feb 2021.
Question: What kind of data do you collect?
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Amal Lavender answered on 1 Feb 2021:
We collect a whole host of different data, from signals, terabytes of images, measurements (anything from biological growth, time to pass through a membrane, to number of graphene flakes or size of particle) to chemical composition quantities.
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Martin Ward answered on 2 Feb 2021:
We collect a range of data, most of the data we collect is from xray diffraction experiments where we shine xrays on a crystal and we measure the patterns that this produces. We can use these patterns to figure out what the crystal is made of and how the molecules in it are arranged. The data itself for these are basically a series of pictures (diffraction images), we then use some clever softwares to make sense of them
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Isabel Lewis answered on 5 Feb 2021:
We collect lots of different data, measurements of how infectious a virus is, terabytes of fluorescent microscope images, amount of antibodies or immune components. All this data can lead to telling a story of what is going on.
Comments
Katie commented on :
I work in an immunology lab, we collect lots of different types of data. I might measure how fast cells grow, how many disease-fighting molecules they produce, or take pictures of the inside of cells using a microscope to see what they look like.
James commented on :
We measure the distance between atoms, and how it changes when materials (metals, ceramics, composites) are loaded by force. This held us to understand the strength of materials.
Amelia commented on :
I collect lots of different types of data in my structural biology lab.
Sometimes I collect x-ray diffraction data (like Martin has talked about).
Sometimes I collect gas chromatography data. This is a big machine that separates out different molecules from a mixture in the gas phase. From these results I can tell if my experiment has made the molecules I was expecting.
Kat commented on :
In my job we make new materials (chemicals, compounds) for batteries. We collect data about the material we have made. This is a yield, particle size, colour, texture. Then we perform tests on the material to characterise it. Some of these tests include – Elemental analysis (works out how much of each element you have in your material), FTIR – tell you what functional groups you have on the surface, XRD – tells you what structure you’re material is, BET – tells you what your surface area is and if the material is porous. Then we make the material in electrodes and test them as batteries by measuring how much charge can be stored. The data can be numbers, graphs, pictures and we use all this information to make an assessment of the material.