I wanted to bring attention to something that I've noticed since the beginning of this experiment. When semen is added to the mixture, it retains its shape, color and structure for only a few minutes. After that, it becomes less opaque and eventually it becomes completely clear. These two pictures were taken only three minutes apart and you can see how, even without being agitated, the semen has started to become clear and is becoming one larger pool, rather than several small pools. If I didn't know better, I would say that this is just what it looks like when semen diffuses into another substance, but this phenomenon also occurred at the very beginning of the experiment, with the first sample of semen, when it had nothing to diffuse into.
I finally decided to test out the microscope and see if I would be able to see anything with it. I crafted a makeshift slide and put a small sample of fresh semen onto it, then observed it at 75x magnification. I certainly was not able to see sperm within the semen and didn't see anything else noteworthy. I also made a separate slide of some of my saliva and wanted to see if I would be able to observe bacteria, but once again, it yielded no positive results.
Besides the rubber band on Adam's container snapping, nothing has changed one way or the other. I've given some thought to the idea of adding caffeine to the mixture, in the hopes that this might speed up the process, but maybe that's far too whimsical of an idea to be worthwhile.
15 comments:
hmm, it still would be better to obtain a better microscope somehow.
maybe a friend who could lend you one with a more powerful lens? and that caffeine idea does sound a bit too much.
Sounds like this.
"After ejaculation, semen first goes through a clotting process and then becomes more liquid. It is postulated that the initial clotting helps keep the semen in the vaginal canal, but liquefaction frees the sperm to make their longer journey to the ova. Immediately after ejaculation semen is typically a sticky, jelly-like liquid often forming globules. Within 5 to 40 minutes it will become more watery and liquid before finally drying." From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semen#Appearance_and_consistency_of_human_semen
Wiki isn't the best source in the world, but it's useful for things like this.
/r/ing you use some sort of stain oto view organisms under microscope
I haven't got any friends with microscopes or any other way to obtain one, that I can think of. If an opportunity does present itself, though, I certainly will take advantage of it. And as silly as the caffeine idea does sound, I've heard of people pouring caffinated soda over their cuts to help them heal faster, so I thought that maybe it would have a similar effect on Adam. It's not like I was imagining Adam would be energized into development by a cup of coffee, I've got pure caffeine pills that I could grind into a powder and add to the mixture. It was just a fleeting idea, though.
Thanks for the semen information. For whatever reason, I never really thought to look into this. But I suppose that if I already knew everything and didn't have any questions to ask, this wouldn't be as interesting for anyone.
Is staining a substance necessary to view living organisms? I vaguely recall doing it a few times in junior high, but I didn't think it was an integral part of the process, really.
No, dyeing is not necessary, but it does help you view the organism in question-- especially if it transparent and you lack proper lighting.
As for the issue of sweat covered in your last entry-- yes, it would be somewhat hard to harvest. My suggestion would be to take a small container with you into a sauna and hold out your arm so that the sweat drips down it, onto your hand, and into the vessel. That way, you would be sweating enough that you wouldn't really be dirty, AND you would be able to harvest a good amount of it.
Furthermore, you could always take a shower beforehand if you feel the sweat would be contaminated, or, instead of a sauna, turning up the water hear in your shower and turning off any fans should eventually create a sauna-like environment that would generate sweat.
When you go into a sauna, isn't the stuff dripping off of you condensation rather than sweat?
Either way, I've got respiratory problems that would make going into that sort of environment for an extended amount of time dangerous or at the very least uncomfortable.
Well, as far as the Sauna idea goes you're correct that that is condensation, but it's also the toxins leaking out from very opened pours.
Semen is interesting in that sperm die when exposed to air; so seeing sperm might be difficult.
The cuts thing is because of the sugar in soda, not the caffeine.
But I have a question, when you add semen, are you adding it hot or cold? I know it seems like a strange question, but humor me if you wouldn't mind.
Caffeine: Bad Idea.
it can potentially kill adam, considering it has anti-bacterial properties.
http://images.katalogas.lt/maleidykla/act34/A-185.pdf
Caffeine would most likely hurt anything growing than help it.
Am I adding the semen hot or cold? I'm not sure what you mean by that. I'm not heating the semen up before I put it into the container, if that's what you mean. It goes into the container directly out of my body.
I meant the later. I didn't know if you were putting it into a cup/beaker and then pouring into Adam's Beaker, or having it go direct from your body to Adam's Container.
Not sure if you used the microscope right, actually. No rudeness meant, but hey, if it helps it helps. You may need to make sure you had the proper focus, meaning not too far in or out. Semen is decently clear, so it'd be hard to tell if you were doing it completely wrong. Also, if your microscope has a diaphram (the little wheel under the slide-stand that changes the amount of light that reaches the slide) or an iris (same thing) on the scope, make sure that that is set to as little light as possible. That helps see clear-ish things.
? Are you still here?
DON'T ABANDON US NOW, FATHER OF THE FUTURE
DON'T LEAVE US
GIVE US A SIGN
wuts dis a sperm and blood baby?
maybe i could host this on my site?? :)
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