Another successful week in the lab.
Early in the week we ran data on the worms with the red laser. With a more efficient procedure, a little more experience under our belts, and an extra set of hands in the lab, we were able to run data and collect data on seven worms in one lab session.
Later in the week we attempting to collect data with the blue laser. However we ran into trouble with the table setup. When we originally set up the table, we used a beam splitter to send both lasers to one slider holder. Using a beam splitter caused the power of the blue laser to be reduced greatly. When we went to use the blue laser to analyze the worms, we could not even see the beam inside the cuvette due to the lack of power and the safety goggles. The laser is too strong to be viewed with the naked eye, and the safety goggles that must be worm make it extremely difficult to view the weak beam.
We began to fix the table set up so that each laser has its own slide holder, and there will be no use of a beam splitter anymore. The new setup is almost finished, we just have to finish aligning the lasers.