5 Words With Different LAB Meanings

Five Words that Mean Different Things In The Lab

Trying to document grad school one YouTube video at a time, from lab equipment to genetics lessons to interviews with other students! Each week is a new view into life as a grad student, and the rollercoaster that is getting a PhD.

Twitter: @AlexDainis
Instagram: Alex.Dainis

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(All thoughts and opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts or opinions of my institution.)

[desmondseahtm]

In Chemistry we use column for purification, but it means a vertical division of text to journalist and upright pillar to architects.

[beliasphyre]

I work in firearms design. Two words that jump out at me are "brake" and "butt plug." A brake, also called a compensator it's an attachment to the end of a barrel that deflects the gases leaving the barrel to help reduce recoil. Kinda like retro rockets on a spacecraft. A butt plug is a rubber space filler that fits a hole for an adjustable mono-pod (to make a bipod a tripod) in the stock of a certain gun, that was made by a predecessor's stupid mistake in trying to be innovative. It was the first part I got to design from scratch, so it holds a special place in my heart.

[drummyfish]

just a few thing in computer science that I could think of:

tree - a mathematical structure, it has a root, branches and leaves
starvation - when a running program is waiting for something that is not guaranteed to happen
forest - another mathematical structure composed of trees
garbage collecting - a process of automatically freeing memory that is no longer being used
fork - a process of launching a new process or project based on another one
float - computer way of representing real numbers
salt - a special number that is fed to some number generators
script - a special kind of program that is being interpreted by another program
seed - a number that a random number generator starts with
group - a mathematical structure that descibes for example Rubic's cube
zombie - a program that has already been exected but still exists in the system
LSD - an acronym for Local Split Decision
library - a collection of small programs for solving special types of problems
bash - a program that serves as an interface for Unix systems
shell - a user interface to an operating system
mount - connecting a file system hierarchy to a specified folder
heap - a data structure, special case of a tree
heap - a special part of computer memory
camel - a style of TypingLikeThis
map - a special kind of a function
ping - a program that sends small amount of data over network to test if it works
bug - an issue withing a source code of a program
cat - a Unix program that outputs a text file
cat - an acronym for computer aided translation
python - a programming language
echo - printing a text on the screen
method - a special kind of small program that objects in object-oriented programming execute
touch - a Unix program that changes a file timestamp
strip - removing certain characters out of a text string
finger - a program that displays an info about a user
sandbox - a part of a memory used for testing and experimenting
packet - a small part of data being sent over the network
ruby - a programming language
honeypot - a system used to catch the attention of hackers
kill - Unix program for terminating processes
web - an internet service linking different web pages
skirt - a technique in computer graphics of smoothly joining parts of terrain together
flag - usually a one bit information (yes or no) about some data
sleep - pausing a program for a specified time
fat - an acronym for file allocation table, it's a type of file system
case - an acronym for computer aided software engineering
ram - an acronym for random access memory
soap - an acronym for simple object access protocol
zip - compression method
key - a value that serves as an address
brainfuck - a programming language
turtle - a method of programming computer graphics
pipe - a special construct of Unix text interface for communication between programs
gnu - an acronym for gnu us not unix
blender - a 3D modelling program
virus - a special type of a harmful program
pop - taking data out of some special types of data structures
inheritance - a concept of making new stuff based based on already existing one
under/over flow - when a variable reaches its min/max value and goes to the max/min value
exception - basically an error

apple, windows, opera, chrome, ...

[seanet]

Maybe it is who I hang out with but with exception of 3 I would hear the 'inside the lab' at least if not more often then 'outside the lab'

[Cncrdance]

Western, outside the lab: a style of clothing, adjective for things from Europe/Americas.
Western, in the lab: Protein analysis technique using antibodies for detection.

ditto Southern, ditto Northern.

[jayb]

"Theory". Most people without a scientific background think it just means a "guess". ie. "The theory of evolution or the Big Bang Theory are just guesses. Scientists just make stuff up to explain things."

[zooks]

IPA, referring to alcohol both inside and outside the lab, but somewhat different ones.

[joec]

Software engineering has lots of these:
Class - a data type that can have functions attached to it
Object - a blob of data that is an instance of a class
Variable - an object whose value(s) can be changed
Constant - an object whose values(s) cannot be changed
Scope - the source code that an object can be referenced (ie, "seen") in.

this list goes on....

[tinyman]

Agent is another good one. Has different meanings across all fields of science and math.

[mikeklaene]

In the IT arena you have 'bits', 'bytes', 'words', 'masks', 'fields', 'routines', 'functions', etc.

[thany]

We use the term "deploy" a lot. Outside work, to deploy is a military term. To deploy the artillary or something. At work, it means to put a new version of a website online.
The term "issue" might refer to a single release of a monthly/weekly magazine, or something that's bothering you. At work, an issue is something that's broken, something that just needs to be done at some point, or an idea for a new feature.

[ardemus]

I worked for a construction company that did mid-high end custom construction and remodeling. When you install a modern window you typically nail it up through a flange that extends from all sides. This company used screws instead. Also, although many companies would just use caulk (if anything) to seal between the window and the wall, this company went above and beyond with a material called Bituthane. Say that four times fast. It's a metal foil sheet with a thick layer of sticky gooey bitumen goop on one side. You cut 6-8" wide strips and worked from the bottom up, overlapping at the corners and basically taping the flanges to the walls. While I worked there I bitched out plenty of windows after screwing them up.

[justanch]

Automotive field here, beads are the part of the tire that seals the air inside of the wheel, shoes fit inside drums to stop the car and coolant cools but doesn't freeze, and has nothing to do with your a/c!

[littleochoa]

Thank You! This is so much fun for my homeschooling daughter! She is in the 3rd grade. Most of your topics are a little over her head she loves seeing a girl scientist! "She like the girl from Big Bang Theory!" We mostly use your earlier videos! Keep doing your great work and we will keep watching!!

[jonhowardlife]

In audio "Snakes" are perfectly harmless and in many cases preferred and favorable. All it is, is a bunch of audio channels being ran down a single cable usually with what is known as a "fan out" to break the individual channels into their own individual cables. This is not to be confused with a loom, which contrary to popular belief, is not what you use to make yarn. It is in fact just a bunch of individual cables tied together, usually with tape.

[StephenGHubbard]

This is a great video! Thanks for making this, I hope you make many more like it.

[marlymarlmarl]

Whoa look at those fancy video effects and illustrative graphics! Nice work.

[aibansmawkhroh]

Hey Alex, please make a video of you pointing out the pros and cons of Système International unit (S.I. unit) and Imperial measurements and your preferences. :)

[TheAlecdeshotels]

"Process" is a pretty common one in computer science. For us, a process is basically a running program. Outside the lab, a process could mean a set of actions you go through to get something done. Hack also has lots of meanings. In our lab, a hack is usually an improvised solution that just works even if you don't fully understand why :)

[Trunksr]

To be fair, with #4 with an organic chemist, an alcohol is any alkyl group with a hydroxyl -OH functional group attached.