• Question: Have you ever had doubts about a experiment or new equipment? if so did you still do it? If yes why?

    Asked by jordanikin to Allan, Angela, Diva, Harriet, Nathan on 2 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Allan Pang

      Allan Pang answered on 2 Jul 2012:

      Part of being a scientist is to explore new ways or approach how to tackle or solve a problem.

      While you may use the same technique over and over again, there will be occasions that you have to expand your horizon and use new technique and equipment.

      Recently, I used a technique called Transmission Electron Microscopy. Although I have read a lot about it, I haven’t really had a first hand experience on that equipment. But because my research requires me to use the technique, I have to pursue it. Science is a good collaborative place, so I get to meet new people that showed me the ropes on how to use the equipment, so it is not really that scary! At the end, I managed to get some cool pictures of bacteria!

      It is however not always a new equipment you have to deal with in science. There is a big chance that you have to change your procedure because the “usual” steps do not work. In several occasions I have to deal with this kind of problem, I always make sure I research carefully on how to carry out this procedure… either through books, published science articles or by talking to other scientists.

    • Photo: Nathan Langford

      Nathan Langford answered on 3 Jul 2012:

      Hi jordanikin,

      I think that the most exciting times in research science are exactly those times when you are trying out a new technique for the first time or you are doing an experiment where you truly don’t know what the outcome will be. That’s when you really push the boundaries of your knowledge and when you really have the chance to make new discoveries. So that’s why you do it. In fact, as a scientist, you really want to be looking for those opportunities where you get to work on an experiment where nobody knows the outcome – that’s one good way to decide what experiments are the most important.

      So yes, I have done experiments where I’ve had doubts about what the answer would be. For example, when I was in Vienna, we invented a new possible method for building a quantum computer using lasers. We were fairly sure that our theory was correct, but we had absolutely no idea how strong the effect would be. So when we built the experiment, we had no idea where the signal would be or if it would be strong enough for us to see. And let me tell you, it was one of the most exciting moments I’ve had in a lab when we actually found the signal we were looking for and were able to control it and measure it!

      Does that answer your question?
      Cheers,
      Nathan.

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