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CowperKettle
CowperKettle
03:14
cell density seems to be better when describing a bioreactor
Russian uses "cell concentration" but "density" might be more natural
 
11 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
14:08
I'm not sure. Should I call the thingies in the bioreactor a pH sensor and a DO sensor or a pH probe and a DO probe.
They come with the bioreactor as part of the standard setup.
Chris
Chris
14:19
I would rather call it "sensor"
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
@Chris Thank you!
I've got a sentence that says "The pH and the DO sensors were sterilized in accordance with Procedure 12341242"
And I thought that maybe "probes" would have been better. But I guess they are largely overlapping in meaning.
Chris
Chris
I think sensor is the more technical term here. But for exact help you should ask at ELU.
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
14:57
I've got a weird description of a bioreactor.
"bacterial sparger"
O_o
> 6-blade open turbine in double-impeller configuration, bacterial sparger, pH-stating, 40% DO
"bacterialny spardjer"
 
3 hours later…
CowperKettle
CowperKettle
17:30
Chemostat
A chemostat (from chemical environment is static) is a bioreactor to which fresh medium is continuously added, while culture liquid containing left over nutrients, metabolic end products and microorganisms are continuously removed at the same rate to keep the culture volume constant. By changing the rate with which medium is added to the bioreactor the specific growth rate of the microorganism can be easily controlled within limits. == Operation == === Steady state === One of the most important features of chemostats is that microorganisms can be grown in a physiological steady state un...
I don't get this.
How is a chemostat different from any other bioreactor?
WYSIWYG
WYSIWYG
17:48
@MattDMo I guess we all have agreed on not using "homework" as a synonym of general background work for any question. It is right on your part to point out to the OP that they have to put in more effort but let's not call it "homework" henceforth.
This does seem like a homework because OP mentioned that it is a test question.
 
2 hours later…
MattDMo
MattDMo
20:21
@WYSIWYG OK, so what are we supposed to do about zero-effort questions? We need to update various parts of the tour, help center, and close reasons ASAP to indicate that at least basic research has to be performed before asking questions.
A perfect example is this question. I literally typed flex inducible point mutation into Google and the very first result was the company that invented the process. Only a rep whore would answer that.
The problem is we don't have a close reason that adequately covers these situations. Too broad doesn't work, because sometimes the questions are properly focused. Primarily opinion-based is out. Unclear what you're asking doesn't really apply, because it's often quite clear what they want to know. So, we need an addition to the Off-topic because... menu.
terdon
terdon
20:49
@MattDMo I'm pretty sure that 'too broad' will fit almost all of them. No research -> haven't narrowed the problem down enough -> too broad.
@MattDMo Then don't answer it and downvote it. That's what downvotes are for. No SE site has ever managed to make bad questions off topic. But downvotes are a very effective way of getting rid of them.
And oh, hey! You made 10K! Well done :)
MattDMo
MattDMo
21:13
@terdon Thanks :) I'm at 50-something thousand on SO, and I really missed having those privileges here. At least I can see those cute pink-surrounded deleted answers now...
terdon
terdon
Tell me about it. I'm >10k on U&L, AU and ELU and I really miss seeing deleted questions here.
Don't really care too much about the >20 privileges, it's the 10 I want!
MattDMo
MattDMo
@terdon Well, SO does a fairly decent job at making certain kinds of bad questions OT - lacking MCVE, library request, typos, etc. Granted, it doesn't cover everything, but it's a start. I think we need to more strongly emphasize in the tour and help center at least that no-research questions are discouraged.
@terdon I suppose that's true, but it doesn't explain to the OP why the question was closed. There needs to be some education here.
terdon
terdon
No argument there. And we should also get a "this question is off topic 'cause you haven't even tried" (more diplomatically worded) close reason.
@MattDMo Agreed, but that's precisely my problem with the current abuse of the homework close reason.
Nov 29 at 13:17, by terdon
Closing questions is supposed to give guidance on how to improve them. We aren't. We're just giving a very vague "we don't want this here" message without even indicating what's wrong with it (since homework means something very different).
MattDMo
MattDMo
Maybe I just need to reword my canned response to lousy no-research questions to not mention homework, and instead say something like "the community has agreed that questions that show little or no prior research effort are off-topic on Biology unless you have shown your attempt at an answer.
terdon
terdon
That would certainly be an improvement, yes!
Polisetty
Polisetty
21:32
The site gives an option to answer your own questions. I think that's a wonderful way to counter the 'laymen' content on the site. I feel this site is not just for seeking answers but also to share those you've sought for. There are only few sites that insist on comprehensive answers rather than a discussion...
MattDMo
MattDMo
@terdon How about this? The Biology.SE community has agreed that **questions that show little or no prior research effort** are off-topic on this site **unless you have shown your attempt at an answer**. Please [edit] your question and tell us **where** you've looked, **what** you do know, and **where exactly** you still have questions. Unresearched questions may be subject to down-voting and closure.
Polisetty
Polisetty
And btw, what is laymen content? I am presently undergraduate and a question by an 8th grade student on cold blooded organisms would sound 'layman' to me. But the same question if I were in 6th grade would sound very cool and learned. Similarly questions I ask may be considered preliminary by those totally into the field. All being students of biology...
Shouldn't this diversity be rather encouraged? Only then we can get questions like the single nostril thing :P On the other hand, most questions on researchgate (which lacks ppl from all backgrounds) are too technical (lab stuff) and lack such a thing...
terdon
terdon
@MattDMo Not sure about the bold, but the content seems OK to me.
@Polisetty Laymen isn't so important. It's the no research whatsoever that rubs us the wrong way.
That said, a lot of users here also have no interest in what they consider too simple questions, but that's very hard to define as you point out and I don't really care for that point of view myself.
Hell, I have a PhD in biology (bioinformatics) and still wouldn't know the first thing about preparing a PCR buffer or whatever. Haven't been in a lab since my undergraduate days.

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