March 19, 2016 at 03:33AM

Today I Learned: 1) These things are called "Povitsky bottles": http://ift.tt/1VmhVy2 Apparently they were originally designed for, I quote (from a manufacturer), "preparation of toxins and general tissue culture work". However, I have found no good explanation for what makes them any better than any other bottle for either preparation of toxins or general tissue culture work, other than the fact that a) they're flat-sided so you can put them on a rocker, and b) they're made of glass so you can autoclave them. Mostly the internet is just telling me how to buy them and that they were very important for production of the Salk polio virus. 2) The distinctive animalistic, rumbly vocal style used in many derivatives of heavy metal has a name -- "death growl". Growling in singing may go as far back as 10th century Viking song. Wiki has a quote from a traveling Arab on the topic (though the citation trail for this quote kind of dead-ends quickly, so take it with a grain of salt): "Never before I have heard uglier songs than those of the Vikings in Slesvig. The growling sound coming from their throats reminds me of dogs howling, only more untamed." This and a bunch more beginners' introductions to modern rock and electronica generas here: http://ift.tt/1JB4U0f. Also, this guy has a seemingly endless supply of awesome sci-fi/space opera art. Check out the backgrounds in his dubstep link -- I particularly love the one at 9:21. So many intriguing details! 3) ...a bit more about the relationship between iGEM* and its corporate sponsors. Turns out that it's not quite a simple matter of companies making donations -- by donating enough, companies can put themselves into progressively higher donor "tiers", which give them greater access to iGEM's events, personell, equipment, and participants. Sponsorship can also buy a table at the jamboree (iGEM's yearly conference/competition/meetup) for advertising or information or anything else. In case you were wondering, IDT (Integrated DNA Technologies, not Integrated Device Technologies) is far and away the biggest corporate sponsor of iGEM. *iGEM == International Genetically Engineered Machines, a mostly-undergraduate synthetic biology competition. Participating teams invent new organisms and genetic systems like bacteria you can play minesweeper with, or bacteria that smell like bananas when growing and smell like wintergreen when stationary, or bacteria that detect the edges of shadows.