June 04, 2016 at 01:55AM

Tody I Learned: 1) You can't pickle lambda functions in Python. Also, to use multiprocessing on a function, all of the arguments must be picklable. 2) Some (many?) refrigerators use a two-stage cooling system -- freon or another similar substance is cooled by expansion, then run alongside a secondary coolant (antifreeze is a good choice), which cools off and carries that coldness through the rest of the refrigerator. This fact brought to you via Andrey Shur and his recent explorations into the inner workings of a thermal cycler. 3) Many stepper motors (motors that have a large number of pre-defined positions they can snap to) have their own built-in microcontroller. These are operated by sending the microcontroller digital instructions, must like a number of plug-and-play devices. This fact also courtesy of Andrey Shur