Chris is a grad student that I work with who is finishing up his dissertation. I took some photographs of his STM (scanning tunneling microscope) setup. The microscope is hiding out in a case, what you’re looking at is a setup that Chris built in order to perform experiments in an oxygen free environment, suspended so that he can take images without worrying about interference from tiny vibrations.

What’s that about a secret life? Well it seems that many of my scientist friends have some pretty exciting hobbies. Chris is a marathon runner. I’d love to do a series showing scientists in their labs, and in their life. I think it’s important to remember that the people who are working on these advancements in human knowledge are honest, serious, fun loving people that walk among us everywhere. Stay tuned for more details on this project!