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Necessity and the breeding of invention

Even in a utopia of unlimited research funding, sometimes the niche work involved in experiments and fieldwork means that the equipment needed is simply not available, no matter how much a scientist is willing (or able) to spend.

Sometimes the solution to this conundrum comes in the form of everyday objects, used in unusual ways, as recently demonstrated in the Twitter hashtag #reviewforscience, in which scientists leave reviews for their Amazon purchases with entertaining consequences.

The Tweet that started the trend is (much to my delight) entomology-themed:

My other favourites include this mosquito larvae collector (for which I can personally vouch):

And this researcher that speaks from experience:

With the vast majority of these posts being from ecologists, it seems that we are quite the inventive bunch! But sometimes we even have to take it a step further and make our own scientific equipment. Indeed, not even 6 months in and I have already started hunting for unusual solutions to little problems that have been arising in my preliminary tests.

One of these is the slow shutter speeds needed to capture my UV photographs meaning even the slightest breeze makes my plants look like a big, blurry, unusable mess. When I recently made use of the brief interlude of sun between the endless days of snow and cloud to practice my camera set-up on some roses, I ended up having to tape the poor plant to the floor to get any usable snaps. (Don't worry, the rose is safe and now enjoying a much less perilous existence on my windowsill.)

Preliminary camera set-up test run on miniature rose

Cue a lot of searching for something that could hold a plant and some reflectors still long enough to get clear photos. Something adjustable to meet the demands of fieldwork (I have already discovered that bee orchids don't always grow on the flat, even ground that would make my life easier).

This wonderful invention is the brainchild of macro-photographer John Hallmén, and he has generously given detailed instructions on how to replicate his DIY project. I excitedly placed an order for all the parts I still needed (plus some extra PTFE sheets to use as reflectors) and set to work on making my own Gorillazilla.

Fortunately, I already had a dremel (gifted to me by a family member), and a large Joby Gorillapod (also gifted to me by a family member - noticing a theme?!) I ordered a small generic Locline tripod off eBay for about ÂŁ5, some crocodile clips for ÂŁ1.50, and some screw thread adapters for about ÂŁ2. So my DIY project came to under ÂŁ10! It was surprisingly easy to put together my Gorillazilla, bar getting slightly super-gluey fingers (at least there were no angry bees involved.)

The finished product does look like the lovechild of a dinosaur and a plastics factory!

While there is still some work to be done on the exact experimental set-up, and I will probably still invest in a Wimberley Plamp II to hold the delicate stems of my bee orchids, for now I can take a little time to stop and smell the roses:

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