Houston, we have growth!

My, but these columns are actually starting to be interesting.

We have since stopped taking the covering off of the darkness column, so as not to skew the data. Nevertheless, there is still action happening in there. The saran wrap covering the column in bowing outward, suggesting that whatever is inside is producing gas. The plastic roof is colonized by marshy green films. It makes one wonder what will happen when they cover the wrap so completely that no more sunlight can reach the interior of the column…

The control looks like a little terrarium. Long, green, filamentous stalks are growing toward the roof of the column, and water is still condensing there. There is a distinct layer just beneath the surface that looks to be primarily water with some squishy freeloaders just hanging out in the moisture. On the sunlit side, there are two prominent bands of color, one red and the other green. The green band, just further up in the column is much wider than the red, three to four times wider. Seeping toward the base of the column in nonuniform points is a lighter brown layer. Though that may be merely a section of different soils, not mixed in well, we doubt it. These different sections certainly enjoy light but not so much the presence of oxygen. That at least is a comfort if ever someone lets these unearthly creatures free on the world.

Live long and prosper!

-Emily and Serena

Darkness Column

Mix Control

Streaky streak streak

No not the sort of streaking that first comes to a college student's mind. But this red streak thing in our dark mix control column... It's becoming larger. Whatever that means, we're not really sure yet but we are stoked to see it continue to streak. No, still no cool nematode things in our column sadly 😒 However, our covered mix column is still safely wrapped because as we said last time we're just trying to give it some space, you know? It's like a teenager, very fragile, doesn't like sunlight, hides in the basement--aka we imagine whatever is in there does not like UV light so we're just trying to baby it, don't judge.

Enjoy our streaking.
-Emily and Serena


Mix Control Column (10/13/2017)

Geo micro Winogradsky column:

So this column started with some eggs, Weber state duck pond water, Weber state duck pond mud to see what would happen if there was only a carbon source added to the initial slurry and no sulfur source from actual egg. Initial pictures are below and the mixture was dark mud with green and cloudy water.

Initial Column: Sept 16, 2017

There is not a lot going on initially the mixture was just made and there are few signs of life. In a perfect column, there would be a mixture of a carbon and sulfur source on the bottom (Eggs) and then that would be mixed with mud, sediment and then water on top.

After 1 week: Sept 25, 2017

A layer between the sediment and water began to mix and form a darker layer of material. It was difficult to see if there were any organisms hopefully soon something will change.

Week 2: Oct 2,2017

The column is becoming greener and there seems to be some expansion in the dirt mix. There are still no signs of major organisms but there are changes occurring in the column.

More updates to come!

~Kristen Mayfield

Winogradsky Column Blog Update (week of 10/2/17)

The Mix column has shown some interesting color changes. There is a red streak and with some touches of purple in the mixture. The worms found in the "egg shell only" column are growing more robust. They are longer and there seems to be more of them.

-Christian Curneal

Winogradsky Column Blog Update (Week of 9/20/17)

Winogradsky Column Blog Update (Week of 9/20/17)

The columns are looking great! The most interesting one is the “egg shell only” column. It has some sort of worms growing in it. They move all on their own by wiggling in the water at the top. The rest of the columns seem to look the same as the first week.

-Christian Curneal