I had some other work to do this morning (Figuring out some algae stuff involving 1000 L mesocosm up a mountain) so mystery species has been sitting alone in the lab all morning…..

Made it up to the lab today to find this. It’s probably from the fridge defrosting and not the creepy “algae”.

June 13th Update.

According to a few colleagues it’s either a plant, an algae, or a fungi. So that’s been helpful.

After a day with some sunlight I think I might be seeing some chloroplasts.

It seems to like the nutrient solution I added yesterday though!

I for one welcome our new plant, algae, or fungi overlords.

I was about to say “in a sensible lab people wouldn’t waste time with this, they’d autoclave the bottles and move on” but on reflection I can’t think of a single bio lab I’ve been in that wouldn’t immediately go “ooh, mystery algae, that sounds like a fun challenge; let’s devote multiple hours to identifying it for no reason”.

I need updates tell me about the algae

The mystery algae/plant/fungi/alien is stuck in the university growth chamber. With everything going on I probably won’t get to check in on it until September, possibly not until 2021.

So by that time it will have developed what, writing?

God I hope so, then I can train it to write my thesis!

This entire post is the most on-brand biologist thing I have seen in my entire godforsaken life. The moment this pandemic is over these guys have another crisis ready for us.

Can we get an update cause this is crazy

Update: Due to the global pandemic, the algae has been left alone in a weird hidden growth chamber for a year and will likely stay there for another year. Enjoy that information!

Friday, August 13th, 2021: Yesterday I visited the algae. Today I am going to bring a preserved sample home.

I’m going to be in the field for the next 2 or 3 weeks but soon after that I hope to once again try to ID it.

Any botanists/mycologists who want to help out? I’m afraid if it’s not algae my ID skills are very rusty.

Here it is, in all it’s glory, after 2 years in isolation.

OP can we have an update please?

Sure but it’s going to be a disappointing update.

2023 - I had to return my “borrowed” microscope to the lab and I’ve been mostly writing my thesis from home. The mystery algae samples I grabbed before the lab growth chamber shut down now sit beside me in an increasingly messy pile. One day I’ll get to ID them. Hopefully.

@scrivenger-grimgar This is still the most receptive update. I’m trying to defend my thesis (although honestly not sure why I’m defending something that’s obviously actively trying to kill me…) by May so there hasn’t been time for any microscope work.

Also I’ll be adding an update in my blog description now. if anything changes with the algae, I’ll update it.