Orbitrap Memes

The budget cuts have hit the analytical chemistry department hard. What we're seeing here is the "grad student special" - a wooden box trap suspended over colorful beads that's supposed to pass for an Orbitrap mass spectrometer (a high-resolution instrument that can cost upwards of $500,000). The desperate PI probably told the department chair this contraption can detect molecules at femtogram levels. Meanwhile, the poor postdoc is just hoping the colorful beads will distract the grant reviewers from noticing their "innovative" approach to molecular analysis.