up.
Tiona had turned to look at her experiment with her father, so Nolan turned back to his own work. At first he started looking through the patent application Eisner had sent him. Something about the application tickled his thoughts back to what Gettnor had said about applying a voltage. Nolan’s eyes widened, that might actually work! He looked back over at Tiona and her father who were mumbling over her set up. He turned to his own equipment and started thinking about how he could set it up so he could apply such a voltage.
Lost in thought, Nolan barely noticed when Tiona’s father suddenly exclaimed behind him.
Tiona’s embarrassment over the fact that her father barely seemed to recognize her lab partner had tripled when Nolan obviously realized that fact. It was even worse when Nolan made it very evident by introducing himself and reminding Tiona’s dad how they’d met before. She knew it was a kindness on Nolan’s part, which she appreciated, but she wished her dad’s idiosyncrasies didn’t make kindness necessary. She felt even worse about the fact that her dad had taken it upon himself to suggest applying a voltage, something that seemed so obvious that surely Nolan must have already tried it.
Tiona blinked, though the voltage idea seemed obvious now, she realized she’d never considered it before when thinking about Nolan’s experiments. But surely Nolan and Dr. Eisner have, she decided, turning to watch her dad study her experimental set up.
After a while, her dad got out the membranes she’d given him and carefully put them into Tiona’s set up. Mumbling to his AI to get it to record everything, both video images and his own description of every setting, he eventually reached out and switched on the current.
Her dad developed a positively beatific expression on his face when the membranes started to lift out of the bottom of the dish again. Vaz turned to her, “So, the membranes are fine! There must be some difference between your setup and mine that we just haven’t recognized.” He reached into the grocery bag he’d been carrying when he got out of his car and pulled out a glass dish.
Tiona frowned at the dish.
Vaz saw her look and shrugged, “This is the dish I used and it’s different from yours. I can’t imagine how a different glass dish could affect the outcome, but we’ve got to try everything, eh?”
The dish, in fact, didn’t make a difference. The membranes wiggled in his dish just like they had in hers. Next, Vaz got out a high-end multimeter and started measuring currents and voltages everywhere in her set up, apparently comparing each reading to what he’d gotten in his own set up back home. He had the readings he’d gotten at home displayed on his HUD.
Tiona had little to contribute and soon began to get bored with it. Also a little antsy, she could have been using this time to study. She’d just opened her mouth to tell her dad she was going to do some reading when he suddenly exclaimed, “Look at this!”
He was holding up one of the electrodes that she gripped her membranes with. Tiona leaned in to look closer. He was pointing at one of the grips, but she really couldn’t see anything exciting there. Tiona looked up into his eyes which were focused intently on her. “What?” she asked.
“Compare the bottom of the grip to the top of the grip.”
Tiona looked at it. The bottom of the grip had some kind of a yellowish discoloration on it as compared to the top. Her dad picked up the other grip and held it up. On that one the top of the grip had a yellowish discoloration. She wondered what it was.
Her dad said, “It’s a varnish!” He shrugged, “Or some other nonconducting coating. This wasn’t a new electrode was it?”
Tiona shook her head.
“For some reason, whoever used them before you insulated one side of the grip so that they would only conduct on the other side. So in your setup, the top membrane is energized by one electrode and the
Tiona had turned to look at her experiment with her father, so Nolan turned back to his own work. At first he started looking through the patent application Eisner had sent him. Something about the application tickled his thoughts back to what Gettnor had said about applying a voltage. Nolan’s eyes widened, that might actually work! He looked back over at Tiona and her father who were mumbling over her set up. He turned to his own equipment and started thinking about how he could set it up so he could apply such a voltage.
Lost in thought, Nolan barely noticed when Tiona’s father suddenly exclaimed behind him.
Tiona’s embarrassment over the fact that her father barely seemed to recognize her lab partner had tripled when Nolan obviously realized that fact. It was even worse when Nolan made it very evident by introducing himself and reminding Tiona’s dad how they’d met before. She knew it was a kindness on Nolan’s part, which she appreciated, but she wished her dad’s idiosyncrasies didn’t make kindness necessary. She felt even worse about the fact that her dad had taken it upon himself to suggest applying a voltage, something that seemed so obvious that surely Nolan must have already tried it.
Tiona blinked, though the voltage idea seemed obvious now, she realized she’d never considered it before when thinking about Nolan’s experiments. But surely Nolan and Dr. Eisner have, she decided, turning to watch her dad study her experimental set up.
After a while, her dad got out the membranes she’d given him and carefully put them into Tiona’s set up. Mumbling to his AI to get it to record everything, both video images and his own description of every setting, he eventually reached out and switched on the current.
Her dad developed a positively beatific expression on his face when the membranes started to lift out of the bottom of the dish again. Vaz turned to her, “So, the membranes are fine! There must be some difference between your setup and mine that we just haven’t recognized.” He reached into the grocery bag he’d been carrying when he got out of his car and pulled out a glass dish.
Tiona frowned at the dish.
Vaz saw her look and shrugged, “This is the dish I used and it’s different from yours. I can’t imagine how a different glass dish could affect the outcome, but we’ve got to try everything, eh?”
The dish, in fact, didn’t make a difference. The membranes wiggled in his dish just like they had in hers. Next, Vaz got out a high-end multimeter and started measuring currents and voltages everywhere in her set up, apparently comparing each reading to what he’d gotten in his own set up back home. He had the readings he’d gotten at home displayed on his HUD.
Tiona had little to contribute and soon began to get bored with it. Also a little antsy, she could have been using this time to study. She’d just opened her mouth to tell her dad she was going to do some reading when he suddenly exclaimed, “Look at this!”
He was holding up one of the electrodes that she gripped her membranes with. Tiona leaned in to look closer. He was pointing at one of the grips, but she really couldn’t see anything exciting there. Tiona looked up into his eyes which were focused intently on her. “What?” she asked.
“Compare the bottom of the grip to the top of the grip.”
Tiona looked at it. The bottom of the grip had some kind of a yellowish discoloration on it as compared to the top. Her dad picked up the other grip and held it up. On that one the top of the grip had a yellowish discoloration. She wondered what it was.
Her dad said, “It’s a varnish!” He shrugged, “Or some other nonconducting coating. This wasn’t a new electrode was it?”
Tiona shook her head.
“For some reason, whoever used them before you insulated one side of the grip so that they would only conduct on the other side. So in your setup, the top membrane is energized by one electrode and the
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