My First Pilot Experiment

My very first pilot experiment is done! I traveled to Kuopio to expose plants to magnetic fields. It was a very insightful experience that taught me a lot. I learned, for example, how to schedule things better, the best way to prepare to avoid 12-hour days, and the benefits of pilot experiments.

Last-minute ideas, long days

I had very long days for almost two weeks, including weekends. I made preparations for the trip, the experiment, and the time after returning to Jyväskylä. I also studied more about the LICOR device that I was about to use right after the exposure.

I planted about 500 seeds on agar plates, even on the weekend. Why so many? Because only a certain amount of the seeds germinate on the same day, and I wanted to choose plants that were in similar growth stages. There were plants of various ages in my pilot experiment, so I needed to plant them on different days.

So many seeds on agar plates!

I had made preparations, like agar plates, beforehand, but there were still things I didn’t take into consideration because this was my first time doing this. Additionally, I had some last-minute ideas on how to improve my experiment. All of these factors increased the length of my days.

For example, I decided to transfer the germinated plants to agar plates over the weekend instead of Monday morning, which was my initial plan. I'm very happy I decided to do that! The transfer took so many hours that it would have postponed the start of the trip to very late. Also, the plants had more time to recover from the stress of moving. The video below shows how I transfer the seedlings from one agar plate into another:

I also decided to randomize which plants I moved to which plates. In science, randomization is important because it prevents selection bias. In selection bias, the results between groups are not caused by the phenomenon itself but by the way individuals were selected into those groups.

If I didn’t randomize, I could subconsciously choose, for example, bigger plants for the first agar plate, and all the smaller plants would go to the other plate. If the bigger plants in plate 1 then grew better or faster than the plants in plate 2, it would seem like the treatment (magnetic field) caused that difference.

I was stressed during this week before the trip, because I wanted everything to go well and to consider every little detail. Still, I enjoyed the experience of planning my very first experiments. Doing science is something I have always wanted to do 💚

Fancy car, hard to use

So, there I was, well-prepared, on the sunny morning of the trip. I had booked the accommodations and the rental car, which was delivered to me that morning. My supervisor, Minna-Maarit Kytöviita, was coming with me, which I thought was very nice of her. I have heard that some supervisors have no time for their students. I’m so lucky to have two supervisors who are very dedicated to helping me. Also, it was important to have someone navigating and helping with the car, because I hadn't driven for a long time.

The car was automatic instead of manual, and I had never driven an automatic before. The car was new and fancy, and just when I was about to go, I had trouble starting it. I even had to call the rental place to get some help. But finally, it started working for some mystical reason. This happened a couple of times during the trip: the car just wouldn’t want to start.

Nevertheless, the driving and navigation succeeded, and we arrived at the campus of the University of Kuopio. My other supervisor, Jonne Naarala, was waiting for us and helped with the equipment. I think it is very nice that he, too, finds time for me. It must be very busy being the head of the department. So, with the help of my two, awesome, supervisors, we got everything ready. The first experiment was about to begin!

Setting up the experiment

The planning of the experimental setup is a crucial step of the study. A sensible setup ensures that the results are analyzable and reliable. I divided the plants into two groups: the treatment group and the control group. The treatment group gets exposed to the magnetic field and the control group does not. It is essential to mark the plants well to prevent mixing the groups.

I use two incubators, both equipped with coil systems capable of generating magnetic fields. When conducting the experiments, I only find out which plants belong to which group after analyzing the results. This process is called blinding, which helps prevent research bias. If a researcher knows which plants received the treatment, they might subconsciously treat or analyze those plants differently, leading to biased results.

The two incubators.

Inside one incubator. The reels that generate the magnetic field are above the petri dishes.

I placed the plants into the incubators, turned on the lights, and started the magnetic field generation. Now, we could only wait for 24 hours. Well of course, there were things to do while waiting, like eating!

Problems rising alongside the temperature

We went to eat while waiting: the food in Kuopio was delicious! While eating, Jonne received a call that something was wrong with the incubators: their temperature had risen above the limit and was still increasing.

This was problematic because if the temperature exceeded a certain threshold (let’s say, over 40 degrees Celsius), it would stress the plants. Moreover, another problem was that the temperature of one incubator was a few degrees higher than the other’s, meaning the two groups no longer had identical environmental conditions. In this experimental setup, the only difference between the two groups was supposed to be the magnetic field. We could also identify which incubator was generating the magnetic field: the one with the higher temperature, as generating a magnetic field can also cause a temperature rise in these incubators. Therefore, the blinding was compromised.

Finding solutions

It’s clear that these results would not be reliable enough to use in any publication due to too many uncontrollable factors. However, we could still gain some insights from the data, so we proceeded. First, we decided to wait and monitor how high the temperature would rise. To minimize temperature differences between the two groups, we increased the temperature of the other incubator to match the elevated temperature.

When the temperature rose above 40 degrees Celsius, we decided to lower the strength of the magnetic field to stop the temperature increase. We made sure the temperature started to fall again and left the plants in the incubators overnight. One solution for the heating problem is to use the device without the incubators, allowing for better air circulation. We will try that next time!

The temperature is approaching the critical limit, 40 degrees Celcius :(

The evening had already settled: it was time for some rest. Finding our accommodation was quite an adventure, but we finally succeeded with the help of Google Maps and random encounters with random people.

The day of the experiment

I slept very well, like I usually do. The next morning, while I and my supervisor Minna-Maarit were reading some research papers about LICOR-device at the breakfast table, some construction workers came to drill at our accommodation. Clearly, it was time to go.

We arrived at the University of Kuopio again and decided to set up the LICOR device (which measures chlorophyll fluorescence, among other things). The purpose was to make measurements right after the exposure. The measurements required a dark room for the plants to be dark-adapted. We got a small room and covered its window with trash bags and tape. As a scientist, one sometimes needs to find creative solutions.

When the incubators had been on for 23 hours, I shut off the lights of the incubators so the plants would have one hour to dark adapt. After an hour, I also stopped the magnetic field generator and quickly transferred the plants into a box to maintain their dark adaptation.

The measurements with the LICOR device took a few hours. I’m grateful for my supervisor's assistance; it would have taken much longer without her help. I took the seedlings from the agar plates, placed them on the LICOR, and Minna-Maarit pressed the button to take the measurement. Then, I transferred each seedling to a different agar plate and repeated the process with the next one. Once the measurements were complete, we quickly packed everything and headed back home. To my relief, the car started without any issues

Despite the fatiguing days, we decided to visit a small town’s flea market on the way back. There was also a village event in its yard where people were selling homemade pastries and such. It was a cheerful break from the long working days. I was very tired when we finally arrived at Jyväskylä in the evening. I decided to leave any preparations for tomorrow and get a good night’s sleep.

I was going to need it because the following two days were very long: I had to plant almost 200 plants into pots and almost 100 seeds onto agar plates. After some days or weeks, I would conduct the final measurements. Would there be any differences between these two groups? Had the magnetic field had any effect? I was very thrilled to find out, so tiredness was not going to stop me, I thought. Nevertheless, I was very happy when the weekend came. I took a small break, celebrated Midsummer in a cabin, and let my mind and body rest.

The aftermath and final thoughts

The following week, I planted the exposed seeds and monitored their germination daily, taking detailed notes.

Me checking out how many seeds have germinated.

After a few weeks, I took the final measurements of the plants growing in pots. I washed each plant’s roots to remove the perlite, weighed their shoots and roots, and measured their height. After that, I placed the plants inside small paper bags and put the bags in the oven at 60 degrees Celsius overnight. This process allowed me to obtain the dry weight, which is a more precise measure than fresh weight since all the water is evaporated.

Some of the plants waiting to be measured.

This was the most time consuming phase: washing the perilet out of their roots.

Let's see what's the height of this individual.

Dismantling my experiment and taking the final measurements also required some very long days. But I’m fine with that because I love to immerse myself in something I’m passionate about. I also appreciate the balance between physical and mental work: some weeks are physically demanding while others require intense mental effort.

Writing this took me a while, so by the time of publishing, I have already analyzed some of the data. I’m cautiously excited because there are hints that some variables might differ between the groups. However, this is only a clue revealed by the data from the pilot experiment, which didn’t go as planned. So, these hints merely guide me on which direction to take next.

I feel like I’m uncovering mysteries bit by bit, embarking on an exploration much like the brave adventurers of old times who sought to discover what lay beyond the horizon. This feeling is why I love doing science!