Cosmic Labs and Lush Desks

Author

Professor LabTuna
May 19, 2025

Hey!

Get ready to laugh, grow, and thrive with this week’s newsletter, featuring a wild lab tale of runaway plants and a stellar lineup of easy-care greenery for your lab! Edwin Hubble’s cosmic wisdom, top mindfulness hacks, and key events will spark your scientific adventure. Share your own lab story for a shot at a Starbucks gift card!

In this issue:

Quote of the Day

❝

Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.

Edwin Hubble

Lab Story of the Week

The Plant Potion Predicament

In a lively high school chemistry lab, where teenage curiosity flirted with chaos, a crew of students turned their experiments into a sneaky gardening scheme in 2023. After mixing chemicals for class, they’d pour leftovers into potted plants by the windowsill, chuckling at their rogue science. Soon, the plants went berserk, leaves bursting like popcorn, stems soaring like beanstalks, and one fern eyeing a role in a jungle movie. The students, led by a budding botanist named Sam, fantasized they’d concocted a miracle growth potion.

Their teacher, Pr. Tuna, a stickler for lab rules, caught wind of the mischief when she spotted a plant nearly toppling its pot. Her glare could’ve melted beakers, but instead of detention, she herded the culprits to the school field for punishment: performing Monty Python’s "Ministry of Silly Walks," with goofy high kicks and wobbly struts, as classmates roared. The lab exploded in laughter; a lab partner filmed it for the class chat, and Pr. Tuna quipped, “Sam, your potion’s a hit, but your walking needs work!” Sam’s face glowed hotter than a Bunsen flame, mortified by their plant blunder.

The plants were removed, and the students swore to stick to test tubes. A faint soil stain on the sill lingers, marking the chaos. The "Plant Potion Predicament" became lab legend, shared with newbies: follow the rules, or earn a PhD in silly walks. In a world of pipettes and precision, this leafy flop stole the spotlight.

☕ Share Your Funniest Lab Story & Win Starbucks!

Got a story like this? Share it with us!

Every week, we feature one submission — and the storyteller gets a Starbucks gift card.

Events Calendar

We’ve compiled all major science & lab-related events in a public Google Calendar.

✅ Add it to your calendar: [iPhone] | [Android] | [Mac] | [Windows]

✅ Know a great event? Send it to us and help grow the community calendar.

Please, share interesting events to make this Community-based Calendar better.

🪴TOP-10 easy-care plants suitable for office and lab environments:

The top 10 easy-care plants suitable for office and lab environments, focusing on low-maintenance options that thrive in typical indoor conditions like fluorescent lighting and controlled temperatures, while ensuring safety for lab settings.\

Number 6 is a must nowadays. )

  1. Snake Plant (Dracaena trifasciata)
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Sun, part shade
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water deeply once or twice a month
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Tough, low maintenance, handles low lighting, toxic to pets, ideal for bright indirect sun
    Pick your plant

  2. African Violet (Saintpaulia ionantha)
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Partial sun
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water every week or so, when top inch of soil is dry
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Non-toxic, thrives under fluorescent light, great for windowless labs, avoid direct sunlight, ideal for desks.
    Pick your plant

  3. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum) 
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Partial sun, shade
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water when top two inches of soil is dry
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Non-toxic, air-purifying, fast-growing, prefers warm humid offices, thrives in indirect light, suits desks or hanging
    Pick your plant

  4. Parlor Palm (Chamaedorea elegans) 
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Indirect light
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water weekly
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Non-toxic, adapts to low light, tolerates air conditioning, slow-growing, ideal for lab floors or meeting rooms
    Pick your plant

  5. Cast-Iron Plant (Aspidistra elatior)
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Low light, shade
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water when soil is mostly dry
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Non-toxic, very hardy, tolerates neglect, perfect for dull lab corners, avoid overwatering
    Pick your plant

  6. Money Tree (Pachira aquatic) 
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Bright, indirect light
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water when top inch of soil is dry
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Non-toxic, grows under fluorescent lights, prefers humid conditions, great for larger lab office spaces
    Pick your plant

  7. Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Bright, indirect light
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water every one to two weeks, depending on light conditions
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Toxic to animals, flexible with lighting, tolerates low light or fluorescents, great for cubicles, handle with care in labs
    Pick your plant

  8. ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia) 
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Bright, indirect or low light
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water when soil is three quarters or fully dry
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Toxic to humans and animals, drought-tolerant, forgives low light and little water, ideal for pet-free lab interiors
    Pick your plant

  9. Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum spp.) 
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Filtered light
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water when leaves start to droop
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Toxic to animals, tolerates lower light, air-purifying, perfect for lab desks away from bright windows, avoid overwatering
    Pick your plant

  10. Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema commutatum)
    ☀️ Light Requirements: Low to medium indirect light
    💧 Watering Frequency: Water when top inch of soil is dry
    🗒️ Notes for Office/Lab Settings: Some species toxic, low-light tolerant, colorful foliage, check species for lab safety, ideal for compact lab offices
    Pick your plant

🪷 Top 5 Advanced Mindfulness Lifehacks

Maintaining mindfulness in a lab can be challenging, especially with repetitive tasks and potential setbacks.

Mindful Experiment Observation: When conducting experiments, focus fully on details like solution colors or equipment sounds.
This helps catch subtle changes and improves work quality, reducing errors.

Stress Reframing: 
View lab stress, like failed experiments, as a challenge to learn from, not a threat. This can lower anxiety and boost problem-solving, keeping you resilient.

Gratitude for the Process: 
Reflect daily on what you appreciate in lab work, like learning from mistakes. This counters negativity and reduces burnout, fostering a positive mindset.

Single-Tasking During Critical Tasks: 
Focus solely on precision tasks like pipetting, avoiding distractions. This minimizes errors and enhances accuracy, crucial for lab success.

Mindful Breaks with Sensory Awareness: 
Take short breaks to engage senses, like listening to lab sounds or feeling the air. This resets focus and reduces mental fatigue, boosting concentration.