I think the filament from one of our x-ray generators must be a record breaker. Yesterday it clocked up its 6000th hour or 250th day on the job, not counting down / holiday time.
The intensity had only dropped by around 25 % of the value it was when I put it in, eight-and-a-half months ago... Really, this filament is like the horror-movie bad guy who just won't die - it survived countless power drop-outs and surges, the rough treatment of everyone from undergraduates to postdocs, and still it kept on and on... So, I decided to give it a break, as it has already smashed the Guinness world record for filament lifetimes (I checked) - I removed and replaced this beauty today, even though it's still working. I thought about framing it and keeping it on display in the generator lab for future generations to marvel at, but I got greedy - It will be up on eBay soon. Discounts available for academic institutions, etc.... Have a nice weekend (it's my birthday!) Cheers Rigaku! Mark _____________________________________ Dr Mark Agacan Scientific Officer, Division of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Microbiology, Wellcome Trust Biocentre, College of Life Sciences, Dow St., University of Dundee, Dundee, DD1 5EH Tel: +44 1382 388751 Fax: +44 1382 345764 _____________________________________