The flytrap that Julia gave me had some traps that were already closed. Sharif and I decided to carry out a test scan with one of these to find out what settings the x-ray machine needed and what we would be able to see.
In the x-ray machine you have to place the sample, the thing you want to x-ray, on a stage. Our first problem was that the pot containing the flytrap was too tall. The stage could not be lowered enough to get the leaves the flytrap in front of the x-ray source (this is where the x-rays are shot out from towards the sample).
As a solution, I cut off a trap that had caught a fly. We could see one of the wings sticking out of the top! Sharif placed the stem inside a short piece of a drinking straw and carefully packed in some oasis. Oasis is a foam which holds water, it is used by flower arrangers. It would help to keep the stem still while it was being x-rayed.
Sharif placed the straw in a sample holder and put it in the machine. It was now the right height. Sharif set up the machine and scanned the sample. Although this will give us an image to look at, the trap I cut off will die, so we won't be able to use it again.
Now we have to wait for the results. We also have to work out how we can put the whole plant in the scanner so we don't have to cut off a stem to put it in the x-ray machine and keep it alive so we can scan it multiple times.
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