And in the lab...

The first proper day of the SSRS, last Wednesday, ended up not being very proper at all. The day started at a very, very lazy 11am (Holidays really do not spur me to wake up early), where I first met another researcher, who introduced me to the neuroscience labs. Hehe, should've seen my face light up, as if Christmas came early! We proceeded through the first pair of glass doors (guarded by swipe key access; my student card, however, didn't work)... then a second pair of white doors (guarded by fingerprint security)... then a fairly long white corridor (CIA-style) with lots of glass-walled rooms, lots of white cupboards, and lots of Macs. *blink* I had never, in my life, seen so many Apple computers - they were everywhere, arggh! Finally, we entered a room where there were actually people inside; which opened to the vast, expansive view of Macarthur Station, the fields, and the nearby shopping centre (unlike CIA-style). The view probably would be better if it was at, say, a beach, but still, I don't think I'm going to mind working here for the next couple of months :)
So far, I had yet to see my supervisor, but I met two of my fellow SSRS students (both second-years; outclassed much - first years haven't even done neurology), fellow researchers, and a third-year who volunteered to be the human component of a most interesting setup - cables and equipment were set up everywhere, measuring blood pressure, respiratory rate, ECG and nerve activity (via microneurography - essentially sticking a small needle into a nerve to measure activity, as the name implies), whilst a saline drip entered a muscle in his lower thigh, and a pain dial for this brave volunteer to gauge the pain caused by the saline drip. Consensual form of pain torture? Hmmm - well at least he was remunerated for his efforts :)
About half an hour in, my supervisor strolls in.
...

After witnessing the experiment's conclusion (and remuneration of that rather sore volunteer), the three SSRS students and the supervisor removed themselves from the laboratories, and discussed how best to organise the week ahead. This was followed by some rather quiet study by myself (since I was quite lazy in reading up on migraines during the week preceding), and witnessing of a repeat of the morning's experiment, with a different volunteer; made all the more interesting, since in the morning everything was already set up, whilst in the afternoon, everything had to be poked back into the new specimen :)
And so concluded the first proper day of the SSRS project, involving about 5 minutes of actual discussion on my project. Right on track to making a big discovery.