Scientists developed vacuum pumps—and their cousins—centuries ago. Until relatively recently, though, the instruments didn’t include many controls.

Method transfer between HPLC and UHPLC has been a standard complaint against high-pressure, sub-two-micron technology. Despite the accumulation of application notes from UHPLC vendors, end users continue to cite method transfer difficulties for not switching to UHPLC.

Although the electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) market is mature, it has undergone several cycles during the past three decades. This existential back-and-forth has centered on whether ELNs should primarily serve as direct replacements for paper notebooks or something more.

Nearly every lab or production facility of any sort needs an oven. Moreover, those ovens get used in a wide range of ways. As Uwe Ross, president at Binder in Great River, New York, says, “Oven applications range from prep work to curing to treating to testing.” He adds, “We really find lab ovens in applications from biotech and pharma to heavy-duty material testing.”

More than just surfaces and storage, today’s laboratory casework makes a statement. For one thing, the right casework makes a lab operate more efficiently—putting the right drawers or shelves in the most at-hand places. In addition, casework can even keep track of pieces and parts in a lab. Plus, today’s options in cases—from materials to colors—give scientists an opportunity to create a lab with pizzazz.

At United Technologies Research Center in East Hartford, Connecticut, staff research engineer Weina Li and her colleagues developed a vanadium flow battery. “It provides ten times higher power density than previous cells,” says Li.

The frequency of measuring might be one of the biggest trends in pH meters. “It used to be an occasional measurement, but now it’s every sample in some cases,” says George Porter, titration product manager at Metrohm (Riverview, FL).

Today’s centrifuges are more sophisticated than ever. Consequently, customers can find platforms that fit right into today’s wide range of centrifuge applications. In fact, Nick Horsley, general manager at Hettich Instruments in Beverly, Massachusetts, says, “Centrifuge accessories have become very important.” Those accessories can help a lab select a system that can multitask.

As leading instrument and column makers continue to innovate, legacy methods, particularly in highly regulated pharmaceutical and environmental industries, continue to nudge the state of the art toward greater robustness and familiarity and away from the cutting edge.

Biosafety cabinets (BSCs) protect lab environments and workers from potentially pathogenic organisms. Some types also protect samples from contaminants originating in labs.

Two features add efficiency, safety, and ease of use.

I’ve worked in hoods where a little piece of tissue paper attached to the bottom of the sash served as an indicator that it was exhausting the air. Somehow, that sounds like a prehistoric lab by today’s standards. Granted, it was a while ago, but I wasn’t using a dinosaur-era device.