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Looking for 4 Autistic Co-Founders for AI Startup (Equity-Based)

1•au-ai-aisl•6m ago•1 comments

AI-native capabilities, a new API Catalog, and updated plans and pricing

https://blog.postman.com/new-capabilities-march-2026/
1•thunderbong•6m ago•0 comments

What changed in tech from 2010 to 2020?

https://www.tedsanders.com/what-changed-in-tech-from-2010-to-2020/
2•endorphine•11m ago•0 comments

From Human Ergonomics to Agent Ergonomics

https://wesmckinney.com/blog/agent-ergonomics/
1•Anon84•15m ago•0 comments

Advanced Inertial Reference Sphere

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Inertial_Reference_Sphere
1•cyanf•16m ago•0 comments

Toyota Developing a Console-Grade, Open-Source Game Engine with Flutter and Dart

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Fluorite-Toyota-Game-Engine
1•computer23•18m ago•0 comments

Typing for Love or Money: The Hidden Labor Behind Modern Literary Masterpieces

https://publicdomainreview.org/essay/typing-for-love-or-money/
1•prismatic•19m ago•0 comments

Show HN: A longitudinal health record built from fragmented medical data

https://myaether.live
1•takmak007•22m ago•0 comments

CoreWeave's $30B Bet on GPU Market Infrastructure

https://davefriedman.substack.com/p/coreweaves-30-billion-bet-on-gpu
1•gmays•33m ago•0 comments

Creating and Hosting a Static Website on Cloudflare for Free

https://benjaminsmallwood.com/blog/creating-and-hosting-a-static-website-on-cloudflare-for-free/
1•bensmallwood•39m ago•1 comments

"The Stanford scam proves America is becoming a nation of grifters"

https://www.thetimes.com/us/news-today/article/students-stanford-grifters-ivy-league-w2g5z768z
1•cwwc•43m ago•0 comments

Elon Musk on Space GPUs, AI, Optimus, and His Manufacturing Method

https://cheekypint.substack.com/p/elon-musk-on-space-gpus-ai-optimus
2•simonebrunozzi•52m ago•0 comments

X (Twitter) is back with a new X API Pay-Per-Use model

https://developer.x.com/
3•eeko_systems•59m ago•0 comments

Zlob.h 100% POSIX and glibc compatible globbing lib that is faste and better

https://github.com/dmtrKovalenko/zlob
3•neogoose•1h ago•1 comments

Show HN: Deterministic signal triangulation using a fixed .72% variance constant

https://github.com/mabrucker85-prog/Project_Lance_Core
2•mav5431•1h ago•1 comments

Scientists Discover Levitating Time Crystals You Can Hold, Defy Newton’s 3rd Law

https://phys.org/news/2026-02-scientists-levitating-crystals.html
3•sizzle•1h ago•0 comments

When Michelangelo Met Titian

https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/michelangelo-titian-review-the-renaissances-odd-couple-e34...
1•keiferski•1h ago•0 comments

Solving NYT Pips with DLX

https://github.com/DonoG/NYTPips4Processing
1•impossiblecode•1h ago•1 comments

Baldur's Gate to be turned into TV series – without the game's developers

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c24g457y534o
3•vunderba•1h ago•0 comments

Interview with 'Just use a VPS' bro (OpenClaw version) [video]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40SnEd1RWUU
2•dangtony98•1h ago•0 comments

EchoJEPA: Latent Predictive Foundation Model for Echocardiography

https://github.com/bowang-lab/EchoJEPA
1•euvin•1h ago•0 comments

Disablling Go Telemetry

https://go.dev/doc/telemetry
1•1vuio0pswjnm7•1h ago•0 comments

Effective Nihilism

https://www.effectivenihilism.org/
1•abetusk•1h ago•1 comments

The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/27/uk-government-report-ecosystem-collapse-foi...
5•pabs3•1h ago•0 comments

No 10 blocks report on impact of rainforest collapse on food prices

https://www.thetimes.com/uk/environment/article/no-10-blocks-report-on-impact-of-rainforest-colla...
3•pabs3•1h ago•0 comments

Seedance 2.0 Is Coming

https://seedance-2.app/
1•Jenny249•1h ago•0 comments

Show HN: Fitspire – a simple 5-minute workout app for busy people (iOS)

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fitspire-5-minute-workout/id6758784938
2•devavinoth12•1h ago•0 comments

Dexterous robotic hands: 2009 – 2014 – 2025

https://old.reddit.com/r/robotics/comments/1qp7z15/dexterous_robotic_hands_2009_2014_2025/
1•gmays•1h ago•0 comments

Interop 2025: A Year of Convergence

https://webkit.org/blog/17808/interop-2025-review/
1•ksec•1h ago•1 comments

JobArena – Human Intuition vs. Artificial Intelligence

https://www.jobarena.ai/
1•84634E1A607A•1h ago•0 comments
Open in hackernews

Coffee as a staining agent substitute in electron microscopy

https://phys.org/news/2026-01-coffee-agent-substitute-electron-microscopy.html
52•PaulHoule•1w ago

Comments

hahahahhaah•5d ago
One does not simply ... ordinary espresso.
jacquesm•5d ago
You just know how they found out about this...

> "I got the idea of using espresso as a staining agent from the circular dried stains in used coffee cups,"

Suuure...

bell-cot•5d ago
Quoting more:

> "I got the idea of using espresso as a staining agent from the circular dried stains in used coffee cups," says Claudia Mayrhofer, who is responsible for ultramicrotomy at the institute. During preparation, she cuts tissue samples into wafer-thin slices and fixes them onto sample holders. Staining is the last step before examination under the electron microscope.

I'm curious about the grad student who is the second author on the research paper. Is he the one tasked with the current-SOP staining with (radioactive and poisonous) uranyl acetate? Was it his overworked-and-drowsy "oopsie" which lead to the discovery?

fc417fc802•5d ago
Amusing, but no (at least I sincerely hope). Food and wet samples are never in the same vicinity as a matter of OSHA (plus just a general desire not to get yourself or others killed). Violating that would typically be a great way to speedrun getting fired.

Radioactive substances go beyond that, generally being handled in their own dedicated area that no one else is permitted to enter for any reason. The level of paranoia is actually fairly impressive (but obviously necessary).

jacquesm•5d ago
I hope the staining agent is at least visually very different from Espresso.
bell-cot•5d ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranyl_acetate

- so easily distinguished from espresso. OTOH...

https://www.google.com/search?q=far+side+comic+culture+of+am...

jacquesm•4d ago
Funny, on that page it also lists oolong tea as a staining agent.

So, coffee, tea and Uranyl acetate...

mikkupikku•5d ago
You figure they accidentally spilled some coffee and just went with it? That's my guess.
amelius•5d ago
Make sure to leave out the hazelnut syrup.
fredley•5d ago
Calling it now: this is ignobel prize-worthy research. If it doesn’t get a nod I’ll eat my hat.
Metacelsus•5d ago
Next up: "Coffee in Austria recalled due to high concentrations of heavy metals"
mjd•5d ago
I'm puzzled by this. Why hasn't there been, over the last fifty years, a huge amount of research into EM staining techniques and which materials were best under which circumstances? Edison supposedly tried 3000 different materials for light bulb filaments before settling on charred cotton thread. Why hasn't something similar been done in this area?

Or perhaps it _has_ been done and that's why nearly everyone uses uranyl acetate? And perhaps coffee was tried decades ago and found to be generally inferior?

BigTTYGothGF•5d ago
Of course it's been done, and there are lots of different stains available: https://www.agarscientific.com/general-consumables/chemicals...
buildbot•5d ago
Wow you know it’s a fun party when the first result needs to specify it’s _not_ radioactive

Oh I see - Uranyl Acetate is radioactive and this replaces it. Fun!

This seems like a friendly chemical too - “ The chemical properties of Osmium Tetroxide are such that use and handling of the chemical is often considered daunting. Although its volatility and toxicity certainly makes it a dangerous chemical, but when following the proper procedure and taking the necessary precautions, Osmium Tetroxide can be used to its full potential with limited risk to the user.

This is more toxic than glutaraldehyde and has a higher vapour pressure. Particular care must be taken to avoid breathing the vapour or allowing it to affect the eyes. ”

s0rce•5d ago
Uranyl acetate for staining is typically depleted and unless you have regulatory issues I don't think the radiation is a big concern, especially when you compare to the very serious toxicity of OsO4 (vapors can react with your eyes and blind you).
buildbot•5d ago
Interesting and makes sense! I know nothing but what I read from the stain description haha. OsO4 seems incredibly nasty. So do a few other of the stains!
Rastonbury•5d ago
I'm reminded of how blacksmiths use instant coffee to stain damascus steel, at least the ones on YouTube
peacebeard•5d ago
Does that last long? Commercial damascus is typically acid etched which seems like it would last better, but it wears off eventually too.

[edit] oh, I guess coffee is acidic, so maybe it’s not that different. I was thinking of using it as a stain at first

s0rce•5d ago
I don't really understand how coffee, lacking heavy metals, can effectively give contrast in the electron microscope. I can't access the paper but the available parts didn't seem to explain how this works.
seesawtron•4d ago
Even without any heavy metal staining, you would end up seeing some structures. This approach allows looking at unstained / native tissue.
s0rce•3d ago
What is the coffee doing?
ravila4•5d ago
One of the references: “Oolong tea extract as a substitute for uranyl acetate in staining of ultrathin sections”