• Question: What is the oldest piece of equipment you have ever used?

    Asked by anon-193419 to Morwenna, Jamal, iainstaniland, Heidi, Emma, Carl on 11 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Heidi Gardner

      Heidi Gardner answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      I really don’t know! A lot of the equipment I’ve used has been pretty new – if you’re dealing with chemicals and stuff then you need the equipment to be super clean so that things don’t get contaminated, so most equipment has a sort of shelf-life that it can be used for before it needs to be replaced.

    • Photo: Emma Crawford

      Emma Crawford answered on 11 Nov 2018:

      Probably my scientific calculator! I’ve had it since my A-levels, 11 years ago! The main equipment I really use is just my laptop and a calculator. I’ve only be in my current company for 2 years, so my laptop has yet to out date my calculator!

    • Photo: Iain Staniland

      Iain Staniland answered on 12 Nov 2018:

      Great question, I had to have a good long hard think about this one. In the end I realized that some of the long wooden poles that we use when working with the fur seals (as paint poles or to lift the seals) came from the a whaling station on South Georgia. The station closed in 1965 so they are at least that old but, as it started in 1904, they could be over 100 years old.
      Fortunately they are now used for more humane activities trying to help the wildlife rather than killing it!

Comments