The Standard Laboratory structure was designed to replace the flawed Basic Laboratory design. The new design philosophy calls for a lab that can be converted for dedicated use in one field of study, making it ideal for "crash" programs where large amounts of resources are thrown at a single task.

While the Standard Laboratory can easily be reconfigured for use by a different discipline, this requires a total shutdown while changes are made, a cold restart of the lab's systems, and several days of down-time in the process.

The Standard Laboratory also includes improved built-in hazard containment facilities designed to deal with bio-hazards, toxins, and radiation hazards. This makes the Standard Lab safer for long-term use in the colony, and allows it to work on more advanced projects.

Operational Notes: The Standard Lab houses research projects. This structure requires no Scientists for basic operation; Scientists required for research vary by project. This structure replaces the Basic Laboratory.

Tales from New Terra

Calvin Anthony grabbed fellow scientist Mark Johnson's arm as he sprinted past him in the corridor. "Run!"

Johnson ran, as fast as he could. If he'd learned anything from his years of partnering with Anthony, it was to run when Anthony said "run." He didn't look back. He didn't want to.

As they passed through the emergency airlock, Anthony hit the emergency close button. The doors hissed shut behind them as they passed into the tran-station outside.

"Stop running!" said Anthony, coasting to a stop. He bent over and propped his hands on his knees while he caught his breath. Then he turned and looked back at the lock.

Johnson looked too. All he could see through the windows in the bulkhead was a solid green mass.

"It works," said Anthony, "only about a thousand times better than I thought it would."

"What in frag is that?"

"Aerogel, or as we call it in technical terms, high-tech glop." He took a step toward the window and put his hands on his hips. "Cleaning this up is going to be a problem."

"I'll say. Why didn't you test this in containment?"

Calvin glanced back over his shoulder and grimaced. "Like I said, it worked a lot better than I thought it would." He scratched his head. "Good thing I haven't laced it with Buckytubes yet."

"What?"

"Now, I wonder if I can open the lock without it expanding more." He turned. "Say, Mark, could you evacuate the tunnel, just in case?"

"Couldn't you have become an agritech instead of a scientist? Developed man-eating soy beans or something?" He glanced at the window behind Calvin and blinked in surprise. "Maybe cleanup won't be as much a problem as you thought."

Calvin turned to see that the green mass was evaporating, large voids opening in the mass as it collapsed in on itself. "This is disappointing," he said. He glanced at his chrono. "Maybe long enough to be effective, though."

Mark walked toward the lock, wondering if it was safe to go back inside. "What was that, anyway?"

Calvin smiled. "A new weapon. A really, really, messy weapon."

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