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Then, they spun each sample in an ultracentrifuge, which left a small nugget of plastic at the bottom of a tube.

Conventionally, scientists have attempted to extract EVs by spinning samples in an ultracentrifuge and then relying on differences in size and density between molecular components to obtain the vesicles of interest.

They also needed an unusual piece of used lab equipment: an ultracentrifuge that costs $40,000 to $50,000 when new.

The bigger versions look a bit like washing machines, but the spin cycle in these ultracentrifuges is a lot more powerful than that of any Maytag.

The cooks in our research kitchen at the Cooking Lab in Bellevue, Wash., have used the ultracentrifuge to make sweet and rich carotene butters from carrots.