iPhone-Controlled Cyborg Cockroaches Are Stirring Up An Ethics Debate

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Kickstarter/GageMarzullo

You no longer have to be a graduate student or doctor to study neuroscience.

According to an article in Science Now, a new do-it-yourself project, called the RoboRoach, allows kids as young as 10 to create their own cyborg cockroach and control its movement. The $99 kits come with live cockroaches, a surgical kit, and tiny electronic hardware pieces.

The goal behind these RoboRoach kits is to get kids interested in neuroscience research and encourage them to pursue a career in the field. Cockroaches and humans have neurons that function in a similar way, so when you observe the cockroach responding to the signal from your phone, you are also seeing how human neurons respond to a signal. But some scientists and bioethicists are concerned this new product is unethical and may be encouraging cruel treatment of animals.

The RoboRoach made its debut at the TEDx conference in Detroit on Oct. 2. Greg Gage and Tim Marzullo, the co-founders of Backyard Brains, a small startup company of scientists and engineers, created the tiny backpack the cockroach wears and designed the kit that allows the user to attach all the pieces themselves. They funded the project with a Kickstarter, butand the cyborg cockroach will be commercially available starting in November.

How the cyborg cockroaches are created

cockroach.gif

Kickstarter/Gage

Swiping the screen of a smartphone controls the RoboRoach's movement.

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iPhone-Controlled Cyborg Cockroaches Are Stirring Up An Ethics Debate

Cyborg cockroaches: they're alive!

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By: News Desk

Photo by Backyard Brains

Have you ever wanted to control a cockroach with a smartphone? Well Dr. Frankenstein, fret not, because in a month, your really specific and kind of creepy wish could be granted. A company called Backyard Brains is releasing the first commercially available cockroach cyborg in the form of some microelectronics that the user would attach to the back of a cockroach.

The whole thing costs about 99 dollars, and comes with the electronics, a cockroach and surgical equipment to fuse the two together. Although the Roboroach sounds like it should be destroying a major metropolis in a B-movie, the creators hope to make it a teaching tool, planning for children as young as 10 to use it. According to Science Magazine, the process of converting cockroach to machine-cockroach is involved.

"Students are instructed to douse the insect in ice water to "anesthetize" it, sand a patch of shell on its head so that the superglue and electrodes will stick, and then insert a groundwire into the insect's thorax. Next, they must carefully trim the insect's antennae, and insert silver electrodes into them. Ultimately, these wires receive electrical impulses from a circuit affixed to the insect's back."

Not surprisingly, this has ignited some controversy among bioethicists and animal rights activists. A PETA representative was incensed. "To be disrespectful of life forms because they are small and we do not fully understand them or appreciate their place in the larger scheme of things is wrong. It is retrogressive and morally dubious."

Jonathan Balcombe of the Humane Society University in Washington, D.C., says even if the project is a teaching tool, it's still disconcerting. "If it was discovered that a teacher was having students use magnifying glasses to burn ants and then look at their tissue, how would people react?"

But Greg Gage, the co-founder of Backyard Brains wants to inspire more kids to pursue neuroscience. Talking to Vice Magazine, Gage was hopeful. "Neurological diseases suck. Getting people excited about the brain is the idea [behind RoboRoach]."

Getting people excited about the brain isn't the only possible use for cyborg cockroaches. Dr. Alper Bozkurt of NC State University wants to use these machine insects to help rescue earthquake survivors. He proposes that the cockroaches could be controlled by a rescue worker while the cockroaches carry a locator beacon, tiny microphone, or camera.

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Cyborg cockroaches: they're alive!

No sign of 'Rena' oil on BOP beaches

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Two years since the Rena grounded, Tauranga beaches appear to have recovered with no recent signs of tar spots.

But what's brewing below the surface and the long-term effects of the grounding are subjects of research and monitoring, and next month a series of scientific environmental impact reports are expected to be made public.

Speaking from Wisconsin, University of Waikato Professor Chris Battershill said a range of impact research projects had been conducted during the past 20 months.

The Tauranga-based professor said once peer reviewed, the reports would be released to the Environment Ministry, Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and other key stakeholders, including iwi, before being released to the public.

Research showed local beaches and most of the off-shore islands from Waihi to the Bay of Plenty's east cape had recovered "extremely well" because of the massive clean-up efforts .

Although that was great news, he said some areas were still subject to intensive monitoring, including Astrolabe Reef and around the wreck.

Prof Battershill is leading an Environment Ministry-funded study into eco-toxicity, including research on the mixture of Corexit and oil in this country's sea temperatures.

The study was due to take at least 18 months, he said.

Corexit dispersants were used during the clean-up and sprayed on deep water about 20km off the coast of Tauranga in days following the October 2011 grounding.

Prof Battershill is in Wisconsin for a week-long World Environmental Restoration Symposium.

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No sign of 'Rena' oil on BOP beaches

A Revolution in Astronomy: How We Came to Know the Solar System

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A Revolution in Astronomy: How We Came to Know the Solar System

Ross Lockwood and Russell Greiner Present Osmar Zaiane’s Artificial Intelligence Part IV Fall 2013 – Video

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Ross Lockwood and Russell Greiner Present Osmar Zaiane #39;s Artificial Intelligence Part IV Fall 2013
Ross Lockwood and Russell Greiner teaching session on October 3, 2013 presenting Osmar Zaiane #39;s lecture Artificial Intelligence Part IV in the Technology and...

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Ross Lockwood and Russell Greiner Present Osmar Zaiane's Artificial Intelligence Part IV Fall 2013 - Video

XCOR Aerospace And United Launch Alliance Announce Important Milestone In Liquid Hydrogen Engine Program

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Mojave, CA AndCentennial, CO/PRNewswire/ - XCOR Aerospace and United Launch Alliance announced significant progress today in the XCOR/ULA liquid hydrogen (LH2) engine development program.

"We are happy to announce that we have successfully operated our liquid hydrogen pump at full design flow rate and pressure conditions," said XCOR Chief Executive Officer Jeff Greason. "This milestone builds on our earlier success with liquid oxygen and kerosene pumps, which have powered many of our hotfires. Achieving this goal allows us to proceed with integrated testing of our liquid hydrogen demonstrator engine, fed by our liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen piston pumps. The ultimate goal is a far more cost-effective upper-stage engine for ULA and their customers."

Conceived as a lower-cost, risk-managed program, the XCOR LH2 engine program is intended to produce a flight-ready cryogenic upper-stage engine in the 25,000 lbf thrust class with growth potential up to 50,000 lbf thrust or more. When complete, it should cost significantly less to produce and be easier to operate than competing rocket engine technologies.

However, it isn't just about thrust class."Factors such as the extreme low temperature and small molecule size of liquid hydrogen present new technical challenges compared to liquid oxygen or kerosene," said Greason. "Demonstrating our ability to safely pump this fluid at high flow rates and pressures, with relatively low mass is a significant engineering milestone that will deliver yet another line of innovation and business to XCOR."

"XCOR's and ULA's investment in this program should result in much lower cost and more capable commercial and government launch capabilities," said XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson. "By drawing from several hundred years of human experience in the development of piston machinery, XCOR seeks to dramatically increase reliability, reusability and long term manufacturability of rocket propellant pumps. The decrease in manufacturing and maintenance costs of XCOR's rocket propellant pumps is at least an order of magnitude in volume production when compared to traditional rocket turbo machinery."

With the completion of the flow rate and pressure tests, Nelson added, "We are proud to say that our collaboration with ULA has borne significant results. This is a new application of time-tested principles that tangibly demonstrates we can produce an upper-stage cryogenic engine with similar or better performance than today's state of the art, with long life, reusability and reliability at significantly less cost. And it is only taking place at XCOR."

"Today's milestone is further validation of the effort that we began with XCOR several years ago, leveraging more than a century of automotive industry insights to develop a truly new concept in engine design," noted George Sowers, ULA's Vice President of Human Launch Services. "These technology demonstrations have paved the way for ULA's support of the liquid hydrogen engine program. We are beginning to see substantial results from ULA's continued investment of time and resources in the ULA/XCOR hydrogen engine program and look forward to the next phase of development in this groundbreaking endeavor."

About XCOR Aerospace:XCOR Aerospace is based in Mojave, California. It is currently starting the process to create a new Research and Development Center in Midland, Texas and an operational and manufacturing site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. XCOR builds safe, reliable and reusable rocket-powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and rocket piston pumps. XCOR works with aerospace prime contractors and government customers on major propulsion systems, while also building Lynx. Lynx is a piloted, two-seat, fully reusable liquid rocket-powered vehicle that takes-off and lands horizontally. The Lynx family of vehicles serves three primary missions depending on their specific type including: research & scientific missions, private spaceflight, and micro satellite launch (only on the Lynx Mark III). Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-mission (research / scientific or private spaceflight) commercial vehicles capable of flying to 100+ km in altitude up to four times per day. Lynx vehicles are available to customers in the free world on a wet lease basis to start their own manned space flight program. (www.xcor.com).

United Launch Alliance: ULA is a 50-50 joint venture owned by Lockheed Martin and The Boeing Company, and is the nation's rocket company, bringing together two of the launch industry's most experienced and successful teams Atlas and Delta. ULA provides reliable, cost-efficient space launch services for the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office and other commercial organizations. ULA program management, engineering, test, and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. For more information on ULA, visit the ULA Web site at http://www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at http://www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch.

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XCOR Aerospace And United Launch Alliance Announce Important Milestone In Liquid Hydrogen Engine Program

Missouri S&T Student Honored By Women In Aerospace

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Fri, Oct 11, 2013

Erin M. Kirchmeier of Kansas City, MO, a senior aerospace engineering major at Missouri University of Science and Technology, is one of nine women who will be recognized later this month for their contributions to the advancement of women in the aerospace field. Kirchmeier and the other honorees will be recognized by the non-profit organization Women in Aerospace during the 28th annual Women in Aerospace Awards Dinner and Ceremony Oct. 29 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Arlington, VA.

Kirchmeier was one of two students to receive the Women in Aerospace Foundation Scholarship, a $2,000 award to be applied during the current academic year. She is a member of the Missouri S&T Satellite Team, which designs and builds miniature satellites for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratorys Nanosat competition. The microsatellites are designed to launch as a single unit, then separate once in orbit and maintain a specific flight formation. Kirchmeier is the teams lead of the structures subsystem.

A member of Zeta Tau Alpha at Missouri S&T, Kirchmeier also helped develop a stereoscopic imaging system for the satellite project through theschool's Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experiences program. She worked with Dr. Hank Pernicka, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, on the project during the 2012-2013 academic year.

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Missouri S&T Student Honored By Women In Aerospace

Cellular transport breakthrough earns trio 2013 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine – Video

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Cellular transport breakthrough earns trio 2013 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine
James Rothman, Randy Schekman and Thomas Suedhof announced in Stockholm as joint winners of the 2013 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine.

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Cellular transport breakthrough earns trio 2013 Nobel prize for physiology or medicine - Video

Circuit Training: A Fastrack To Fitness With Perth Exercise Physiology | Call (08) 9444 8729 – Video

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Circuit Training: A Fastrack To Fitness With Perth Exercise Physiology | Call (08) 9444 8729
Circuit Training: A Fastrack To Fitness With Perth Exercise Physiology | Physiotherapy in Perth To know more about Circuit Training, visit i Physio Perth: http://iPhysioPerth.com.au or Call...

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“I danced around” – Interview with Randy W. Schekman, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine – Video

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"I danced around" - Interview with Randy W. Schekman, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
Telephone interview with Randy W. Schekman following the announcement of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The interviewer is Nobelprize.org #39;s ...

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"I danced around" - Interview with Randy W. Schekman, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine - Video

Thomas Südhof wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

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By Krista Conger

Thomas Sudhof won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Neuroscientist Thomas Sdhof, MD, professor of molecular and cellular physiology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, won the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

He shared the prize with James Rothman, PhD, a former Stanford professor of biochemistry, and Randy Schekman, PhD, who earned his doctorate at Stanford under the late Arthur Kornberg, MD, another winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

The three were awarded the prize "for their discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells." Rothman is now a professor at Yale University, and Schekman is a professor at UC-Berkeley.

"I'm absolutely surprised," said Sdhof, 57, who was in the remote town of Baeza in Spain to attend a conference and give a lecture. "Every scientist dreams of this. I didn't realize there was chance I would be awarded the prize. I am stunned and really happy to share the prize with James Rothman and Randy Schekman."

Sdhof noted that, although he hasn't directly worked with either of the other winners, their work was complementary and he called the Nobel committee "ingenious" in pairing the three of them. The researchers will share a prize that totals roughly $1.2 million, with about $413,600 going to each.

"Tom Sdhof has done brilliant work that lays a molecular basis for neuroscience and brain chemistry," said Roger Kornberg, PhD, Stanford's Mrs. George A. Winzer Professor in Medicine. Kornberg was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2006. He is the son of Arthur Kornberg, in whose lab Schekman received his doctorate.

Robert Malenka, MD, Stanford's Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, is at the conference in Spain with Sdhof, a close collaborator. "He's dazed, tired and happy," Malenka said by phone. "The only time I've seen him happier was when his children were born."

Sdhof, the Avram Goldstein Professor in the School of Medicine, received the award for his work in exploring how neurons in the brain communicate with one another across gaps called synapses. Although his work has focused on the minutiae of how molecules interact on the cell membranes, the fundamental questions he's pursuing are large.

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Thomas Südhof wins Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

"Evaluating the Utility of a Differentially Private Behavioral Science Dataset" (CRCS Seminar) – Video

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"Evaluating the Utility of a Differentially Private Behavioral Science Dataset" (CRCS Seminar)
CRCS Lunch Seminar (Wednesday, October 2, 2013) Speaker: Raquel Hill, Harvard CRCS and Indiana University Title: Evaluating the Utility of a Differentially P...

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"Evaluating the Utility of a Differentially Private Behavioral Science Dataset" (CRCS Seminar) - Video