Michael Pawlyn: Using nature's genius in architecture

There was a very interesting talk today at the Aarhus School of Architecture by Michael Pawlyn, in which he stressed 3 key goals that need to be achieved for sustainable architecture.

1) There should be radical increases in resource efficiency (doing more with less, for example the bone material structure of a bird's skull, ETFE for greenhouse windows, etc...)

2) Linear to closed loop (example of a group which took cardboard waste from a restaurant, shredded it, sold it as horse bedding, was paid to collect it after it was soiled, used that waste to grow worms, fed the worms to sturgeon, harvested caviar from the fish, and then sold the caviar in the restaurant.  In some ways it reminded me of the Biodynamic way of farming...)

3) Fossil fuel economy to solar economy (various examples of large scale solar farms including an ambitious system that could turn the Sahara desert into a lush forest again)

The talk touched on many of the same points covered in his TED talk.  Enjoy!


 

DIS'12 Workshop: (DIY)biology: Designing for Open Source Science

The DIS'12 Workshop: (DIY)biology: Designing for Open Source Science is just around the corner!  The range of topics incudes contributions focused on textiles, symbiosis, fuel, food, social practices, toys, recipes, origami, bloodsucking insects, and much more!  Below are links provided by the workshop site and a blurb from the main page.  We look forward to an interesting workshop!


Position papers:

 Infective Textiles
 Anna Dumitriu and Alex May

 Rethinking the design of bio-bio symbiotic relationships
 Mie Norgaard and Tim Merritt (bios)

 DIY microbial fuel cell
 Eva Sjuve

 Center for Genomic Gastronomy
 Zack Denfeld and Cat Kramer (bios)

 The (Social) Practices of DIYbio
 Graham Dean, Gordon Blair, Monika Buscher (bio)

 DNA from Kiwi
 Bioplastic Toys 
 Brian Degger (bio)

 The Recipe Exchange
 Helen Pritchard

 DIYbio Manchester
 Hwa Young Jung (website)

 Inflatable Origami
 Ben Dalton (bio)

 Super-Natural
 Sneha Solanki (bio)

 Patchworks
 Jen Southern and Rod Dillon (bios)

 Bednets not Bombs
 Viv Dillon (bio)

 DIY bloodfeeding for bloodsucking insects
 Rod Dillon (bio)

 Sterile Working  David Molnar (blog)

 High-Low Tech, MIT Media Lab
 David A. Mellis (website)

 Centre for Life, Newcastle
 Nicola Stock

The below is a repost from the workshop website:


DIYbio DIS'12 Workshop: DIYbio (Do It Yourself Biology) is a growing community of biologists, artists, engineers and hobbyists who pursue biology projects outside of professional laboratories. (DIY)bio projects range from gardening and experiments with food, to creating biosensors, genetically modifying organisms or building biology equipment from off the shelf parts. As these developments continue to expand science practice beyond professional settings and into hackspaces, art studios and private homes, human computer interaction (HCI) research is presented with a host of new opportunities and concerns.


Our one-day DIS'12 workshop will bring together a diverse group of designers and HCI researchers, as well as biologists, bioartists, and members of the DIYbio community to critically re-envision the role HCI might play at the intersection of biology, computation and DIY. We will engage directly with DIYbio initiatives to explore the materials, practices and challenges of garage biology. Drawing on presentations from participants who work with organic materials, hands-on biology activities (such as extracting DNA), and structured discussions, we hope to address themes such as: opportunities and implications for integrating organic materials into interactive systems; technologies that support and hinder public engagement with science; and HCI's role in the public discourse around bioethics and biosafety.

Evening of SymbioticA, May 19 — DEAF

I wish I could attend!  The below is a repost from the event site:

Evening of SymbioticA, May 19 — DEAF: EVENING OF SYMBIOTICA, MAY 19

ArtMeatfFlesh: tissue engineering for art and nutrition meat is a peculiar thing; lab grown meat is even stranger; artistic lab grown meat is the weirdest of them all ... The evening will get fleshy on meat and will map the meat landscape of in vitro spam. SymbioticA director Oron Catts, the first person to co-grow and co-eat in vitro meat, will host some of the more eccentric figures in the eat-lab-meat debate and might even serve a portion of a meat-like substance.

SymbioticA
SymbioticA is the first research laboratory of its kind, enabling artists and researchers to engage in wet biology practices in a biological science department. The center at the University of Western Australia in Perth offers a new means of artistic inquiry, in which artists actively use the tools and technologies of science not just to comment about them but also to explore their possibilities.

SPEAKERS:
Oron Catts
Monika Bakke
Zackery Denfeld
John O'Shea
Mark Post

A few good links...

It's been far too long since the last post; that will change soon.  For now, there are a few good links that I'd like to share regarding biological/ecological art that have to be shared.

Natalie Jeremijenko: The art of the eco-mindshift

Interesting biological interventions including the 'no-park' spots that involve reclaiming the asphault in front of fire hydrants as micro parks that keep cities clean.  Go green!


The Yes Men: The Yes Men Fix The World
Intervention related art including hoaxes and staged events at mainstream conferences.  The human body based candles are a kick in the pants!

DIYBio Los Angeles: Interview with Romie Littrell

Romie Littrell, founder of the DIYBio Los Angeles was a visiting artist/researcher at the National University of Singapore this Summer.  During his visit in Singapore, Romie gave informative talks and demonstrations sharing his views on the DIYBio movement -- the convergence of the public, hacking, science, art, and biology.  He was kind enough to answer some of our burning questions about DIYBio LA and the DIYBio movement at large that we'd like to share with you.

Rommie Littrell (left) leading a biohacking workshop at the Singapore hackerspace

  

Tim: First things first, Romie, can you give us the background on DIYBio Los Angeles?  How did it start, its mission, etc?

Romie: Before heading to LA I was a part of the first meetings for DIYbio in Boston a couple years earlier, and starting another group was always in the back of my mind while I was a bioengineering grad at UCLA. The biggest problem with LA compared to other large cities is that it’s spread over such a wide area. Getting and sustaining an initial critical mass of likeminded people is a challenge. Fortunately, Chris Kelty at the UCLA Center for Society and Genetics brought together DIYbio people from all over the country at his Outlaw Biology conference on campus. I realized that there wouldn’t be a better opportunity to get that initial seed of people and registered a workshop for the last day of the conference with the sole purpose of keeping the momentum going and start a permanent organization.

With 5 or so core members we started our meetup group and began the coffee shop meeting strategy and gradually attracted more members until finally deciding to look for a permanent home. The best model for DIYbio groups so far has been to join an existing hackerspace usually focused on unrelated things like software, electronics, and fabrication. In addition to providing stability there’s often a significant overlap in interest between members and, in our case with our current location at Null Space Labs, their expertise has given our low-tech hardware goals a boost.

To sum up the already brief mission statement on our site, it’s simply the maintenance of a space with the resources we need to pursue our interests. Aside from that it’s really up to each person to engage in projects that appeal to them. Perhaps more than anything, it’s a place for people to learn from and work with likeminded people on topics that stem from interest and curiosity rather than the stipulations of job, a grant, or a desire for a degree.

 

All the tools of genetic engineering, sous vide water bath at 42 degrees C and a smart phone for timing exposure cycles.

Tim: What are the challenges that are faced by DIYbio community?

Romie: The main challenges expanding the community and work with DIYbio are mostly cultural and political. In addition to the misconception that it’s not possible to do biology outside academic and industrial institutions, there’s a cultural undertone that it’s a “bad” thing. The new and unknown are already challenging enough to develop without having to dispel negative connotations from the media and movies. However, I think the broad range of appeal for bio-related projects compared to other comparable hobbyist pursuits make it less of a fad and rather an inevitability. Pushing through the slow beginning can still be frustrating when resources and interest are not where they should be, however.

There’s also the political threat of a crackdown on the tools of DIYbio in the US. For example, the anti-GMO laws in place in Europe unfortunately trickle down to small private users. Transforming a bacteria to do something useful or interesting, a classic goal for many DIY biologists, requires going through regulatory hurdles that may dissuade a hobbyist. Opinions about if this should happen here are all over the place. A recent presidential inquiry (http://bioethics.gov/cms/synthetic-biology-report) implied that the freedom of DIY groups may decrease as capability rises, but that the efforts of biohackers may also be integral to advancement of the field and in its security.

Romie preparing supplies for hacking bacteria

Tim: Do you have any predictions for the DIY Bio movement for the next 5 years in terms of types of projects that may come about, trends, etc?

Romie: In the past two years, new DIYbio groups and their various projects have been popping up in cities all over the globe. The success and failure of these initiatives are still anyone’s guess, and I think the real disruptive projects have yet to begin. In the short term the obvious niche that needs to be filled is a source of tools and information to feed the new demand. Distributors for reagents and kits aimed at individuals and educators rather than labs are currently hard to come by, and which procedures make more sense to ironically outsource back to a commercial lab isn’t always obvious. The IP framework for products and discoveries that eventually arise will also needs to be established, particularly in regard to publishing.

I’m more involved in making art and curiosities than discoveries and products, however. The influence on culture through art can accomplish as much a shift in public and political opinion as scientific debate. Biological tools in the hands of artists are becoming more common and I think we’ll see an increase in simple public awareness of the real possibilities.

Romie showing the contents of a single use DNA analysis kit that is becoming a popular way for people to learn more about their genetic code including examining predispositions for diseases.

Tim: What suggestions do you have for someone who might be interested in learning about biotech and perhaps a way for them to get started at home?

Romie: The easiest way to start is to look around at how biology is already present in our lives. We actually do biology and biochemistry all the time when we cook. Taking the step further to understand why recipes are they way they are leads to the science of proteins, oils, and sugars, all of which are products and building blocks of biochemistry. Molecular gastronomists are just are just taking things lab scientists already know and applying it to creating new and amazing dishes. If you’re more crafty you may even bake bread, brew beer, or have a garden. These hobbies with all the tricks and tools that make them possible are actually the heart of biology.

The best way to do anything new is to make it personal since investing a significant amount of time and energy is usually necessary. Learning takes time and things don’t always go perfectly in the beginning. Something that gets overlooked way too often is that DIY projects don’t have to result in more money or new data. Creation is an end of its own. I love to tinker and to find out how things work. Other people may want to cure a disease in their family where, for whatever reason, there isn't an economic incentive to fund research. Selfish or selfless, finding that personal pursuit is the key to developing something meaningful.

Though we call it “Do It Yourself”, for many reasons finding a community of interested people is always my first advice. If you’re not in a large city this might be a challenge, but there are always online forums if local biohackers are not easily found. DIYbio.org is a great list with people eager to help those who will put the effort in to learn. If it seems like you’re alone, just starting an open ended meetup or online group will give others a way to find you.

Thank you, Romie, for your time and for sharing your views and suggestions about the DIYBio movement!!!

Related links: 

http://wiki.biohackers.la/Main_Page

http://diybio.org/

NANOVIBRANCY

Artist: Joel Ong
Time: Sunday, July 10 · 4:30pm - 7:30pm
Where: John Curtin Gallery
Event by: Symbiotica Lab
Original posting: NANOVIBRANCY

Nanovibrancy explores nanoscale activity through sound by amplifying the oscillations at the surface of a model tympanic membrane in real time.

The culmination of his Masters in Biological Art degree, Joel Ong will present a sound piece which repurposes the Atomic Force Microscope as a super‐sensitive listening device.

The AFM listens by scanning the surface vibrations on a silk membrane. The sample, currently researched in otology as a graft material for chronic eardrum perforations, is probed in extension of its research value, creating an audible documentation of cellular activity in situ.

Moving from the laboratory into the art gallery, the project shifts the observations of matter at the nanoscale from the scientific eye to the artistic ear, amplifying the resonances of fact and fiction, purity and interference through a site‐specific confluence of nano‐ and human‐scale listening.

In so doing, Nanovibrancy asks; "what is the experience of listening at the nanoscale?" Visitors acquire a first‐hand experience of the vibrancy of matter at its smallest perspectival scale.

Nanovibrancy is an ArtScience project realised at SymbioticA, the Centre of Excellence in Biological Arts, Anatomy and Human Biology at the University of Western Australia and has the generous support of the Ear Science Institute of Australia, the Nanochemistry Research Institute and the John Curtin Gallery at Curtin University.

Facebook event page with further details:
https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118871624866907

2 exclusive interviews coming soon!

Please keep a look out for two exclusive interviews coming soon.  Here are the details while you wait~

First up will be the interview with Ryan Romie Littrell, founder of the SoCal DIYBio, was a visiting fellow in Singapore hosted by Professor Denisa Kera at the National University of Singapore.  During his stay, Romie conducted a two part workshop at the Singapore hackerspace teaching attendees the tools and practices of synthetic biology.  Romie is part of a growing group of scientists who are fostering the interest in synthetic biology among the members of public, and democratizing the world of biotechnology.  Stay tuned for the interview with Romie for his thoughts on the future of DIYBio and the citizen scientist.

Romie guiding participants in the workshop, at one point using a hot bath to encourage their bacteria to take up new genetic code.

Shortly after that, and staying with the theme of democratization of technology, is an interview with Thomas Gokey (visual artist) and Meg Backus (public librarian) who are two innovative thinkers who share their ideas on 3D printing (including bio), fab labs, public libraries, and how these will come together to revolutionize our future.  They taught a class titled, "Innovation in Public Libraries" at Syracuse University which has an inspiring mission to re-invent libraries as not only an institution for the storage and retrieval of documents, but as an institution that can be hacked and shaped to meet the needs of today and the future.

Stay tuned for these interesting interviews!