1 Hilo creado por hostprods

  • Desde: gijon
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Hilo: garage astrobiology

a) a descriptive sentence of your project and goals

A garage laboratory, resembling to some degree an astrobiology laboratory, for examining the effects of electromagnet fields and radio waves on microbial species cultured from the urban environment

b) a brief abstract

The project will commence with the collection of organic samples from the urban environment, various methods of extracting and culturing micro-organisms from them and 'getting to know' them. Development of some DIY laboratory equipment will form part of this process.
The project will then focus on developing a system of variable strength magnetic field generators and related apparatus which can be fixed to the culture vessels to form an 'input sculpture' – a device by which the organisms are exposed to various magnetic fields and the means by which their responses to these magnetic fields can be observed and recorded.

c) personal profile and background

I'm an english artist but have been based in Spain (first barcelona and now gijon) for nearly 6 years. My work has for the last several years been based around the idea of discovering the substance of intelligence and information systems by creating artistic environments which can bridge the gaps between the organic and the artificial. This has lead me to dabble in robotics, biotechnology, artificial intelligence and basic agriculture but has not lead me to have a high level of proficiency in any of them.

The idea for this workshop/experiment stems from a project i am currently developing in which i will be using data from deep space probes to manipulate the environments of terrestrial micro-organisms commonly used in astrobiology.

d) profiles of potential collaborators (in no order of priority)

1- enthusiastic and open minded individuals of any persuasion
2- biologists amateur or professional
3- hardware and software freaks, especially those interested in improvising code and devices and making things 'to see if they work'
4- physicists, especially those with an interest in the electromagnetic spectrum

e) image of the project

i'll get to that as soon as i can.



excuse me for writing this in english. i'm fine talking and listening to spanish but terrible when it comes to writing it. i will happily go into greater depth about the project, where i'd like it to go and where its coming from depending on whatever feedback comes from this intro. looking forward to meeting you all.

further information about my work is on my website - http://hostprods.net

ultima edicion por hostprods (06-01-2009 13:43:06)

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2 Respuesta por jay

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Re: garage astrobiology

Hello
  I'm Jay from the project "The Sounds of Science".. i was reading your project and it has a lot of similarties with mine. My project also is based on the colection of organic sample, only that in our laboratory we will create come devices to analaize movements, color and shape tracking to create musical patorns..  It might be a good idea to work togther on some points, maybe in the collection and cultivation.. we can use similar samples.
   i have also been working on some electromagnetic devices maybe i can show you them.

ultima edicion por jay (06-01-2009 17:07:48)

3 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi jay - good to hear from you. i was looking at your project and it looks very interesting - could be fun to explore the crossovers between the two. can you clarify whether you plan to generate sound from visual analysis of the cultures via pd (or whatever) or whether there is some kind of physical interaction with the samples?

do you have biological equipment you plan to bring? we should maybe make a joint inventory to maximise what we can both provide for that aspect of the work. i will be bringing an inverted microscope with camera and various general things like disposable pipettes, sample pots and petri dishes.

i look forward to seeing your electromagnetic devices... can you tell me a little more about them?

andy

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4 Respuesta por Erika

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Re: garage astrobiology

Hi Andy and Jay,

I am attending Interactivos this year and I am looking to work on the 3-D printer project of Zach's but I find both your projects interesting as well. I am an electronics artist and I work with sensors, software, microcontrollers, sound and video. Maybe I can be collaborate with you two as well?

Erika Lincoln

Erika Lincoln
Electronic Media Artisit
http://lincolnlab.net

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi, everybody

this is one of the colaborators provided by interactivos this year.
i am an sculptor and i will try to help you whit the projects it terms of physical world; the guy with the work-shop (drilling, cutting, welding and the long etc.)
i just want to ask if you guys have and idea of the shape that you want to give to your pieces ir order to dislay them.
any drawings?
Andy, i read that your project involves experimenting with electromagnets in a way related with data coming from deep space probes. so, should i guess that it is information about magnetic fields in the outher space?
if yes, do we have also information about the ligth conditions? i just was thinking in how fun will be experimentting with petri dishes iluminated by some amounts of UV or laser or plain halogen ligth! and the very cool display scenarios that this will give.
i am also thinking in a way to visualice the magnetic fields from the electromagnets afecting the microcultures, in order to make them evidents to the eye, ...just in case.
i have been making some research in the preparation of sterile mediums and micelium and bacteria propagation. i will bring with me a DIY glove-box and a pressure-cocker and some lab-ware. also, i am thinking to set a biological laboratory in a corner of the big space where interactivos take place, separated by a plastic layer, and, hopefully, with a filtered air intake. contamination, in my experience, is the n1 public enemy when it comes to play with living samples in petry dishes.

there is a lot of knowledge to share inbetween your proyects and the fruit-computer prototipe that is also selected this year, and i am shure that it will be very fun messing all together.
first stop, once you get madrid, will be a visit to "viuda e hijos de Manuel Riesgo", wich is the coolest drugshop in town. you can get there all kinds of art pigments, chemicals, reactives, solvents and a variety of lab equipment, specially glassware, at razonable prices.

more soon...
carlos

6 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

erika - you'd be more than welcome. i'd love to see and hear some of your ideas.

carlos - that all sounds very exciting. i love the idea of a lab corner. i'm about to give a presentation so i'll give you a better reply after the weekend.

andy

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7 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi again carlos - here's the longer response i promised you...

carlos-corpa escribio:

i just want to ask if you guys have and idea of the shape that you want to give to your pieces ir order to dislay them.
any drawings?

i don't have any vision for a shape of the piece... in fact i don't really have a vision of a piece. i'm imagining a series of experiments and maybe constructing things in a modular fashion so we can move components around between experiments. having said that though it would be great to have access/ability to cut and work with sheet plastic, metal and wood so that some structural work can be done.

carlos-corpa escribio:

Andy, i read that your project involves experimenting with electromagnets in a way related with data coming from deep space probes. so, should i guess that it is information about magnetic fields in the outher space?
if yes, do we have also information about the ligth conditions? i just was thinking in how fun will be experimentting with petri dishes iluminated by some amounts of UV or laser or plain halogen ligth! and the very cool display scenarios that this will give.

my own project that this experiment is based on is concerned with acquiring data from deep space probes. however for interactivos i planned to concentrate solely on the 'business end' where the organisms and emf meet. the larger project will also deal with other probe sensor and camera information so things like light, heat and image will play a part too. i'm more than happy to push the experiment for interactivos past just emf and play with light, heat or even chemical change aswell if possible.

carlos-corpa escribio:

i am also thinking in a way to visualice the magnetic fields from the electromagnets afecting the microcultures, in order to make them evidents to the eye, ...just in case.
i have been making some research in the preparation of sterile mediums and micelium and bacteria propagation. i will bring with me a DIY glove-box and a pressure-cocker and some lab-ware. also, i am thinking to set a biological laboratory in a corner of the big space where interactivos take place, separated by a plastic layer, and, hopefully, with a filtered air intake. contamination, in my experience, is the n1 public enemy when it comes to play with living samples in petry dishes.

with certain species of microbes the movement of magnetotactic organisms should be visible with a microscope, if the scope has a camera attached we can then get that image into software and being to do things that way. or we can just sit back and enjoy the show big_smile.

its great to hear that you are bringing some lab gear and some lab know-how. i was thinking that making stuff like DIY laminar flow hoods, nematode traps and sterilisers would be a fun day or two and the more i think about it the more i like the idea of trying to knock together a few microscopes such as the ones on the instructables site. if we can scavenge some usb cams or old ccd ones then we can really do some fun work with imaging the changes in the cultures. i will be bringing my own inverted biological microscope - it has magnification up to 400x and i have a camera which plugs into it too.

a lab corner sounds an excellent idea - partly yo keep contaminants away from the samples and partly to keep the wet stuff away from stuff that is better off staying dry. and away from bocatas that don't need any extra ingredients!! to be honest though, i'm not too worried about keeping completely clean, anexic cultures for these experiments, it shouldn't make too much difference to the way the organisms behave if there are one of two other things in there aswell.

carlos-corpa escribio:

first stop, once you get madrid, will be a visit to "viuda e hijos de Manuel Riesgo", wich is the coolest drugshop in town. you can get there all kinds of art pigments, chemicals, reactives, solvents and a variety of lab equipment, specially glassware, at razonable prices.

this place sounds like heaven!! i was planning to get hold of some plastic pipettes, sample pots and petri dishes from ebay before coming over. do you think it might be possible to pick them up from here on the first day?

carlos-corpa escribio:

more soon...
carlos

likewise....


andy

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Re: garage astrobiology

hello andy,

all rigth, i understand a bit better your project now.
first of all, yes: you can have the material at the wonder drug shop right away, the first day if needed. i use to have there glass stuff but i am shure they carry plasticware too. but maybe ebay prices will be better... i have no idea.

i want to make also some research in order to find a good deal in chineese binoculars (the big ones) and in used b/w photo enlargers to get some material to start the microscope frenzy. webcams will be out of the shelf, so we can pick them once we decide how many ´scopes do we need. but i am totally for the idea of capturing the images to digital and visualizing the changes in the conditions trough the behaviour of the creatures.
sounds really really fun.

i need to ask to the guys at the medialab about the feasibity of doing such a separated-by-plastic lab.
basicaly, in my mind a saw it like a big bag (a really big one) attached to the floor and sealing, and  presurized by an filtered air intake and with a plastic door wich keeps shut by the force of the inside air. will see...

another issue will be the temperature... wich one is the best for the propagation of your creatures?
this space uses to be pretty warm during daytime (very hot, actually) but i dont know what happends in the night or during weekends. in any event, it will be no big deal to make an incubator, or probabibly just setting an electric heater in our lab will keep them happy and fast growing. by the  way, what kind of media do you use in the petri dishes? agar-related? liquid? it is nice to ear that total sterilyzation is not necesary for your experiment. when i was messing with micelium, trying to isolate healthy strains to mix them, it was critical to keep only the desired living stuff inside the petri dish. i did ruin many many cultures to get this lesson... hmm

...continuara...

carlos

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi again,
this is the drugshop´s website

http://www.manuelriesgo.com/

maybe you can check if they have what you need, just in case. it will be very annoying to loose time for the lack of materials...

10 Respuesta por hostprods

  • Desde: gijon
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Re: garage astrobiology

hey carlos


i had a look at their website. the place looks fantastic and they have a wonderful selection of chemicals, resins and additives which i'm sure will come in useful - but i didn't see any lab ware. i think i'll play it safe and bring slides, pippettes and petri dishes with me at least.

temperature shouldn't be a problem either as long as we can avoid extremes of heat or cold. i'm going to focus on tough organisms especially for the reasons of not having to create controlled environments. who will provide the plastic sheets and fans to build the lab tent?

ultima edicion por hostprods (13-01-2009 11:34:36)

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Re: garage astrobiology

i will bring the materials for the bubble, and will try to have it ready before you guys arrives in madrid, so we dont loose the amount of time of finding the materials and constructing the thing.
abouth Riesgo, i am shure they sell labware cause i bought a few things in there.
ej. glass petri dishes 15 mm diameter = 2 euros each...
but if you have the stuff and want to carry it with you, this is always a safer option.

12 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

i'm going to bring along plastic petri dishes, plastic 3ml pipettes and maybe some 1ml pipettes, sample pots, slides, cover slips and various test tubes and a few glass vessels. i'm planning on having stuff there to build a couple of DIY laminar hoods, Baermann funnels and hopefully the microscopes. Something else that would be really useful would be some laboratory stands and clamps... or maybe we could just hack some if there are a few basic materials lying about.

or maybe we can get zach and his team to print us some... smile

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13 Respuesta por Erika

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Re: garage astrobiology

I think having the printing team build some of your mats is a great idea!

Erika Lincoln
Electronic Media Artisit
http://lincolnlab.net

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14 Respuesta por andrz

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Re: garage astrobiology

hello all of you

i'm anders, a norwegian artist that recently moved to madrid. i really would like to take part of this mutation between sound of science and garage astrobiology. originally i work with theatre and performance stuff, but i have done things in max and other sound/video programs....

15 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi anders

welcome aboard. i use a lot of max myself - or at least i used to. its been a while i'm probably a bit rusty now. anyways, we'll probably switch between max/jitter and pd for most of the visual work we do. maybe even a bit of processing too... who knows??

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16 Respuesta por dusjagr

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi andy et al,

i am marc aka dusjagr and i'll join your workshop! really looking forward to meet you guys. the topic perfectly fits my current activities.

i am a scientist, with a background in material science and biointerfaces. i used to develop a platform of micro- and nanotechnologies for the cultivation of mammalian cells and i am currently teaching micro/nanosystems for lifescience. see my research page here:
http://www.dusseiller.ch/labs/?page_id=90

here is a great and ancient article about the growth of mammalian cells outside of an organsism:
http://jem.rupress.org/cgi/content/abstract/15/5/516

maybe i can also find some old stuff from julius petri

i am working in an university for life sciences, so let me know if i can organize some lab equipment, plasticware, pipettes, flasks, etc...

about me:
Marc R. Dusseiller (CH)
Marc R. Dusseiller (Swiss Mechtronic Art Society) is a scientist, lecturer, artist, and works in an integratal way to combine science, art and education. He performs DIY-workshops in lo-fi electronics, music and robotics, has made various short movies and is currently developing means to perform biological science (mammalian cell culture, microfluidics, DNA synthesis) in a DIY fashion in your kitchen or your atelier.
keywords: DIY electronics, cell culture, tissue engineering, biointerfaces, hybrid devices, nanomedicine

17 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi marc - great to hear from you. i think your experience will be a really big help to the workshop, your work with biointerfaces sounds very interesting.

i just ordered a bunch of plastic petri dishes, 1ml pipettes, microscope slides, cover slips and sample pots. things i haven't got yet is stuff like parafilm, sterile wipes, lab gloves etc etc - i'm not sure it'll be essential but you never know. of course, if there are some things you'd like to play with yourself then bring them along.

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18 Respuesta por dusjagr

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Re: garage astrobiology

hostprods escribio:

i just ordered a bunch of plastic petri dishes, 1ml pipettes, microscope slides, cover slips and sample pots. things i haven't got yet is stuff like parafilm, sterile wipes, lab gloves etc etc - i'm not sure it'll be essential but you never know. of course, if there are some things you'd like to play with yourself then bring them along.

just let me know before the 27th and ill go and nick some of the labs in basel....

19 Respuesta por Tobie

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Re: garage astrobiology

hi Andy & Mark, and all astrobiologists!

it was great to meet and hear about this project in particular, exciting stuff.

I'm back in UK, so I'll have to make do with hearing about how things develop things from afar - I've just been looking at images on Flickr, looks like things are busy!

Speak soon

cheers,
Tobie

20 Respuesta por hostprods

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Re: garage astrobiology

hey tobie

sorry for the delay in replying - i haven't looked at the forum for a few days. it was good to meet you to - we should keep in touch. look out for the documentation on how this crazy project ends up!! i set up a flickr account for our project with the user name astro_bio - there's not much yet but it should have stuff more specific to this project than other flickr groups from interactivos.

all the best


andy

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21 Respuesta por kazude123

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Re: garage astrobiology

源頼光
銀魂
けいおん!

ultima edicion por kazude123 (08-04-2010 02:30:16)