Neuroscience, Games, Zebrafish: Life changing discoveries

Neuroscience, Games, Zebrafish: Life changing discoveries

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The power of interdisciplinary collaboration and observations from nature for life changing discoveries

The Arts, Sciences, Engineering, and Nature: A game to help neuroscience research, a fish to help cure diseases, fascinating findings from  “The Koch Institute Public Galleries”

During a recent trip to Massachusetts, I had a couple of hours to stroll around Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)  and was fascinated with my findings. Walking on Main Street, I saw art work displayed with striking colors through the window and decided to check it out. It turned out to be what is known as “The Koch Institute Public Galleries”.

The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, located at the MIT campus, is a cancer research center with multidisciplinary researchers from across biology, chemistry, mechanical engineering, material science, and other disciplines.

The Koch Institute Public Galleries displays striking images of cutting edge science and technological innovations in cancer research. They closely show the connection of art, nature, and technology and demonstrate the significant role that nature plays for life changing discoveries and innovations. Did you know that studying a tropical freshwater minnow known as the Zebrafish can help identify genetic conditions that lead to cures for devastating diseases such as cancer?

Here are some of my favorite pieces from the gallery.


Pathways of nerve fibers through the brain in three dimensions

Pathways of nerve fibers

Zeynep Saygin, Kanwisher Laboratory, MIT Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences

This image shows the pathways of nerve fibers through the brain in three dimensions; up/down in blue, front/back in green, left/right in red. Studying these maps of connectivity, helps researchers understand healthy brain development and enable earlier diagnosis and interventions for conditions such as autism and dyslexia.


 A game for mapping the 3D structure of our neurons


Alex Norton for EyeWire Seung Laboratory, MIT Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and MIT Media Lab

This image shows ganglion cells in the retina generated from EyeWire. EyeWire is a game for mapping the 3D structure of our neurons built by researchers from Seung Lab at MIT. This way, anyone, anywhere in the world with no background in neuroscience can participate in this game and contribute to neuroscience research. This heeyewirelps researchers discover how neurons connect and network to process information. In order to study and look at structure of neurons, researchers have to analyze many images, and need human intelligence to help analyze the images. The player starts with a segment of a neuron and is tasked to find the rest of the neuron.



A fish that can help identify genetic conditions that lead to cures for cancer and muscular diseases


Annie Cavanagh, David McCarthy School of Pharmacy University College London

Did you know that studying a tropical freshwater minnow known as the zebrafish can help identify genetic conditions that lead to cures for devastating diseases such as cancer?

In fact, It shares 70% of our genetic code, it is transparent and can repair its own heart!

By mapping the zebrafish genome and studying irregularities in their development, researchers have been able to create models of how vertebrates develop, and identify genetic conditions that lead to diseases such as cancer. This image shows a false-color scanning electron micrograph of a zebrafish embryo.

Climate Change:  A conversation with NASA climate scientist,     Dr. Joshua Fisher


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Toxic oceans, animals dissolving in the ocean, and lungs of the planet dying from droughts. Futuristic vision for a giant vacuum sucking in CO2: A conversation with NASA climate scientist, Dr. Joshua Fisher

Climate change is real, it affects all life on our planet and has already destroyed life of many living organisms and animals. Hot and toxic oceans, massive death of sea birds, and animals dissolving in the ocean including the ones with the potential to cure diseases. We need awareness from individuals of all backgrounds, artists, scientists, engineers, historians, entrepreneurs, inventors , and immediate action of the world leaders and policy makers to take your vision and skills and discover innovative ways to help fight climate change.


I had the opportunity to meet Dr. Joshua Fisher, a Climate Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), at a University of Oxford Alumni event in Los Angeles where he presented his research on climate change. His outstanding presentation inspired me to arrange an interview with him about this world changing phenomenon. Here are Dr. Fisher’s views on the history and causes, current severe impacts on life, potential future impacts, current technologies as well as futuristic technologies that can help adapt to and mitigate impacts of climate change, and actions from the individuals to the governmental levels that can help fight climate change.


plan cul 53 Can you tell me a little about what you do at JPL?

I am a Climate Scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). My specific focus is on land, though I work closely with the atmospheric and ocean scientists too. This means, I work on anything to do with ecosystems, forests, soils, water, droughts, carbon, and nutrients. I use satellites to observe what’s going on, models to predict responses and changes, and I lead field campaigns into places as remote as the Amazon and Arctic.

Actually, on one expedition into the Amazon, I brought along with me a group of artists (Cape Farewell) to interface with the science. I’m very much into the science–art connection—my mom is an artist and my dad is a scientist, so it’s in my blood. The objectives of ANTXplore align well with this. kostenlos erfahrungen What are the primary causes of climate change?

Earth’s climate has changed ever since the beginning of Earth. The temperature goes up and down, and up and down. There are minor squiggles in the major cycling. Every 100,000 years or so the Earth is a bit closer to the sun, making the Earth hotter, and every 100,000 years the Earth is a bit farther from the sun. This ‘eccentricity’ causes some of those ups and downs. Every 11 years or so the sun gets hotter, and every 11 years the sun gets cooler. That causes some more bumps and squiggles in the temperature history of the Earth. Sometimes the oceans absorb a lot of the heat for a while—but it’s only temporary because then they belch out that heat in giant storms. Sometimes there are enormous volcanoes that cause minor blips in the record. These are all the reasons that the Earth historically has had climate changes.

This has changed recently, however. Over the last 400,000 years the temperature of the Earth has gone up and down—but within historical bounds. Recently, we’ve gone outside those bounds. WAY outside those bounds. We are headed for a temperature on Earth not seen for hundreds of thousands of years. The temperature has shot up, in line with the explosive population growth of the past millennium, and also in line with the enormous rise in CO2 in the atmosphere.

Ever since we were cavepeople we’ve loved to burn stuff. Fire to keep us warm, cook our food; hotter fires to make our swords stronger, our cars faster. But, when we see that smoke rise to the sky, along with it is CO2. We have also been sending up CH4 and N2O, all potent greenhouse gases.

These greenhouse gases act as blankets on the planet—a good thing to have, otherwise we would be too cold. But, the more greenhouse gases we’ve been sending up, the more blankets we’ve been putting on the Earth, and we’re starting to over-heat.


celibataire cherche amour What is happening to the Amazon rainforests and how is it impacting climate change?

The Amazon rainforest is often called the ‘Lungs of the Planet’. It breathes in the CO2 we breathe out, and it breathes out the oxygen we breathe in. The Amazon pump influences global weather and water and carbon cycling. It is home to the largest biodiversity on the planet.

All this heat we’re trapping is accelerating the water cycle. We’re getting more intense and frequent droughts and floods. Climate models are predicting the Amazon to dieback in the face of increasing droughts. This is very worrisome, to think of the lungs of the planet of dying back. But, these are just models—what do we actually see going on? In 2005, the biggest drought in the history of records hit the Amazon. We went in on the ground and found that the forest was indeed dying in this drought—reversing this carbon pump into an overall CO2 exporter: it was breathing (or, coughing) out more CO2 than it was breathing in! Okay, this is one drought. Models said there would be more droughts. Sure enough, 5 years later in 2010, an even bigger drought hit the Amazon. We’re starting to see these model predictions play out before our eyes.


dating a goldman sachs analyst How is climate change affecting life on Earth right now, plants, animals, bacteria, etc…?

Life is adaptable, but there are conditions more conducive to life, and conditions less conducive to life. The overall temperature of the Earth is something that life has seen before. But, this rate of change is happening so fast—much faster than has ever been seen before by any species today. Usually, life has time to adapt and evolve to catch up. In this case, it is struggling.

We traversed the Andean cloud-forests to determine if Amazonian species were moving up-slope to escape the heat. We found that they indeed were, at rates faster than ever imagined, like a bat out of Hell. The scary thing was that they were not moving fast enough to keep up with the hyper-accelerated rate of climate change.

In the cold North, where there happens to be a lot more land, the warming temperatures are making it more conducive to life. We are seeing a greening of the northern hemisphere. This helps to draw down more CO2. But, the heat is also accelerating the decomposition of old, frozen plant material, which send CO2 back up to the atmosphere. It’s also thawing back permafrost in the Arctic, under which is trapped millennia worth of carbon that is coming out as CH4—a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2.

What else is happening? Well, a lot of that CO2 we’re sending up is dissolving into the ocean, making the water more like acidic carbonated soda water—not good for your teeth. Any life with a shell, which is made out of similar stuff as is your teeth, is getting hit. Animals are already dissolving in the ocean. This is kind of a big deal because, for example, scientists recently discovered a potential anti-HIV protein in corals, which we’re losing.


dating der bekanntschaften I try this website f things remain the way they are, what are your predictions about the impacts on future life on the planet?

Life will be fine under climate change. Cockroaches will thrive in the destruction. But, we care about us, not cockroaches. What’s going to happen to people? If you think about human evolution, we (Homo Sapiens) emerged around 200,000 BCE after a lengthy process of evolution—our brains grew in size and complexity, and we built and used tools. But, civilization didn’t take off until 10,000 BCE during the Neolithic Age, or the Agricultural Revolution. This begs the question, what happened between 200,000 and 10,000 BCE? Why didn’t we make civilization 50,000 years ago? Well, the climate was so unstable that every time you had the beginning of a culture they had to move. Then, came a period of 10,000 years of stable climate. The perfect conditions for agriculture.

Civilizations in Persia, China, India start at the same time, around 6,000 years ago. They all developed writing, religion, and built cities because the climate was stable.

We live not only in a precious place in the universe with the rare conditions for life, but also in a precious time in history where human life can thrive. We are currently on our way out of that stability. We cannot simply pick up civilization and move with an erratic climate.


check my reference What can everyday people do now to fight climate change and mitigate impacts?

We need action from the individual to the governmental levels. How do we get this done?

  • Speak Up.
    • Challenge denial and fake “science”.
    • Use social and traditional media to get the word out (call TV/radio stations, write to Editors)
  • Behavior.
    • Understand consumer choices in terms of environmental impact and energy use—choose options that reduce energy use.
  • Laws.
    • Make sure your political leaders know this matters to you—calls and emails
    • More subsidies for environmental options such as solar panels, plug-in cars, renewable energy sources to phase out coal/oil.
    • Fewer subsidies on oil/coal.
  • Empowerment and education of women, especially in developing countries. Statistics show that population growth is more steady and less explosive when women are more educated and protected with greater rights and freedoms.


south america dating Do you see drones and smart robotic systems as potential technologies that could help fight climate change?  If so what are some of the applications?

We’re using drones and robots at NASA to help adapt to climate change. We can use them to closely monitor agricultural fields and to identify when and where crops need water and nutrients.

Many people consider geoengineering solutions to fight climate change. These fall along 2 lines: solar radiation management (space mirrors, paint roofs white, spray aerosols everywhere) or CO2 removal (giant sky vacuums, ocean iron fertilization). Geoengineering is largely untested because they are huge and costly options, with potential very disastrous side effects.


see page What technological tools are currently used to study and fight climate change?

From an observational standpoint, that’s where NASA shines. We’re developing the technology to monitor the health of the planet.

The technology needed to reduce carbon emissions is simple and already developed. This ranges from solar panels, windmills, geothermal, and tidal energy generation to mass transit. Germany is already putting solar panels on every townhouse, boathouse, and outhouse in their country, and they don’t get a lot of sunlight. China is the leading producer of solar panels. The US is lagging far behind. We are continuing to send money to the Middle East for oil, a lot of that money is going to terrorists, and we’re spending even more money on Defense to protect our oil interests. We don’t have to do that.


sites totalement gratuit de rencontres If we had no limits in technological capabilities in an imaginary world, what are some technologies that would be on your wish list to help fight climate change and reduce impacts?

If there were no limits, then some of the costly geoengineering ideas could work. We could indeed imagine a giant vacuum sucking in CO2, and alongside it would be the technology to store that CO2 somewhere where it could not escape. All without requiring energy, money, or safety concerns. There’s no indication that could ever happen, but it looks good on paper.


Anything else you would like to add?

Check out , to tackle any climate denier talking points you may come across.


Image Credits: Planet 2.0 by Azi Sharif, Phd; Oil on Canvas, 48 x 36, Oil on Canvas 60 x 24

What is common in painting a picture and building a robot?

What is common in painting a picture and building a robot?

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“Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.” – Leonardo Da Vinci

Have you ever wondered why there is such a disconnection in today’s society between art and science? During my grad school when I studied computer science and throughout my entire career in technology, people were always surprised to discover that I am an artist and my BA is in fine arts. The general view was that art and science belonged to two completely different worlds. Even today, there is this assumption that if you are an artist, you can’t possibly be good in math and science and vice versa. Throughout the history most scientists and inventors were also artists. In fact during the Renaissance, the study of art and science were not perceived as mutually exclusive; they were considered as complimentary. Leonardo Da Vinci was amazingly gifted with the ability to see this, closely observed the natural world around him, and created both scientific inventions and marvelous pieces of creative arts. Albert Einstein, not only he was a genius scientist of the 20th century, but he was also a gifted musician and a talented violinist.

The reason for such a close connection between art, science, and technology is that all three of them stem from nature and creation of all requires imagination and vision; in other words, the key to art, science, and technology is creativity, imagination, and the ability to see. As we are driving on the road, some of us see the street and trees around it, some of us notice the type of tree’s, and some of us notice more details such as patterns of trees, smaller flowers, and even hawk’s and other wildlife sitting on the light pole or the trees. In the same way, the link between Art, Nature, and Technology is common sense for some of us and so foreign for others.

Finally, as much as painting needs brush and paint, building a robot requires algorithms and sensors; they both share the same procedure of researching, designing, implementing, and recreating. Thus, it is essential for future generations to be able to better see this connection, and realize the importance of nature as it is the core instigator of science and art.

Art. Nature. Technology.

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Art. Nature. Technology: Discover the Unexpected

Astonishing and unexpected discoveries can arise from interactions of art, nature, and technology. Inventors throughout the history discovered the world’s breakthroughs using their imagination and vision about the interactions of art, nature, and technology. In addition, many of the most fascinating technologies are inspired by behaviors in Nature, including one of my favorites which is the phenomenon of EMERGENCE found in nature, like in Ant Colonies. The idea of emergence has been known since the era of Aristotle; 2+2 > 4 when it comes to interactions and emergence. With an open mindset, through combining art, nature, technology, capital, and policy we can face any grand challenge.

The idea of each person having a distinct expertise, being a scientist, a mathematician, a doctor, or an artist has not been the case throughout history. In fact, during the Italian Renaissance era most philosophers acquired multi-disciplinary skills; they learned to be painters, sculptors, architects, musicians, mathematicians, engineers, inventors, anatomists, geologists, and writers. One of my favorite geniuses is Leonardo Da Vinci from the late 1400’s.

Did you know some of Da Vinci’s inventions, ideas, and designs include bicycle, scuba gear, a Robotic Knight, a self-propelled cart similar to the car, and a flying machine were inspired by birds?

“In order to arrive at knowledge of the motions of birds in the air, it is first necessary to acquire knowledge of the winds which we will prove by the motions of water in itself, and this knowledge will be a step enabling us to arrive at the knowledge of beings that fly between the air and the wind.” (Leonardo Da Vinci)

Technology through NatureAs far back as I can remember, I had a strong sense for details and behaviors in nature. When surfing I noticed sea birds in the water that appeared sick, when hiking I noticed snakes hiding under the bushes. When sitting in the car passing through mountains, I observed the patterns in the tree trunks and leaves and noticed hawks sitting on trees, those patterns later turned out to become parts of my doodles and drawings. As I studied Computer Science, I learned the concept of emergence in Systems Theory, where complex entities and properties arise through interactions among simpler entities that themselves do not exhibit such properties.

Have you ever encountered a trail of ants in your home? Every time you try to remove them, after a while the trail comes back in the same location.

Emergence is a well-known phenomenon found in nature as evidenced by the Ant Colonies. One ant by its own is simple and unable to perform complex tasks. When groups of ants, 50, 100, 1000 ants are together, astonishing and complex behaviors emerge. For example if they have a trail from their home to a food source and the trail is broken, at first they are lost, after a few seconds, they find the shortest path to home or food and re-form their trails. There is unlimited potential for applications of this concept in our lives and for solving big problems once technology can replicate the concept of emergence. Imagine swarms of small robots that can walk through a field for wildlife monitoring. Just imagine how problems that seem unsolvable could be solved once the technology is mature enough to develop a system as intelligent as the ant colony.

I also used Emergence as an inspiration for some of my paintings. By using many tiny dots inside shapes, I create complex and unexpected patterns.

This is just one example of a behavior found in nature that can be used to develop technologies that transform the world and inspire artists for their next art project. Possibilities are endless with interaction of art, nature, and technology!

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