Big Picture Science for Monday 13 October 2014 - Who's Controlling Whom?

Big Picture Science - Who's Controlling Whom?

A single ant isn’t very brainy. But a group of ants can do remarkable things. Biological swarm behavior is one model for the next generation of tiny robots. Of course, biology can get hijacked: a fungus can seize control of an ant’s brain, for example. So will humans always remain the boss of super-smart, swarming machines?

We discuss the biology of zombie ants and how to build robots that self-assemble and work together. Also, how to guarantee the moral behavior of future ‘bots.

And, do you crave cupcakes? Research suggests that gut bacteria control what we eat and how we feel.

Guests:

• David Hughes – Biologist, entomologist, Penn State University
• Mike Rubenstein – Roboticist, Self-Organizing Systems Research Group, Harvard University
• Wendell Wallach – Bioethicist, chair, Technology and Ethics Study Group, Yale University’s Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics
• Athena Aktipis – Cooperation theorist, Arizona State University and director of Human and Social Evolution, Center for Evolution and Cancer, University of California, San Francisco

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Who_s_Controlling_Whom_

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for 09/01/14 - Welcome to our Labor-atory

Big Picture Science - Welcome to our Labor-atory

ENCORE: Hi ho, hi ho … it’s out with work we go! As you relax this holiday weekend, step into our labor-atory and imagine a world with no work allowed. Soft robots help us with tasks at home and at the office, while driverless cars allow us to catch ZZZZs in the front seat.

Plus, the Internet of Everything interconnects all your devices, from your toaster to your roaster to … you. So there’s no need to ever get off the couch. But is a machine-ruled world a true utopia?

And, the invention that got us into our 24/7 rat race: Edison’s electric light.

Guests:

• Barry Trimmer – Professor of biology, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering at Tufts University, and editor-in-chief, Soft Robotics
• Red Whittaker – Roboticist at Carnegie Mellon University
• Ernest Freeberg – Historian, University of Tennessee, and author of The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America
• Rob Chandhok – Computer scientist, president of Qualcomm Interactive Platforms
• Andre Bormanis – Television writer, producer, screenwriter and science advisor to Star Trek and

This encore podcast was first released on August 26, 2013

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Welcome_to_Our_Labor_atory

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for 03/10/14 - We Heart Robots

Big Picture Science - We Heart Robots

ENCORE: The machines are coming! Meet the prototypes of your future robot buddies and discover how you may come to love a hunk of hardware. From telerobots that are your mechanical avatars … to automated systems for the disabled … and artificial hands that can diffuse bombs.

Plus, the ethics of advanced robotics: should life-or-death decisions be automated?

And, a biologist uses robo-fish to understand evolution.

Guests:

• Illah Nourbakhsh – Professor of robotics, Carnegie Mellon University, author of Robot Futures. Check out his Robot Futures blog.
• Marco Mascorro – Vice President of Hardware, 9^th Sense Robotics, Mountain View, California
• Curt Salisbury – Mechanical engineer, senior member, technical staff, Sandia National Laboratories
• Joe Karnicky – Retired engineer, Menlo Park, California. Videos of his gadgetry can be found at the bottom of this page.
• John Long – Professor of biology and cognitive science at Vassar College and the author of Darwin’s Devices: What Evolving Robots Can Teach Us About the History of Life and the Future of Technology

This encore podcast was first released on January 21, 2013

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/We_Heart_Robots

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for 05/06/13 - Stomach This

Big Picture Science - Stomach This

Not all conversation is appropriate for the dinner table – and that includes, strangely enough, the subject of eating. Yet what happens during the time that food enters our mouth and its grand exit is a model of efficiency and adaptation.

Author Mary Roach takes us on a tour of the alimentary canal, while a researcher describes his invention of an artificial stomach. Plus, a psychologist on why we find certain foods and smells disgusting.

And, you don’t eat them but they could wiggle their way within nonetheless: surgical snakebots.

Guests:

• Mary Roach – Author, most recently, of Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
• Martin Wickham – Head of Nutrition, Leatherhead Food Research, U.K.
• Paul Rozin – Professor of psychology, University of Pennsylvania
• Michael Gershon – Professor in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center
• Howie Choset – Professor of robotics at Carnegie Mellon University

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/Stomach_This

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for 01/21/13 - We Heart Robots

Big Picture Science - We Heart Robots

The machines are coming! Meet the prototypes of your future robot buddies and discover how you may come to love a hunk of hardware. From telerobots that are your mechanical avatars … to automated systems for the disabled … and artifical hands that can diffuse bombs.

Plus, the ethics of advanced robotics: should life-or-death decisions be automated?

And, a biologist uses robo-fish to understand evolution.

Guests:

• Illah Nourbakhsh – Professor of robotics, Carnegie Mellon University, author of Robot Futures. Check out his Robot Future’s blog.
• Marco Mascorro – Vice President of Hardware, 9^th Sense Robotics, Mountain View, California
• Curt Salisbury – Mechanical engineer, senior member, technical staff, Sandia National Laboratories
• Joe Karnicky – Retired engineer, Menlo Park, California
• John Long – Professor of biology and cognitive science at Vassar College and the author of Darwin’s Devices: What Evolving Robots Can Teach Us About the History of Life and the Future of Technology

Permalink: http://radio.seti.org/episodes/We_Heart_Robots

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://radio.seti.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.