A Gaming System Starring... Microbes

Pac-Man, but with microbes

By Daniel Grushkin

Ed Reschke/Getty Images

Videogames may seem like the last place for fruitful work in biotechnology, but Stanford University bioengineer Ingmar Riedel-Kruse has reinvented 1980s classics to enlist living microbes. His custom electronics and augmented-reality software coax microorganisms to play key roles in Pac-Man, Brick Breaker, and other reimagined 8-bit titles. Here’s a look at how Riedel-Kruse’s rig works.

1) Micro-avatar 

Riedel-Kruse uses single-celled protozoans called paramecia that typically live in ponds. Changes in an electrical field can cause some species to alter their steering (a behavior called galvanotaxis). The microbes selected for the videogames swim toward electricity using cilia that cover their bodies.

2) Remote-control microbes

A shallow, thumbnail-size chamber with a glass bottom corrals the paramecia. Electrodes lining the chamber’s edges are wired to a controller with an omnidirectional button. Pushing it left, for example, induces an electric field that guides the paramecia like a remote-controlled swarm toward the left electrode.*

3) Live broadcast

Each paramecium appears as a speck to the naked eye, but a webcam paired with a 5x-to-10x magnifying lens displays the microorganisms clearly on a monitor. The camera is fixed above the chamber, with LEDs for illumination.

4) Virtual interface

Object-detecting software turns the physical setup into a game by locating paramecia as they move around the chamber. Meanwhile, a video overlay enables the organisms to interact with digital images. In the game PAC-mecium, microbes “eat” pellets as they swim past them, and in soccer they “kick” the ball when they come into contact with its cartoon image.

Time: 60 hours

Cost: $60

* Hobbyist Geva Patz made his own version of Riedel-Kruse’s gaming console with laser-cut acrylic, pencil lead, and copper tape. It uses an electroencephalogram headset for a controller, allowing players to direct microbes with their thoughts.

This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of Popular Science.

Source : http://www.popsci.com/article/gadgets/gaming-system-starring-microbes?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=6&con=a-gaming-system-starring-microbes

Lost At Sea? Survive With These Tricks

A handy manual to prepare you for life's misadventures. 

By Jia You

Illustrations by Chris Philpot

Jose Salvador Alvarenga was fishing off the coast of Mexico in late 2012 when a powerful storm sent his boat adrift. Marshall Islanders found the battered vessel nearly 16 months later, stuck on a reef—with Alvarenga still alive inside. Rainwater and a diet of fish and turtle sustained him (or so he told the press). Curious how DIY savvy could stave off disaster, we asked Frances and Michael Howorth, authors of The Sea Survival Manual, for advice. 

Shelter: Don’t discard any clothing; multiple layers can keep you warm during cold nights. On hot days, drape or prop clothes overhead.

Water: Never drink seawater. If you have a raincoat, detach the hood and use it to catch and store rainwater. Plastic bags and rain boots also make excellent containers. Always rinse them with the first raindrops to wash away salt from sea spray.

Food: A boat’s shadow can attract fish. To catch them, string jewelry into a lure. (Pieces from a smartphone can work too.) Shoelaces or unraveled sock threads can serve as fishing line. Save any uneaten bits for bait.

Rescue: Relax and find familiar shapes in clouds to ease boredom—and keep an eye out for planes and ships. If you spot one, use a pocket mirror or a smartphone screen to reflect sunlight. The signal can be seen up to 10 miles away on a sunny day.

For more sea-survival tips, head to the Howorths’ website, thehoworths.com.

WARNING: Use these methods as last resorts. If they don’t work, direct your complaints toididnotsurvive@popsci.com.

This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of Popular Science.

Source : http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/lost-sea-survive-these-tricks?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=5&con=lost-at-sea-survive-with-these-tricks

Google Will Deploy $1 Billion Worth Of Satellites To Spread Internet Access

Silicon Valley's latest frontier is the edge of space itself.

By Kelsey D. Atherton

O3b Satellites mounted to launch dispenser 

Google recently hired O3b Networks Ltd's founder and chief technology officer. This is the kind of satellite they make. 

O3b Networks Ltd

The tubes that make up the internet cover much of the world, but not all of it. Google has announced plans to get internet to where the tubes can't reach, with three technologies: balloons,high-altitude solar-powered drones, and the latest, satellites in space.

Google would not be the first to use satellites to cover the earth in internet. The early dotcom boom of the late 1990s saw companies like Iridium, Globalstar, and Teledisc market satellite phones and promise internet service, but most failed or declared bankruptcy in the face of tremendous initial costs and poor management. In 2010, the Pentagon tested routing internetthrough a satellite. Google's own satellite team will be headed by eminent alumni of satellite internet company O3b.

It is too soon to say whether Google's balloons, drones, or satellites will successfully expand internet access to the parts of the world without it. Whichever works, it is clear that Google is willing to go to the edge of space and beyond to spread the internet beyond the terrestrial tyranny of tubes.

Source : http://www.popsci.com/article/technology/google-will-deploy-1-billion-worth-satellites-spread-internet-access?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=2&con=google-will-deploy-1-billion-worth-of-satellites-to-spread-internet-access

A Robotic Suit Good Enough To Deceive A Decepticon

Gear up with this big boy for the upcoming Transformers movie

By Gregory Mone

More than meets the eye. 

When De Repentigny speaks, his voice is modulated and amplified. The sound also causes the suit’s mouth to move, so it appears as though his robo-double is doing the talking. 

Photograph by Marc De Repentigny

Marc De Repentigny was only trying to be responsible when he built an 80-pound, seven-foot-tall motorized Transformers suit. Married with kids, he decided to audition for a French-Canadian game show that offered a chance at prize money to the most unusual contestants. De Repentigny molded styrene plastic into armored paneling, made motorized LED eyes, and spent months perfecting realistic-looking thrusters. A servomotor in the thrusters triggers a puff of compressed air and a flashing LED light, making the robot appear ready to blast off. His arms slip into the robot’s wide shoulders, and his hands reach into the bot’s elbows, where buttons let him activate the motorized fingers and faceplate. The suit doesn’t transform into a jet, but it did get De Repentigny on the game show—where he won $128,500. Next he plans to be first in line for Transformers: Age of Extinction, just not while wearing the suit. “I couldn’t sit down!” he says. “I’d have to watch the movie standing up.” 

Time: 2 years

Cost: $1,500

This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of Popular Science.

Source : http://www.popsci.com/article/gadgets/robotic-suit-good-enough-deceive-decepticon?dom=PSC&loc=recent&lnk=10&con=a-robotic-suit-good-enough-to-deceive-a-decepticon