Monthly Archives: June 2022

Science Fuse: a STEM initiative for children in Pakistan and beyond

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A June 3, 2022 article by Abdullahi Tsanni for Nature journal features an interview with Lalah Rukh, founder of Science Fuse, a non-governmental agency dedicated to STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education for youth and which is located in Lahore, Pakistan, Note: Links have been removed,

My interest in science began when I was 12, after reading an article about personalized medicine in a children’s magazine published by a leading newspaper in Pakistan. I was fascinated by this idea, and I cut out the article and pasted it by my bedside so that I could see it every morning when I woke up.

In 2003, I moved back to Norway, where I was born, and studied molecular biology and biotechnology at university. But I realized that I didn’t enjoy doing science in the laboratory as much as I enjoyed engaging people with science. So, I joined Forskerfabrikken, a non-profit organization based in Oslo that encourages children to engage with science. We organized hands-on science programmes for schoolchildren. I worked there for five years as a science communicator, and I learnt about science engagement and social entrepreneurship. I discovered the core features that make for great small-scale school exhibits, and I saw how the organization established revenue streams and structures to expand its team and expertise across Norway. And I realized that science communication is where my passion truly lies.

…

In summer 2013, when I was in Pakistan to get married, I visited a small charity-run school for children living in one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Karachi. I did a 3-hour science workshop for the children with fun demonstrations — from creating giant bubbles to making beads that change colour under sunlight, and chemical reactions that make water ‘pop’. There were big smiles on the children’s faces and the experiments sparked their curiosity. It felt more meaningful for me to do this kind of work in Pakistan. Since 2016, Science Fuse has reached more than 45,000 children, trained 650 teachers and nurtured a community of more than 200 science communicators. We have worked closely with about 250 schools and partner organizations to deliver world-class science education across the country.

…

In Pakistan, 44% of children are out of school, one of the highest percentages in the world — and the majority of those who do go to school attend low-income private or government schools. Many low-income families don’t have access to good-quality STEM education. …

Tsanni’s June 3, 2022 article is a short read that offers insight into STEM, youth, girls,and science in Pakistan, if you have the time.

Science Fuse creates posters featuring Pakistani women in science to break stereotypes and encourage children to follow their science passion.Credit: Sana Nasir, Maria Riaz & Sana Kirmani/Science Fuse [downloaded from https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-01566-6]

You can find Science Fuse here. At a guess, they, along with so many other groups, were affected by COVID and this interview in Nature is intended as a relaunch of their programmes. It’s good to see these initiatives coming back and, in the meantime, you can access their older (the most recent being from November 2020) ‘Incredible Questions of Science’ podcasts here or here at Anchor.fm.

H/t to Gary McFarlane (@GaryM) for his tweet about the interview.

Compact and affordable brain-computer interface (BCI)

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This device could help people with disabilities to regain control of their limbs or provide advance warnings of seizures to people with epilepsy and it’s all based on technology that is a century old.

A January 19, 2022 Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) press release (also on EurekAlert) provides details about the device (Note: A link has been removed),

Scientists from Skoltech, South Ural State University, and elsewhere have developed a device for recording brain activity that is more compact and affordable than the solutions currently on the market. With its high signal quality and customizable configuration, the device could help people with restricted mobility regain control of their limbs or provide advance warnings of an impending seizure to patients with epilepsy. The article presenting the device and testing results came out in Experimental Brain Research.

Researchers and medics, as well as engineers working on futuristic gadgets, need tools that measure brain activity. Among their scientific applications are research on sleep, decision-making, memory, and attention. In a clinical setting, these tools allow doctors to assess the extent of damage to an injured brain and monitor coma patients. Further down cyberpunk lane, brain signals can be translated into commands and sent to an external or implanted device, either to make up for lost functions in the body or for plain fun. The commands could range from moving the arm of an exoskeleton worn by a paralyzed person to turning on the TV.

Invented about a century ago, electroencephalographers are devices that read the electrical activity of the brain via small electrodes placed on the scalp. The recorded signals are then used for research, diagnostics, or gadgetry. The problem with the existing systems used in labs and hospitals is they are bulky and/or expensive. And even then, the number of electrodes is limited, resulting in moderate signal quality. Amateur devices tend to be more affordable, but with even poorer sensitivity.

To fill that gap, researchers from South Ural State University, North Carolina State University, and Brainflow — led by electronic research engineer Ildar Rakhmatulin and Skoltech neuroscientist Professor Mikhail Lebedev — created a device you can build for just $350, compared with the $1,000 or more you would need for currently available analogs. Besides being less expensive, the new electroencephalographer has as many as 24 electrodes or more. Importantly, it also provides research-grade signal quality. At half a centimeter in diameter (about 1/5 inches), the processing unit is compact enough to be worn throughout the day or during the night. The entire device weighs about 150 grams (about 5 ounces).

The researchers have made the instructions for building the device and the accompanying documentation and software openly available on GitHub. The team hopes this will attract more enthusiasts involved in brain-computer interface development, giving an impetus to support and rehabilitation system development, cognitive research, and pushing the geek community to come up with new futuristic gizmos.

“The more convenient and affordable such devices become, the more chances there are this would drive the home lab movement, with some of the research on brain-computer interfaces migrating from large science centers to small-scale amateur projects,” Lebedev said.

“Or we could see people with limited mobility using do-it-yourself interfaces to train, say, a smartphone-based system that would electrically stimulate a biceps to flex the arm at the elbow,” the researcher went on. “That works on someone who has lost control over their arm due to spinal cord trauma or a stroke, where the commands are still generated in the brain — they just don’t reach the limb, and that’s where our little brain-computer interfacing comes in.”

According to the team, such interfaces could also help patients with epilepsy by detecting tell-tale brain activity patterns that indicate when a seizure is imminent, so they can prepare by lying down comfortably in a safe space or attempting to suppress the seizure via electrical stimulation.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Low-cost brain computer interface for everyday use by Ildar Rakhmatulin, Andrey Parfenov, Zachary Traylor, Chang S. Nam & Mikhail Lebedev. Experimental Brain Research volume 239,Issue Date: December 2021, pages 3573–3583 (2021) DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-021-06231-4 Published online: 29 September 2021

This paper is behind a paywall.

You can find Brainflow here and this description on its homepage: “BrainFlow is a library intended to obtain, parse and analyze EEG, EMG, ECG and other kinds of data from biosensors.”

Art/Sci exhibit in Toronto, Canada: “These are a Few of Our Favourite Bees” June 22 – July 16, 2022

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A “These are a few of Our Favourite Bees” upcoming exhibitions notice on the Campbell House Museum website (also received via email as a June 4, 2022 ArtSci Salon announcement) features a month long exhibit being co-presented with the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto,

Exhibition
Campbell House Museum
June 22 – July 16, 2022
160 Queen Street W.

Opening event
Campbell House,
Saturday July 2,
2 – 4 p.m. [ET]

Artists’ Talk & Webcast
The Canadian Music Centre,
20 St. Joseph Street Toronto
Thursday, July 7
7:30 – 9 p.m. [ET]
(doors open 7 pm)

These are a Few of Our Favourite Bees investigates wild, native bees and their ecology through playful dioramas, video, audio, relief print and poetry. Inspired by lambe lambe – South American miniature puppet stages for a single viewer – four distinct dioramas convey surreal yet enlightening worlds where bees lounge in cozy environs, animals watch educational films [emphasis mine] and ethereal sounds animate bowls of berries (having been pollinated by their diverse bee visitors). Displays reminiscent of natural history museums invite close inspection, revealing minutiae of these tiny, diverse animals, our native bees. From thumb-sized to extremely tiny, fuzzy to hairless, black, yellow, red or emerald green, each native bee tells a story while her actions create the fruits of pollination, reflecting the perpetual dance of animals, plants and planet. With a special appearance by Toronto’s official bee, the jewelled green sweat bee, Agapostemon virescens!

These are a Few of Our Favourite Bees Collective are: Sarah Peebles, Ele Willoughby, Rob Cruickshank & Stephen Humphrey

 The Works

These are a Few of Our Favourite Bees

Sarah Peebles, Ele Willoughby, Rob Cruickshank & Stephen Humphrey

Single-viewer box theatres, dioramas, sculpture, textile art, macro video, audio transducers, poetry, insect specimens, relief print, objects, electronics, colour-coded DNA barcodes.

Bees represented: rusty-patched bumble bee (Bombus affinis); jewelled green sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens); masked sweat bee (Hylaeus annulatus); leafcutter bee (Megachile relativa)

In the Landscape

Ele Willoughby & Sarah Peebles

paper, relief print, video projection, audio, audio cable, mixed media

Bee specimens & bee barcodes generously provided by Laurence Packer – Packer Lab, York University; Scott MacIvor – BUGS Lab, U-T [University of Toronto] Scarborough; Sam Droege – USGS [US Geological Survey]; Barcode of Life Data Systems; Antonia Guidotti, Department of Natural History, Royal Ontario Museum

In addition to watching television, animals have been known to interact with touchscreen computers as mentioned in my June 24, 2016 posting, “Animal technology: a touchscreen for your dog, sonar lunch orders for dolphins, and more.”

The “These are a few of Our Favourite Bees” upcoming exhibitions notice features this artist statement for a third piece, “Without A Bee, It Would Not Be” by Tracey Lawko,

In May, my crabapple tree blooms. In August, I pick the ripe crabapples. In September, I make jelly. Then I have breakfast. This would not be without a bee.

It could not be without a bee. The fruit and vegetables I enjoy eating, as well as the roses I admire as centrepieces, all depend on pollination.

Our native pollinators and their habitat are threatened.  Insect populations are declining due to habitat loss, pesticide use, disease and climate change. 75% of flowering plants rely on pollinators to set seed and we humans get one-third of our food from flowering plants.

I invite you to enter this beautiful dining room and consider the importance of pollinators to the enjoyment of your next meal.

Bio

Tracey Lawko employs contemporary textile techniques to showcase changes in our environment. Building on a base of traditional hand-embroidery, free-motion longarm stitching and a love of drawing, her representational work is detailed and “drawn with thread”. Her nature studies draw attention to our native pollinators as she observes them around her studio in the Niagara Escarpment. Many are stitched using a centuries-old, three-dimensional technique called “Stumpwork”.

Tracey’s extensive exhibition history includes solo exhibitions at leading commercial galleries and public museums. Her work has been selected for major North American and International exhibitions, including the Concours International des Mini-Textiles, Musée Jean Lurçat, France, and is held in the permanent collection of the US National Quilt Museum and in private collections in North America and Europe.

Bzzz!

Ethọ́s Lab (youth STEAM academy) launches physical space in Vancouver (Canada) with a block party on June 18, 2022

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The Ethọ́s Lab offers extra-curricular programming through STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) for youths between 12 and 18 . Here’s more from Rebecca Bollwitt’s May 17, 2022 article on her Miss604.com website, Note: A link has been removed,

… has been offering virtual, STEAM-based education (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) within an antiracist, technology-forward framework throughout the pandemic, and will now be able to add in-person programming.

…

“Ethọ́s Lab was founded to increase access and representation in STEAM,” says parent and founder Anthonia Ogundele.

“These past two years have shown us that this goal is more important than ever before. The ‘metaverse’ has become a hot topic since Facebook’s name change to Meta, the rise of NFTs, and the digital pivot the world underwent at the start of the pandemic. Parents are realizing that their kids need equitable access to tools and information that will help them challenge and shape a digital future that is quickly arriving upon us. We need young, diverse voices co-creating innovative solutions and leading change, in order to ensure we aren’t just perpetuating antiquated, unjust systems — whether those hierarchies are found in coding, urban planning, or the art market. We can’t wait to connect with even more young people with our new home in Mount Pleasant.”

…

Here’s the Grand Opening/party information (from Bollwitt’s May 17, 2022 article),

Ethọ́s Lab Opens in Mount Pleasant

  • What: Opening Block Party
  • When: Saturday, June 18 from 10:00am to 8:00pm
  • Where: 177 East 3rd Ave, Vancouver
  • Admission: Free!

According to Katie Hyslop’s February 26, 2021 article for The Tyee, Ethọ́s Lab began with a search,

When Anthonia Ogundele was looking for after-school programs for her 11-year-old daughter in 2019, she was frustrated by the lack of options. Particularly when it came to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, programs.

“Innovation in STEM is often reserved to gifted, enrichment-type kids or programs, streams and mini-schools,” she said.

“And if you don’t have access, you end up missing out on really great project-based learning, or competitions, or even just the basic tools and equipment to be able to innovate within that space.”

Access to current STEM after-school programs can be limited by an inability to afford program fees, but also by class, race and who you know.

…

When Ogundele, who is Black, spoke to other parents about after-school program options, she found she wasn’t alone in her struggle. She wondered: what would a program look like that provided access for all young people, but especially Black youth, to technology and STEM skills and addressed needs like belonging and self-worth?

…

Hyslop’s February 26, 2021 article provides a couple of examples of early Ethọ́s Lab programmes,

… a four-week session on 3D modelling exposed young people to 3D technology and skills. The session had young people design housing specifically for Hogan’s Alley, the Black community in Vancouver that was razed in 1970 to make way for the Georgia Viaducts.

“The theme was ‘place, race and space.’ So the young people come in to learn about place, race and space, but it’s actually a 3D modelling course and they learn how to build homes in a geographical context of Hogan’s Alley,” said Ogundele, who has a master’s in urban planning and launched the Hogan’s Alley Land Trust, now known as the Hogan’s Alley Society.

“We would talk about monuments, and what it means to create or build things that have meaning and place. That’s how we contextualize it.”

…

Korinne Tsang’s first introduction to Ethọ́s Lab was a screen-printing session last summer [2020]. The 16-year-old student was a bit reluctant to participate at first due to shyness, but she eventually decided to give it a try.

Eight months later, Tsang is still taking Ethọ́s Lab workshops, including sessions on bias in artificial intelligence, coding and creating a personal avatar.

“One of the interesting things is we look at the bias in every part of technology, where I may try to go make an avatar in a video game. And you can’t always make one that looks like yourself because we don’t have those features, and figuring out how to change that,” said Tsang, who is of Chinese and European descent.

…

I gather the A (arts) was added to this STEM initiative after Hyslop’s article was written.

Bollwitt’s May 17, 2022 article describes the building which will house Ethọ́s Lab, Note: A link has been removed)

…

The organization is housed inside a new building owned by the City of Vancouver and operated over the next 60 years by non-profit cultural organization 221A [emphasis mine] in collaboration with the Community Land Trust. In addition to a nearly 1,000-sq.-ft. dedicated space, Ethọ́s Lab has shared access to a 2,700-sq.-ft. production facility.

The site is the physical manifestation of the thriving community that Ethọ́s Lab built in their own proprietary metaverse over the pandemic, a virtual hub called Atlanthọ́s that was co-created with youth members and developed by local tech start-up Active Replica. Now, the organization will be a hub for the broader community, a place for members and their families to gather and collaborate. 

The space features a mix of organic, sustainable materials and digital elements, and makes use of the site’s natural light. Local firm Tectonic Architecture, which prioritizes community-based work, led design discussions with youth members — also known as Ethósians — to ensure their vision was incorporated into the space. Comic artist and illustrator Jazz Gordon-Gillquist and Chase Gray (who recently designed the Vancouver Canucks’ First Nations Night warmup jersey) created an original mural in collaboration with curator Krystal Paraboo. Microsoft, Sony, and Heritage Office Furnishings equipped and furnished the space. 

…

Given 221A’s involvement (see my June 17, 2021 posting; scroll down to the “Arts and blockchain events in Vancouver” subhead), it’s no surprise that Ethọ́s Lab offers a course on blockchain and NFTs (nonfungible tokens).

As for events at the block party and information about Ethọ́s Lab’s summer programmes, check out Bollwitt’s May 17, 2022 article or, for events at the block party only, the Ethos Lab 3rd & Main Grand Opening page on eventbrite. Finally, the organization is fundraising and, as of May 17, 2022, was 3/4 of the way ($75,000) to their goal of $100,000.

Enjoy!

Using natural proteins to grow gold nanoclusters for hybrid bionanomaterials

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While there’s a January 10, 2022 news item on Nanowerk, the research being announced was made available online in the Fall of 2021 and is now available in print,

Gold nanoclusters are groups of a few gold atoms with interesting photoluminescent properties. The features of gold nanoclusters depend not only on their structure, but their size and also by the ligands coordinated to them. These inorganic nanomaterials have been used in sensing, biomedicine and optics and their coordination with biomolecules can endow multiple capabilities in biological media.

A research collaboration between the groups of Dr. Juan Cabanillas, Research Professor at IMDEA Nanociencia and Dr. Aitziber L. Cortajarena, Ikerbasque Professor and Principal Investigator at CIC biomaGUNE have explored the use of natural proteins to grow gold nanoclusters, resulting in hybrid bionanomaterials with tunable photoluminescent properties and with a plethora of potential applications.

…

A January 10, 2022 IMDEA Nanociencia press release, which originated the news item, provides more technical detail about the research,

The nanoclusters –with less than 2 nm in size- differentiate from larger nanoparticles (plasmonic) since they present discrete energy levels coupled optically. The groups of amino acids within the proteins coordinate the gold atoms and allow the groups to be arranged around the gold nanocluster, facilitating the stabilization and adding an extra level of tailoring. These nanoclusters have interesting energy harvesting features. Since the discrete energy levels are optically coupled, the absorption of a photon leads to promotion of an electron to higher levels, which can trigger a photophysical process or a photochemical reaction.  

The results by Cabanillas and Cortajarena groups, published in Advanced Optical Materials and Nano Letters, explore the origin of the photoluminescence in protein-designed gold nanoclusters and shed light into the strong influence of environmental conditions on the nature of luminescence. Nanocluster capping by two types of amino acids (histidine and cysteine) allow for changing the emission spectral range from blue to red, paving the way to tune the optical properties by an appropriate ligand choice. The nature of emission is also changed with capping, from fluorescence to phosphorescence, respectively. The synergistic protein-nanocluster effects on emission are still not clear, and the groups at IMDEA Nanociencia and CIC biomaGUNE are working to elucidate the mechanisms behind. There are potential applications for the aforementioned nanoclusters, in solid state as active medium in laser cavities. Optical gain properties from these nanoclusters are yet to be demonstrated, which could pave the way to a new generation of potentially interesting laser devices. As the combination of gold plus proteins is potentially biocompatible, many potential applications in biomedicine can also be envisaged.

A related publication of the groups in Nano Letters demonstrates that the insertion of tryptophans, amino acids with high electron density, in the vicinity of the nanocluster boosts its photoluminescence quantum efficiency up to 40% in some cases, values relevant for solid state light emission applications. Researchers also observed an antenna effect: the tryptophans can absorb light in a discrete manner and transfer the energy to the cluster. This effect has interest for energy harvesting and for sensing purposes as well.

The proteins through the biocapping enable the synthesis of the nanoclusters and largely improve their quantum efficiency. “The photoluminescence quantum efficiency is largely improved when using the biocapping” Dr. Cabanillas says. He believes this research work means “a new field opening for the tuning of optical properties of nanoclusters through protein engineering, and much work is ahead for the understanding of the amplification mechanism”. Dr. Cortajarena emphasizes “we have already demonstrated the great potential of engineered photoluminescent protein-nanocluster in biomedical and technological fields, and understanding the fundamental emission mechanisms is pivotal for future applications“. A variety of further applications include biosensors, as the protein admits functionalization with recognition molecules, energy harvesting, imaging and photodynamic therapies. Further work is ahead this opening avenue for photophysics research.

This research is a collaboration led by Dr. Juan Cabanillas and Dr. Aitziber L. Cortajarena research groups at IMDEA Nanociencia and CIC biomaGUNE, with contributions from researchers at the Diamond Light Source Ltd. [synchrotron] and DIPC. It has been cofounded by the projects AMAPOLA, NMAT2D, FULMATEN, Atracción de Talento from Comunidad de Madrid and the Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence award to IMDEA Nanociencia. CIC biomaGUNE acknowledges support by the projects ERC-ProNANO, ERC-NIMM, ProTOOLs and the Maria de Maeztu Units of Excellence Programme.

Here are links to and citations for the papers,

Tuning the Optical Properties of Au Nanoclusters by Designed Proteins by Elena Lopez-Martinez, Diego Gianolio, Saül Garcia-Orrit, Victor Vega-Mayoral, Juan Cabanillas-Gonzalez, Carlos Sanchez-Cano, Aitziber L. Cortajarena. Advanced Optical Materials Volume 10, Issue 1 January 4, 2022 2101332 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/adom.202101332 First published: 31 October 2021

This paper is open access.

Boosting the Photoluminescent Properties of Protein-Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters through Protein Engineering by Antonio Aires, Ahmad Sousaraei, Marco Möller, Juan Cabanillas-Gonzalez, and Aitziber L. Cortajarena. Nano Lett. 2021, 21, 21, 9347–9353 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03768 Publication Date: November 1, 2021 Copyright © 2021 American Chemical Society

This paper is behind a paywall.

Not being familiar with either of the two research institutions mentioned in the press release, I did a little digging.

Here’s a little information about IMDEA Nanociencia (IMDEA Nanoscience Institute), from its Wikipedia entry, Note: All links have been removed,

IMDEA Nanoscience Institute is a private non-profit foundation within the IMDEA Institutes network, created in 2006-2007 as a result of collaboration agreement between the Community of Madrid and Spanish Ministry of Education and Science. The foundation manages IMDEA-Nanoscience Institute,[1] a scientific centre dedicated to front-line research in nanoscience, nanotechnology and molecular design and aiming at transferable innovations and close contact with industries. IMDEA Nanoscience is a member of the Campus of International excellence, a consortium of research institutes promoted by the Autonomous University of Madrid and Spanish National Research Council (UAM/CSIC).[2]

As for CIC biomaGUNE, here’s more from its institutional profile on the science.eus website,

The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials-CIC biomaGUNE, located in San Sebastian (Spain), was officially opened in December 2006. CIC biomaGUNE is a non-profit research organization created to promote scientific research and technological innovation at the highest levels in the Basque Country following the BioBasque policy in order to create a new business sector based on biosciences. Established by the Department of Industry, Technology & Innovation of the Government of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, CIC biomaGUNE constitutes one of the Centres of the CIC network, the largest Basque Country research network on specific strategic areas, having the mission to contribute to the economical and social development of the country through the generation of knowledge and speeding up the process that leads to technological innovation.

Sensing Colour: AIC (International Colour Organization) 2022 conference from June 13 – 16, 2022 in Toronto, Canada

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The Colour Research Society of Canada (CRSC) is presenting AIC2022, the AIC (International Colour Organization) midterm meeting (fully online) being held from Toronto, Canada.

I have a June 8, 2022 conference announcement (received via email from the ArtSci Salon), which outlines the programme,

2 free public talks, and free workshops (info below).

Info also here https://akimbo.ca/listings/aic2022-sensing-colour/

AIC2022: SENSING COLOUR

Interested in Colour Research? Join us at AIC2022 Sensing Colour
conference June 13–16, 2022.www.aic2022.org [1]

Photo/copyright (left to right): Joseph Ingoldsby; Anong Beam;
Angelica Dass/Edu Leoìn.

JOIN US FOR AIC2022: SENSING COLOUR

Midterm Meeting of the International Colour Organization (AIC)
When deciding the theme for this year’s conference, we decided that
Sensing Colour best spoke to our vision. Sensing Colour offers
a great opportunity for participants from diverse disciplines and
modes of inquiry to contribute to colour awareness and knowledge in an
interdisciplinary and inclusive forum. It highlights how colour offers
itself to us, in what ways it approaches and engages us, affects our
awareness, and harnesses our attention. In so many diverse ways, and
through so many different lenses, colour is being studied as an
influential shaper of human experience.

Through all our senses and faculties – through intellectual,
cultural and material ways of knowing and feeling – we seek to
observe and utilize the remarkable complexity of colour, whether
material or immaterial, whether conceptual or practical, sociological
or biological, natural or technological.

Sensing Colour presents 3-days of online talks from June 14-16
focussed on colour, by an international array of colour researchers
and practitioners. We invite you to register for the full conference,
or one day. We also have several adjacent activities planned before
and after the conference, which are free and open to the general
public.

Invited speaker details
Registration details
————————-

Special Lectures

* Gathering Colour
We will have an in-person lecture by M’Chigeeng First Nation artist
Anong Migwans Beam at the Art Gallery of Ontario, on Monday June 13,
at 7pm [ET].
Click here for more details and information on registering for Anong Beam talk (free)
* Humanae: Celebrating how colourful we are
Renowned award-winning photographer Angélica Dass will present a
special lecture on her Humanae Project: Celebrating how colourful we
are. The online lecture, co-presented by the Art Gallery of Ontario,
is on Thursday June 16, 1-2pm [ET].
Click here for more details and information on registering for Angélica Dass talk (free)

————————-

Special Workshops
We are holding several in-person and online workshops on June 13, 17
and 18, which are open to the general public as well as AIC2022
participants.

* Switch On the Colours of Your Brain – training with Patricia
Dudeck
* Effets chromatiques d’un lieu urbain Montréalais – mise en
œuvre d’une approche empirique
* The Shape of Colour
* Color Marketing Group® 2024+ ChromaZone® Color Forecasting
Workshop
* The Colours We Share, by Angélica Dass, co-presented by Art
Gallery of Ontario

Click here for full workshop details, including times and registration costs (some are free).
————————-

Special Sessions

* Panel discussion on Colour in the Lighting Industry
* Presentations by authors of Recent books about Colou

————————-

Special Exhibition
In affiliation with AIC 2022, 13th Street Gallery has organized an
exhibition based on our conference theme.
Sensing Colour Exhibition at 13th Street Gallery in St. Catharines [a municipality in Ontario, Canada] opens on Saturday June 11, 2022 featuring artists Kimberly Danielson, Cynthia Chapman and Kyle Clements.

————————-

AIC 2022 is presented by the Colour Research Society of Canada, with partners OCAD [Ontario College of Art & Design] University and the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Email us at sensingcolouraic2022@gmail.com for more information.

…

Enjoy!

Xenobots (living robots) that can reproduce

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Xenobots (living robots made from African frog (Xenopus laevis) frog cells) can now self-replicate. First mentioned here in a June 21, 2021 posting, xenobots have captured the imagination of various media outlets including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC) Quirks and Quarks radio programme and blog where Amanda Buckiewicz posted a December 3, 2021 article about the latest xenobot development (Note: Links have been removed),

…

In a new study, Bongard [Joshua Bongard, a computer scientist at the University of Vermont] and his colleagues from Tufts University and Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering found that the xenobots would autonomously collect loose single cells in their environment, gathering hundreds of cells together until new xenobots had formed.

“This took a little bit for us to wrap our minds around,” he said. “There’s no programming here. Instead, we’re designing or shaping these xenobots, and what they do, the way they behave, is based on shape.”

…

“We take a couple of thousand of those frog cells and we squish them together into a ball and put that in the bottom of a petri dish,” Bongard told Quirks & Quarks host Bob McDonald. 

“If you were to look into the dish, you would see some very small, what look like specks of pepper, moving about in the bottom of the petri dish.”

The xenobots initially received no instruction from humans on how to replicate. But when researchers added extra cells to the dish containing xenobots, they observed that the xenobots would assemble them into piles.

“Cells early in development are sticky,” said Bongard. “If the pile is large enough and the cells stick together, the outer ones on the surface will grow very small hairs, which are called cilia. And eventually, after four days, those cilia will start to beat back and forth like flexible oars, and the pile will start moving.”

“And that’s a child xenobot.” 

…

A November 29, 2021 Wyss Institute news release by Joshua Brown describes the process a little differently,

To persist, life must reproduce. Over billions of years, organisms have evolved many ways of replicating, from budding plants to sexual animals to invading viruses.

Now scientists at the University of Vermont, Tufts University, and the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have discovered an entirely new form of biological reproduction—and applied their discovery to create the first-ever, self-replicating living robots.

The same team that built the first living robots (“Xenobots,” assembled from frog cells—reported in 2020) has discovered that these computer-designed and hand-assembled organisms can swim out into their tiny dish, find single cells, gather hundreds of them together, and assemble “baby” Xenobots inside their Pac-Man-shaped “mouth”—that, a few days later, become new Xenobots that look and move just like themselves.

And then these new Xenobots can go out, find cells, and build copies of themselves. Again and again.

…

In a Xenopus laevis frog, these embryonic cells would develop into skin. “They would be sitting on the outside of a tadpole, keeping out pathogens and redistributing mucus,” says Michael Levin, Ph.D., a professor of biology and director of the Allen Discovery Center at Tufts University and co-leader of the new research. “But we’re putting them into a novel context. We’re giving them a chance to reimagine their multicellularity.” Levin is also an Associate Faculty member at the Wyss Institute.

And what they imagine is something far different than skin. “People have thought for quite a long time that we’ve worked out all the ways that life can reproduce or replicate. But this is something that’s never been observed before,” says co-author Douglas Blackiston, Ph.D., the senior scientist at Tufts University and the Wyss Institute who assembled the Xenobot “parents” and developed the biological portion of the new study.

“This is profound,” says Levin. “These cells have the genome of a frog, but, freed from becoming tadpoles, they use their collective intelligence, a plasticity, to do something astounding.” In earlier experiments, the scientists were amazed that Xenobots could be designed to achieve simple tasks. Now they are stunned that these biological objects—a computer-designed collection of cells—will spontaneously replicate. “We have the full, unaltered frog genome,” says Levin, “but it gave no hint that these cells can work together on this new task,” of gathering and then compressing separated cells into working self-copies.

“These are frog cells replicating in a way that is very different from how frogs do it. No animal or plant known to science replicates in this way,” says Sam Kriegman, Ph.D.,  the lead author on the new study, who completed his Ph.D. in Bongard’s lab at UVM and is now a post-doctoral researcher at Tuft’s Allen Center and Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

…

Both Buckiewicz’s December 3, 2021 article and Brown’s November 29, 2021 Wyss Institute news release are good reads with liberal used of embedded images. If you have time, start with Buckiewicz as she provides a good introduction and follow up with Brown who gives more detail and has an embedded video of a December 1, 2021 panel discussion with the scientists behind the xenobots.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the latest paper,

Kinematic self-replication in reconfigurable organisms by Sam Kriegman, Douglas Blackiston, Michael Levin, and Josh Bongard. PNAS [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] December 7, 2021 118 (49) e2112672118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2112672118

This paper appears to be open access.

June 7 – 10, 2022 in Grenoble, France, a conference and a 6G summit to explore pathways to 6G, ‘Internet of Senses’, etc.

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As far as I can tell, 5G is still not widely deployed. At least, that’s what I gather from Tim Fisher’s article profiling the deployment by continent and by country (reviewed by Christine Baker; updated on June 2, 2022) on the Lifewire website, Note: Links have been removed)

5G is the newest wireless networking technology for phones, smartwatches, cars, and who knows what else, but it’s not yet available in every region around the world.

Some estimates forecast that by 2025, we’ll reach 3.6 billion 5G connections, a number expected to grow to 4.4 billion by 2027.

…

I skimmed through Fisher’s article and the African continent would seem to have the most extensive deployment country by country.

Despite the fact that we’re years from a ubiquitous 5G environment, enthusiasts are preparing for 6G. A June 1, 2022 news item on Nanotechnology Now highlights an upcoming conference and 6G summit in Grenoble, France,

Anticipating that 6G systems will offer a major step change in performance from gigabit towards terabit capacities and sub-millisecond response times, the top two European conferences for communication networks will meet June 7-10 [2022] to explore future critical 6G applications like real-time automation or extended reality, an “internet of senses”, sustainability and providing data for a digital twin of the physical world.

The hybrid conference, “Connectivity for a Sustainable World”, will accommodate both in-person and remote attendance for four days of keynotes, panels, work sessions and exhibits. The event is sponsored by the IEEE Communications Society and the EU Association for Signal Processing and will be held in the WTC Grenoble Convention Center.

“The telecom sector is an enabler for a sustainable world,” said Emilio Calvanese Strinati, New-6G Program director at CEA-Leti, which organized the conference. “Designed to be energy efficient, with low carbon footprints, telecoms will be a key enabler to reduce CO2 emissions in the ICT sectors. For example, 6G targets multi-sensorial virtual reality, e.g. the metaverse, and remote work and telepresence, which enable people to interact without travelling.”

The conference also will explore new smart network technologies and architectures needed to dramatically enhance the energy efficiency and sustainability of networks to manage major traffic growth, while keeping electromagnetic fields under strict safety limits. These technologies will form the basis for a human-centric Next-Generation Internet and address the European Commission’s Sustainable Development Goals, such as accessibility and affordability of technology.
The Grenoble gathering is the 31st edition of the EuCNC [EU-China Commission] conference, which merged two years ago with the 6G Summit. The joint conference was established by the European Commission for industry, academia, research centers and SMEs from across the ICT and telecom sectors to cooperate, discuss and help realize the vision for European technological sovereignty. It is intended to be held for in-person attendance, with remote attendance in a hybrid mode.

“The EuCNC and 6G Summit members are playing an important role in supporting the EU’s goal of European Sovereignty and cybersecurity in 5G and 6G in parallel with the French microelectronics industry’s support of the European Chips Act,” said Calvanese Strinati, who will help lead a workshop, “Semantic and Goal Oriented Communications, an Opportunity for 6G?”, on June 7.

Keynotes (all times CEST) [Central European Summer Time]

“Shaping 6G: Revolutionizing the Evolution of Networks”
Mikael Rylander, Technology Leadership Officer, Nokia/Netherlands
June 8: 9:15-10:00 am

“6G: From Digital Transformation to Socio-Digital Innovation”
Dimitra Simeonidou, Director Smart Internet Lab, Co-Director Bristol Digital Futures Institute, University of Bristol, UK
June 9: 8:30-9:15 am

“Going Beyond RF: Nano Communication in 6G+ Networks”
Falko Dressler, Professor, Technische Universität, Berlin
June 9: 9:15-10:00 am

…

For the curious, CEA-Leti, the organizing institution, is “a research institute for electronics and information technologies, based in Grenoble, France. It is one of the world’s largest organizations for applied research in microelectronics and nanotechnology.” (See the entire description in the CEA-Leti: Laboratoire d’l’électronique des technologies de l’information Wikipedia entry)

As for the ‘internet of senses’, perhaps I missed seeing it in the programme?

The co-chairs Pearse O’Donohue and Sébastien Dauvé offer a welcome on the 2022 conference/summit homepage that touches on current affairs, as well as, the technology,

We would like to welcome you to this edition of the conference, which is for the second time putting together two of the top European conferences in the area of communication networks: the European Conference on Networks and Communications (EuCNC) and the 6G Summit. After two years of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are delighted to host this hybrid conference in the city of Grenoble, located in the French Alps and recognised internationally for its scientific excellence, especially in the area of electronics components and systems. This is a testimony of the increased importance of microelectronics for European technological sovereignty and cybersecurity in 5G and 6G, in line with the European Chips Act recently proposed by the Commission.

The Russian war against Ukraine has disrupted the lives of millions of Ukrainians. Recognising the importance of connectivity, in particular in times of crisis and under these exceptional circumstances, the EU in cooperation with key stakeholders has taken measures to alleviate the consequences of the humanitarian crisis. These include resilience of networks within the country, free or heavily discounted international calls and SMS to Ukraine or free roaming to Ukrainian people that fled the war.

In the longer term, we need to make sure that trust, security and competitiveness of future technologies such as beyond 5G and 6G are ensured.

6G systems are expected to offer a new step change in performance from Gigabit towards Terabit capacities and sub-millisecond response times. This will enable new critical applications such as real-time automation or extended reality (“Internet of Senses”) sensing, collecting and providing the data for nothing less than a digital twin of the physical world.

Moreover, new smart network technologies and architectures will need to drastically enhance the energy efficiency of connectivity infrastructures to manage major traffic growth while keeping electromagnetic fields under strict safety limits. These technologies will form the basis for a human-centric Next-Generation Internet and address Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as accessibility and affordability of technology.

This year is an important milestone in the European research, development and innovation sphere towards 6G communications systems as it has seen the kick-off of the activities of the European partnership on Smart Networks and Services (SNS). This strategic public-private partnership has been established in November 2021 as one of the Horizon Europe Joint undertakings. The SNS partnership should enable European players to develop the technology capacities for 6G systems as basis for future digital services towards 2030. Its focus extends beyond networking, spanning the whole value chain, from components and devices to the Cloud, AI and Cybersecurity.

In January 2022, the first SNS JU [Joint Undertaking] calls for proposals has been launched, with a total budget of EUR 240 million. It sets out main complementary work streams spanning from 5G Evolution systems, research for radical technology advancement in preparation for 6G, proof of concepts including experimental infrastructures; up to large scale trials and pilots with vertical industries. We are excited and cannot wait for the selected projects to be launched next autumn, thus joining the big family of the EU projects that you will be able to discover and liaise with during this conference.

…

Karl Bode’s June 2, 2022 article, “6G Hype Begins Despite Fact 5G Hasn’t Finished Disappointing Us Yet,” on Techdirt offers a more measured response to the 6G hopes and dreams offered by O’Donohue, Dauvé, and the others hyping the next technology that will solve all kinds of problems.

Optimizing mRNA nanoparticles

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The process of continuously working on scientific improvements is not always appreciated by outsiders such as myself. A December 28, 2021 news item on Nanowerk highlights research published (from 2019 and 2020) on improving delivery of mRNA used in vaccines (Note: A link has been removed),

The research neutron source Hein Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) is playing an important role in the investigation of mRNA nanoparticles similar to the ones used in the Covid-19 vaccines from vendors BioNTech and Moderna. Researchers at the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Zentrum (MLZ) used the high neutron flux available in Garching to characterize various formulations for the mRNA vaccine and thus to lay the groundwork for improving the vaccine’s efficacy.

…

A December 27, 2021 TUM press release, which originated the news item, delves further into the science of improving something that already works well,

The idea of using messenger RNA (mRNA) as an active ingredient is a brilliant one: The molecule contains the specific blueprint for proteins which are then synthesize by the cell. This makes it generally possible to provide a very wide spectrum of different therapeutically effective proteins.

In the case of the Covid-19 vaccine, these are the proteins of the characteristic spikes on the surface of the Corona virus which are used for vaccination. The proteins are presented on the surface of immune cells; then the human immune system triggers defenses against these foreign proteins and thus against the Corona virus. The mRNA itself is completely broken down after only a few hours, a fact which is advantageous to the safety of these vaccines.

The road to the best packaging

The mRNA has to be packaged appropriately in order to keep it from being broken down on the way to the cell by the ubiquitous enzymes of the human body. This is done using nanoparticles which can consist of a mixture of lipids or polymers.

The lipids are fat molecules similar to the molecules of the cell membrane and help deposit the mRNA in the interior of the cell. Lipids and biopolymers are then broken down or excreted by the body.

To this ends, the BioNTech formulation team led by Dr. Heinrich Haas worked together with the group led by Prof. Peter Langguth of the Pharmaceutical Technology department at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz’s Institute of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences. They developed a series of formulations in which the nanoparticles consisted of various mixtures of lipids and biopolymers already proved in pharmaceuticals.

In the light of neutrons

In order to compare the properties of variously composed nanoparticles with one another, the researchers subjected the nanoparticles to a wide range of investigations. In addition to x-ray and microscopic analyses, these investigations included radiation with neutrons using the instrument KWS-2, operated by the Forschungszentrum Jülich at the FRM II of the Technical University of Munich in Garching.

The neutrons are scattered in the interior of the nanoparticles, inter alia, on the hydrogen nuclei and are deflected from their paths in a characteristic way. This is the basis for conclusions about their distribution. If the hydrogen atoms of certain components – for example of the lipids only – are exchanged with heavy hydrogen, the chemical properties and the pharmaceutical efficacy do not change, but the scattering pattern of the neutrons does.

“This method makes it possible to selectively highlight parts of a complex multi-component morphology without changing the physical chemistry of the sample,” says Dr. Aurel Radulescu of the Jülich Centre for Neutron Science (JCNS), who is responsible for the instrument KWS-2 and who led the evaluation of the measurement results. “This makes it possible to depict structural properties which other methods can only barely render visible, if at all.”

The right degree of order is the key

In these analyses the research teams were interested in how efficiently the various formulations were able to transmit the mRNA into the cell, referred to as transfection. The researchers thus found out that the highest transfection rates were achieved with nanoparticles that are characterized by a certain type of internal arrangement.

“High levels of biological activity were registered whenever ordered and less ordered areas alternated in the interior of the nanoparticles in a characteristic manner. This could be a generally valid concept of structure-activity relationship which can be applied independently of the systems investigated here,” Dr. Heinrich Haas of BioNTech points out. A similarly low degree of order had also been found previously by the research teams using x-ray radiation in other lipid nanoparticles.

An improved procedure

In order to receive the desired structural properties lipids and biopolymers had to be combined with the mRNA using exactly defined procedures. Here the research team was able to show that the nanoparticles for packaging the mRNA could be produced in a single step, which means a significant simplification compared to the two-step procedure which was originally also investigated.

Thus a simplified method for the creation of mRNA nanoparticles with improved activity was ultimately found. “Such questions of practical producibility represent an important prerequisite for the possibility of developing pharmaceutical products,” says Prof. Langguth. In the future such concepts could be taken into account in the development of new mRNA-based therapeutic agents.

Here are links to and citations for the papers (Note: This is not my usual way of setting the links),

Hybrid Biopolymer and Lipid Nanoparticles with Improved Transfection Efficacy for mRNA by Christian D. Siewert, Heinrich Haas, Vera Cornet, Sara S. Nogueira, Thomas Nawroth, Lukas Uebbing, Antje Ziller, Jozef Al-Gousous, Aurel Radulescu, Martin A. Schroer, Clement E. Blanchet, Dmitri I. Svergun, Markus P. Radsak, Ugur Sahin and Peter Langguth. Cells 2020, 9(9), 2034 – DOI: 10.3390/cells9092034

This paper appears to be open access.

Investigation of charge ratio variation in mRNA – DEAE-dextran polyplex delivery systems by C. Siewert, H. Haas, T. Nawroth, A. Ziller, S. S. Nogueira, M. A. Schroer, C. E. Blanchet, D. I. Svergun, A. Radulescu, F. Bates, Y. Huesemann, M. P. Radsak, U. Sahin, P. Langguth. Biomaterials, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.10.020

This paper is open access.

Polysarcosine-Functionalized Lipid Nanoparticles for Therapeutic mRNA Delivery by S S. Nogueira, A. Schlegel, K. Maxeiner, B. Weber, M. Barz, M. A. Schroer, C. E. Blanchet, D. I. Svergun, S. Ramishetti, D. Peer, P. Langguth, U. Sahin, H. Haas. ACS Appl. Nano Mater. 2020, 3, 11, 10634–10645 – DOI: 10.1021/acsanm.0c01834

This paper is behind a paywall.

Research communicated by puppets

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Yes, there’s protein folding as explained by puppets,

An April 25, 2019 article by Madeleine O’Keefe for BU (Boston University) Today describes both the course “Thinking through Puppets and Performing Objects: Using Theatrical Tools to Communicate the Complex, the Abstract, and the Technical” and a then upcoming Puppet Slam performance (Note: Links have been removed),

Thinking through Puppets is the brainchild of Felice Amato, a College of Fine Arts assistant professor of art education and a Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future faculty associate, and Anna Panszczyk (CAS’97), a College of Arts & Sciences Writing Program senior lecturer.

The course is part of the BU Cross-College Challenge (XCC), the Hub’s signature project-based, one-semester four-credit elective course open to juniors and seniors from all 10 undergraduate schools and colleges. It fulfills four Hub units: Creativity/Innovation, Oral Communication, Research and Information Literacy, and Teamwork/Collaboration.

Amato previously taught K-12 art in public schools and focused her doctoral work on puppetry. Panszczyk focuses on children’s literature and culture in her writing, and says she was interested in working with Amato to see how a puppet project could help students develop the aforementioned four Hub skills.

The course attracted six undergraduates, … . Suddenly, they were thrust into a world of cutting, crafting, sewing, gluing, shaping, and molding. They worked with fabric, wood, paper, everyday trash, and more—even M&Ms.

“It was definitely challenging,” Kasanaa [Vinamre Kasanaa. senior at BU] acknowledges. “Taking the leap from our passive classes, which are information-intensive—you get the information, you regurgitate it out on paper, you write, you debate—it’s all abstract.…Tapping your fingers on the screen is not a replacement for craftsmanship, where you’re using your hands. So that’s the one thing that we all were able to learn, because most of us made our own puppets and made these things by ourselves.”

An important aspect of the XCC courses is working on real-world projects with a variety of on-campus and community clients. As the culmination of Thinking through Puppets, Amato, Panszczyk, and their students produced puppet slams …

What exactly is a puppet slam? Amato defines it as “a series of short experimental pieces,” each typically about three minutes long. Puppet slams got their launch at Puppet Showplace Theater, but have become so popular that they now are held all over the world. Heather Henson, daughter of Jim Henson, the Emmy-winning creator of the Muppets, supports a national Puppet Slam Network.

…

Devyani Chhetri’s March 26, 2020 article for BU Hub updates the story with a description of the 2020 class’s Puppet Slam,

They say that actions speak louder than words. Nothing was more true when XCC students took the stage last Friday to reveal the anxieties of the world borne from issues such as climate change, sexual harassment and immigration— through puppets.

…

In …, “Puppets against Climate Change”, two puppets are seated in a car and driving around puppet city when they ignore a sign that said ‘no dumping’ and throw trash out of the car.

With Rindner’s [Alexis Rindner, BU student] exaggerated puppet voice leaving the audience in splits, the two puppets are struck soon after by a ‘trash’ comet that decimates the puppet planet.

The humor of the moment gives way to a grim montage of a destroyed planet when the ghosts of the puppets go over the years of excesses where deforestation and pollution in the name of progress led to global warming and the puppet planet’s eventual demise.

…

You can find the Puppet Slam Network here. The homepage includes a map of various Puppet Slam members.

There are three network members in Canada: Vancouver International Puppet Festival (VIPF) in British Columbia, Calgary Animated Objects Society (CAOS) in Alberta, and the Winnipeg Puppet Slam in Manitoba.

As far as I’m aware, none of the three Canadian members are focused on explicitly communicating research in the manner of the Boston University programme.