Author: danblue22

Caught in the Act!, Research, Student Life

Caught in the act: RISE 2014

Earlier this month was Northeastern University’s Research Innovation and Scholarship Expo. Students from across all disciplines presented their work to the public. If you missed it, I recommend going next year where you can learn about everything from sustainable architecture to robotic bees (a personal favorite). Here’s Lara (a fellow blogger and second from the left) at the event where she served as a judge: She joined a team … Continue reading Caught in the act: RISE 2014

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Filming in the intertidal

Concept maps are a visual way to present information about a variety of topics, scientific and otherwise. They are basically an online flow chart that present information in an interactive and engaging way. Fellow blogger Val wrote about grad student efforts to build our own concept maps with the help of the Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence. You can check out some public concept … Continue reading Filming in the intertidal

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What’s that tickle in my wetsuit?

While most of my time in grad school has been spent working away in a lab, this week I write to you from the Caribbean island of Bonaire where I’m currently doing fieldwork. This is my third trip to Bonaire with a biologist from the Seattle Aquarium who has been studying octopus behavior here for almost 20 years. The week is full of endless snorkeling … Continue reading What’s that tickle in my wetsuit?

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Caught in the act! Val’s Master’s defense

Today, one of the MSC’s own and a fellow blogger here, Val Perini, successfully defended her Master’s Thesis! She gave an amazing talk. I even overheard one professor refer to it as the best talk he’s seen (without any qualifiers!). We’re very proud of her and she will be missed dearly as she moves on to life after graduate school. Here’s a photo of her … Continue reading Caught in the act! Val’s Master’s defense

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Why do we build robot animals?

When people ask about my grad student research, they’re sometimes taken aback by my response: “I build robot lobsters.”  Upon hearing this far out statement I’m guessing most people envision a mix between Zoidberg, the lobster alien from Futurama, and Big Dog, YouTube’s most popular animal-like robot. I try to give more details so people understand what I actually do but that can be difficult … Continue reading Why do we build robot animals?

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How to print whale bones, robot parts and food

I’ve often heard people talk about written words ‘jumping off of the page’.  This figurative description brings to mind the lyrical dialogue of Jonathan Safron Foer or the vivid detail of JRR Tolkein. But what if ideas were to LITERALLY come off of the page? That’s where 3D printing comes in. The technology allows one to print plastic layers on top of plastic layers in … Continue reading How to print whale bones, robot parts and food

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Caught in the act! Looking at lobster brains

    Even though a lot of the work we do involves robots, some work in our lab involves recording from the neurons in lobster brains. From this neuroscience research we can develop models to run and test on our robots. Here’s Lara looking at a part of the lobster brain (the stomatogastric ganglion) that controls the rhythmic movements of its stomach: And here’s a … Continue reading Caught in the act! Looking at lobster brains

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#sciencechat

At first I was a bit hesitant to dive into the world of Twitter, particularly for the purposes of communicating science. I never thought I’d be able to convey anything meaningful in 140 characters or less. However, after last summer’s Science Communication Workshop (that I wrote about here), I learned from some science-inclined Twitter pros how powerful the tool can be.  Science tidbits are quickly … Continue reading #sciencechat

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Winter break with the jellyfish

One of the animals we study in our lab is the jellyfish. We look at how the animal’s simple nervous system controls its tentacles during feeding. Jellyfish eat brine shrimp, which you may know as sea monkeys. Once a tiny brine shrimp hits the tentacle of a jellyfish, the tentacle contracts and brings the food towards the oral arms (mouth entrance) for consumption. We have … Continue reading Winter break with the jellyfish

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Caught in the act! Staying warm underwater

SCUBA diving in Massachusetts can be COLD. When a diver wears a wet suit, a thin layer of water remains between the suit and the diver’s body. Body heat warms the layer of water up to keep the diver from getting too cold. But this can’t keep you warm during winter diving around Nahant. To extend the diving season and stay warm year-round, divers wear … Continue reading Caught in the act! Staying warm underwater

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