March 2012

Scientists Develop Robotic Jellyfish

Bell-shaped bot runs on hydrogen and oxygen

Jellyfish are pretty cool dudes as they are. They move around despite looking like they're not made of anything more than cellophane, they're full of poison and some of them are even said to live forever. I don't even know if they need to eat to survive. They just kind of float around like little translucent sea flowers, unperturbed by the goings-on of the world. Now, thanks to the power of science, they even have some robot buddies to hang out with.

New Science Exchange Site Allows Researchers To Outsource

A new startup is changing the way that science is conducted, and may lead to the future of scientific progress.

A new startup is changing the way that science and scientists operate around the world, and it may just become the future of scientific study and advancement. Science Exchange is an eBay-like service providing access and funding to scientists’ equipment and expertise all around the world. Funded by YCombinator and started by cofounders Elizabeth Iorns and Dan Knox in August of last year, the web company has already allowed scientists and research labs to greatly accelerate the speed at which they can pursue their projects, and the efficiency with which their funding is allocated. They do this by using a network of scientists and researchers, also using Science Exchange, to outsource various components of their work.

The service allows scientists to go onto the “Exchange” and find other scientists or researchers that specialize in the area of work that they need completed. They then pay this individual or individuals to complete that portion of the project while they continue on with other areas of the work that are more in line with their own specialties. Likewise, they can increase their own funding for projects by taking on a component of another lab’s work. As reported in Singularity Hub, it’s about opening up access to experts and specialized equipment in various fields. In this age of highly specialized technological and scientific information, many scientists lack the expertise to address certain aspects of a scientific experiment or innovation, and so must find some other professional in the field with those skills. Science Exchange makes this easy and mutually beneficial by carefully vetting members of the exchange, and then giving them access to their worldwide network.