• Biz
    • July 23, 2009
    • by Greg
    Tim spent the tail end of last week in Kansas City, MO. Here is the demo he made while visiting the Kauffman Foundation as a finalist. Tim is applying for the Kauffman Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship program. We here at ByB wish him the best of luck!
  • SpikerBox v3 Prototype Complete!
    Hardware
    You spoke; we listened. Version 3 of the SpikerBox is complete and fully operational. New features include: built-in Speaker, Gain Control, rapid switching between audio and recording mode, and three standard outputs: BNC, mini-stereo, and RCA. We have a couple more improvements (smaller size, smaller batteries, etc) to make, but stayed tuned. We foresee Version […]
  • New Cockroach Species Arrives
    Education
    We currently have used American Cockroaches (Periplaneta americana) in our experiments, but we have to order them from Carolina Biological Supply in North Carolina, and they are a bit expensive due to live animal shipping charges. No angst towards that fantastic company, but we have been looking for a local supplier that can give us […]
  • Spikes on the OLPC
    OLPC
    • July 14, 2009
    • by Greg
    Backyard Brains is beginning to make in-roads with the OLPC (One Laptop Per Child) initiative. This week we were able to display spike waveforms from a cockroach leg in real-time on the OLPC laptop. We are using the “Measure” application to display the data. Note the spikes on the XO PC below from our prototype […]
  • Marketing
    • June 25, 2009
    • by Greg
    Backyard Brains was highlighted in June 2009 by the University of Michigan News Service for the University’s Center for Entrepreneurship. The video is provided below.
  • Evan joins Backyard Brains
    Education
    • June 19, 2009
    • by Greg
    Backyard brains is proud to announce the addition of our first intern! Evan, a gifted high-schooler, will be joining the Backyard Brains team as a part of the University of Michigan’s mentorship program. Evan’s tasks will include working with the OLPC to get it up and running. Our Backyard Brains weekly meeting in the home workshop […]
  • ByB - OLPC Partnership
    OLPC
    • June 12, 2009
    • by Greg
    The One Laptop per Child association develops a low-cost laptop"the “XO Laptop”"to revolutionize how we educate the world’s children. Their mission is “to provide educational opportunities for the world’s poorest children by providing each child with a rugged, low-cost, low-power, connected laptop with content and software designed for collaborative, joyful, self-empowered learning.” We at Backyard Brains […]
  • Marketing
    • November 20, 2008
    • by Greg
    Below you can listen to the interview that Nature Magazine had with Tim and Greg about the genesis of Backyard Brains. It was featured in the November 2008 version of Nature’s Neuropod podcast. In this light-hearted interview, we describe the need for pushing technology into the hands of amateur neuroscientists and children everywhere. To hear more podcasts, […]