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  • The Emperor Scorpion's New Groove: Choreographed by Dylan the Scorpion King
    Education
    The Emperor Scorpion's New Groove: Choreographed by Dylan the Scorpion King
    • July 15, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    Hello loyal subjects!  Your Scorpion King is back with another update. First I’ll some news from the homeland-more scorpions have joined the family!  There are now a pair of Red Claw scorpions (named for their large, reddish tinted claws) among my 8-legged roommates. Dinner time! Here’s a video I got of my Red Claw chowing down on […]
  • Cort continues his Optogenetics Odyssey in this week's installment of
    Education
    Cort continues his Optogenetics Odyssey in this week's installment of "Pretty Fly for a White Guy"
    • July 14, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    Hello, again. I’m Cort, the fly guy (I also do research with fruit flies) at Backyard Brains. Since the last time I posted I’ve made significant progress in my research! IT WORKS!!! In the above video what you’re seeing is one of the flies I’ve bred having its proboscis extension activated with an LED. Optogenetics works! Now […]
  • Cockroach Nascar: More Than Left Turns! Olivier's Project is Ramping Up!
    Education
    Cockroach Nascar: More Than Left Turns! Olivier's Project is Ramping Up!
    • July 11, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    Hey, it’s Olivier*! Since I last posted a few developments have occured. First off, I have excelled in the surgical prep portion of my project so much so that I am able to perform two surgeries within the span of an hour and then I can give them a two hour rest so that I […]
  • Sleeping Beauty v2.0: A Reimagination of the Classic, by BYB Intern DJ Marta, ft. C. Roach
    Education
    Sleeping Beauty v2.0: A Reimagination of the Classic, by BYB Intern DJ Marta, ft. C. Roach
    • July 9, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    Hey, it’s the other intern, Marta. I’m the one that has been performing experiments on the circadian rhythm of the cockroaches. It’s like Sleeping Beauty, but with cockroaches! The last time I wrote a blog, I was using the Blaberus Discoidalis, but because the Periplaneta Americana deemed to be the better choice, since “they’re more […]
  • Meet the BYB Lab Tech, Jake! The Guy Behind the Guy, Behind the Guy
    Education
    Meet the BYB Lab Tech, Jake! The Guy Behind the Guy, Behind the Guy
    • July 9, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    My name is Jake Robbins and I have been working behind the scenes here at Backyard Brains this summer as a lab tech. I recently graduated from Novi High School, and will be attending Michigan State University this fall. My job at Backyard Brains has mostly consisted of working on much of the software coding […]
  • Cockroaches... In the Dungeon! Thought You Ought to Know....
    Education
    Cockroaches... In the Dungeon! Thought You Ought to Know....
    • July 8, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    PEPPERMINT IS THE NEW VANILLA: CHANGING OLFACTORY MEMORIES THROUGH OPERANT CONDITIONING IN COCKROACHES (my working paper title, you dig it?) Hey all, it’s Alex again! I have completed quite a bit since my previous post. If you already forgot about who I am (you monster!), I’m the intern performing the operant conditioning research on cockroaches! I’m […]
  • BYB Summer Camp Presents: Scorpions?! Why'd it have to be scorpions!? - A Screenplay by Dylan the Scorpion King
    Experiment
    BYB Summer Camp Presents: Scorpions?! Why'd it have to be scorpions!? - A Screenplay by Dylan the Scorpion King
    • June 24, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    A scorpion by any other name Greetings!  My name’s Dylan, and I’m interning at a company that loves cockroaches here in the land of the Wolverines, where I’m proud to represent Michigan State University’s burgeoning undergraduate neuroscience program. My project involves an examination of scorpion neuroscience, particularly the electrophysiology of their nervous system, and I’m working […]
  • Four Directions: A RoboRoach Love Story by Olivier
    Education
    Four Directions: A RoboRoach Love Story by Olivier
    • June 20, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    Hello, my name is Olivier and I am a junior in neuroscience at Michigan State University, but for the rest of the summer Ann Arbor is my home as I work on a research project as a Backyard Brains intern! My goal is to improve upon the roboroach by adding further directional control. Left and […]
  • BYB Summer Camp Internships: Alex on How to Train Your Cockroach
    Education
    BYB Summer Camp Internships: Alex on How to Train Your Cockroach
    • June 18, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    I’m Alex, a neuroscience major from the wonderful Michigan State University (GO GREEN!)**, down in Ann Arbor for the summer as an intern with Backyard Brains. I’m working to be a behavior trainer of the cockroach, Periplaneta Americana, through means of operant conditioning. What is operant conditioning? In short, operant conditioning is a way of […]
  • BYB Summer Camp Internships: Cort Turns Up for Optogenetics
    Education
    BYB Summer Camp Internships: Cort Turns Up for Optogenetics
    • June 16, 2014
    • by Will Wharton
    My name is Cort Thompson and I’m one of the incredibly privileged interns working at Backyard Brains this summer. I’m an undergraduate neuroscience student at Michigan State University and this summer I am working to bring the cutting edge technique of optogenetics to the classroom while also observing the courtship behaviors and gustatory system of […]

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