There’s always a good deal of creativity, laughter and general joie de vivre at our booth, but this year’s SfN (Society for Neuroscience) conference got another layer of novelty: knitted bugs and brains in wheelbarrows. If you’re thinking that we’ve started making 3D knitted swag, you’re in the wrong. These were in fact gifted to our […]

This summer, we didn’t take a spin on the world’s oldest Ferris wheel that’s still in use. (Late June was just too hot for that.) Nor did we manage to take a bite of Sacher Cake or Viennese Schnitzel famous the world over. So what did we do in Vienna apart from admiring the city itself? […]

It spins, wiggles or beeps when it detects certain colors and shapes. It chases or runs away from objects. It learns and solves problems, and does it all much like your own brain: thanks to neural networks comprising of neurons, synapses and an occasional shot of dopamine to reinforce this or that behavior. High school […]

Start the presses! Backyard Brains has a new publication! Our Neurorobot paper is titled “Neurorobotics Workshop for High School Students Promotes Competence and Confidence in Computational Neuroscience.” You can read the article in its entirety on the Frontiers in Neurorobotics website–because we believe neuroscience knowledge is for everyone, and no one should have to pay […]

The Backyard Brains 2018 Summer Research Fellowship is coming to a close, but not before we get some real-world scientific experience in! Our research fellows are nearing the end of their residency at the Backyard Brains lab, and they are about to begin their tenure as neuroscience advocates and Backyard Brains ambassadors. The fellows dropped in […]

Though it feels like just last week I landed here in Michigan, it seems that it’s almost the time for me to go back home. Though my work with the project here is wrapping up, there’s still so much to be done, but I’m confident that I’m leaving behind a good framework. These past few weeks […]

Hey everybody, it’s your favourite Neurorobot project once again, back with more exciting updates! I went to my first knitting lesson this week at a lovely local cafe called Literati, and attended the Ann Arbor Fourth of July parade dressed as a giant eyeball with keyboards on my arms (I meant to dress as “computer […]

One of the most attractive things about a BYB Summer Fellowship is the chance to spend a summer in colorful Ann Arbor. We changed the program name from an internship to a fellowship because of the lasting connections made throughout the summer, and these connections are made possible by the things we all do together! […]

Hey everybody, only two weeks have passed but I have so much to update you on. Earlier this month I was at CRISPRcon in the lovely city of Boston (pictured above), learning about the hope and fears presented by emerging CRISPR technologies, and this week our Neurorobot has sprouted legs! Or well… Wheels. This new version of […]

Fresh, organic, locally sourced meditation researchLast Friday, Backyard Brains once again opened our doors (even wider–they’re always open during business hours!) to our fellow and aspiring citizen scientists as a part of this year’s Ann Arbor Tech Trek!  Dozens of local tech companies had their doors open to the public that evening and we, like […]

Hey everyone, it’s Ilya again; if you remember me from last summer, I’m the octopus guy; otherwise, don’t worry, I’ll introduce myself again. I’m now a third year at UC Berkeley, studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and this summer I’m tackling the problem of making a fun brain-themed neurorobot! (For more information on this […]

Can robots think and feel? Can they have minds? Can they learn to be more like us? To do any of this, robots need brains. Scientists use “neurorobots” – robots with computer models of biological brains – to understand everything from motor control, and navigation to learning and problem solving. At Backyard Brains, we […]