We spoke with ecologist Dr. Meredith Palmer and embedded engineer Akiba about lions, terror, and technology. 

Akiba works for FreakLabs.org on global conservation projects. We talked about their Boombox which Meredith uses to create experiments to map the landscape of fear in predator/prey relationships. While this may look like pranking animals with jump scares, well, there is real science being done. 

• What would it look like to be smooched by a lioness? (Video)

• Bird hears lion, decides to go over there (Video)

• Checking the reflexes of some zebras and other critters (Video)

• Hyena eating camara (Video)

These are lots of fun to watch and you can find the freshest ones and help out science by categorizing some at Snapshot Safari. Or skip to using the data on Lila.science (Snapshot Safari 2024 data).

Check out Meredith’s website for more github and Data Dryad links to data and science. 

If you want to get involved, Wildlabs.net has discussions around conservation technology. There is also a Slack group by Sara Beery focusing on AI for conservation.

Elecia mentioned David Quammen, an author who writes a lot about biology and ecology.

And now, a guy gives birth to a botfly.

Transcript

If you’re interested in the intersection of neuroscience and engineering, you might want to check out what Mouser Electronics is doing with Brain-Computer Interfaces. It’s all about how you can control machines with your mind, and it’s one of the coolest areas of innovation right now. Mouser’s Empowering Innovation Together site has great content on BCIs, from videos to in-depth articles and podcasts that break down the tech. If this piques your curiosity, head over to Mouser.com/empowering-innovation and explore what’s happening with BCI and other exciting developments in the world of design and engineering.