What happens when biology becomes programmable? At my new co-working space, I stumbled across something called the RoboRoach, which is a kit that allows you to control a cockroach using Bluetooth. Yes, really. Read the full story:

Tree Sensor…looks like a Hand. Building on the tech of the Tree Sensor, I built a sensor that looks like a hand, and detects human touch. Maybe we could make a human-tree hybrid interaction. #Trees #Sensors

Getting mucky with Bacteria! On the shores of Lake Abert (SE Oregon), I collect bacteria samples for later data sonfication projects. #bacteria #datasonification #LakeAbert #Oregon

The First Breathers: Rise of the Cyanobacteria Long before plants where around, the Earth was a dim, reddish world. Imagine metallic seas, toxic (to humans) air, and microbial mats glowing purple in the haze. Read the full piece: biosymphonic.substack.com/p/the-first-...

What are these Critters in the Microscope?

More strange critters in a drop of water, taken from Summer Lake, OR. What are they?

I made a very crude Tree Synth using p5.js. It's experimental, and hey, I included GitHub links to the code, too! #data #science #sensors #trees #synth

Checking out tree data from several different trees: Alder, Cedar, Maple and more. It's slow! What should I make from them? #data #science #sensors #alder #cedar #maple #trees

Can’t find the SAP I made a "Tree Sensor" which detects sap flow on trees. But data is inconclusive. What's next? I don't know #data #science #sensors #sap #trees

I made a "Tree Sensor" which detects sap flow on trees. How does it work? Let me show you what I did to my poor trees. #data #science #sensors #sap #trees

A snippet of the "Bacterial Beats" performance with live music generated from Purple Bacteria. It was a full house this evening, and this video shows some of the sounds the microbes made. #data #science #sensors #microbes #bacteria

Music from Microbes! I prepare the "Bacterial Beats" installation, where I make music from live electrical data from Purple Bacteria. Whoa, what mad scientist stuff is happening here? #data #science #sensors #microbes #bacteria

Another book for the Xenoform Labs library! Building it up, one book at a time. #drkarenbakker #karenbakker

A new read! Thanks Denise, my friend and coworker from ages, ago from the Exploratorium. Now I can learn about the bacteria that I’ve been cultivating. #exploratorium

This cherry tree looks pretty, but not a good cherry for humans, or for maybe, squirrels, either. #LutherBurbankFarm #CherryTree #EvergreenCherryHybrids #Prunushybrid

I joined Frontier Tower, a co-working space in SF. The bio-punk-lab, headed up by Elliot Roth will be my landing pad. Excited to have a spot to work that aligns well with my art-science interests! #FrontierTower

The plight of the American Chestnut Tree is a sad tale in botanical history, and the hidden consequence of an invasive fungus. This was an attempt to make a blight-resistant species. #AmericanChestnutTree #LutherBurbankExperimentFarm #HybridChestnut #Castaneahybrid

Electrical Data from Microbes! After putting sensors in the microbial samples of Purple Bacteria that I collected, I got some compelling results. Actual electricity from them. Whoa! #data #science #sensors #microbes #bacteria

Can you get data from microbes? I collected microbial samples from the Salton Sea near Bombay Beach, California. After incubating in the sun for about 4 weeks, Purple Bacteria emerged. I got curious and placed sensors in them. Will they produce data? #data #science #sensors #microbes #bacteria

So many beautiful trees here. Would love to do a tree data sonification project here some day, or maybe just plants. This place is special. Western Hills Garden, want to collaborate? #WesternHillsGarden #SnakeBarkMaple #Acerdavidii

25 apples in one tree at Luther Burbank Experiment Farm in Sebastopol. Picking one would be like an apple roulette while. #LutherBurbankExperimentFarm #Sebastopol #MultigraftedApple #Malusdomestica

A special variety of apple at Luther Burbank Experiment Farm in Sebastopol. Not all apples are “successful” as far as humans go. #LutherBurbankExperimentFarm #WintersteinApple #Malusdomestica

Can I read bioelectric fields from earthworms? Here are my results. #worms #sensors #data

I set up soil bins in Nevada City with compost, native soil, and biochar (yep, even had to “activate” it). Then I dropped in sensors to see if they could pick up earthworm activity. Can the sensors detect the bio-electric fields of earthworms? #worms #sensors #biology

A human-successful variety of avocado at Luther Burbank Experiment Farm. This one is adapted to a cooler environment. #LutherBurbankExperimentFarm #AvocadoSeedling #Perseaamericana

Could cells be communicating with photons? The latest BioSymphonic article, I dive into the strange science of biophotons: weak-light emissions produced by all living cells. All cells emit light. #microscopes #cells #photons biosymphonic.substack.com/p/cells-make...

bat-a-thon! They are curious creatures indeed, with all the pathogens they can carry without being harmed themselves

Beautiful pond with active algae life. Love these active ecosystems, so underrated. Seen at Western Hills Garden. And no invasive bullfrogs, right Maria Finn? #WesternHillsGarden #MariaFinn

Purple bacteria once ruled Earth. This was before oxygen filled the atmosphere. Some scientists even imagine a “Purple Earth,” when the planet itself may have glowed magenta from horizon to horizon. Full article here:

Really enjoyed the walk through Western Hills Garden this weekend, with the post-rain and the changing of the seasons, yes, even in California. #WesternHillsGarden

This weekend’s trip to Luther Burbank Experiment Farm in Sebastopol. Luther Burbank did all sorts of wild experiments with grafting trees and making hybrids. This thornless blackberry tree intrigued me.

Florian Schneider from Kraftwerk, well, his estate that is, is selling off his collection of old synths, furniture and other goodies. It won't be cheap, but it is free to look. www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/... #kraftwerk #synths

Just a few days ago I was at PLAYA Summer Lake and we had a microscope party with the artists-in-residents there. We are all such nerds!

Bird Songs Are Not What You Think I recently watched the "The Listers" documentary all about extreme bird-watching (!), I was struck by how the competitive bird watchers cared about numbers rather than biology. We hear melody. Birds hear information.

Bats eat birds! Scientists found this out by putting sensor-backpacks on the backs of bats and tracking them. www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a... #science #sensors

This week's BioSymphonic writing is about bird songs, and perception — and the most excellent documentary called "Listers" which I saw on YouTube a couple weeks ago. Bird Songs are not what you think biosymphonic.substack.com/p/bird-songs...

This week's writing on the BioSymphonic is all about dragonflies, which (at least the ancestors of) are believed to be the first flying creatures. biosymphonic.substack.com/p/dragonflie... #biology #dragonflies

I'd like to be a maggot for a day. How maggots sense the world. It's entirely alien. substack.com/home/post/p-... #sensing #biology #writings

Short (7 minute) version of "Musical Maggots", data-sonifcation from live maggots, capturing their bio-electric fields. From Dinacon 2025 in Bali @dinacon.bsky.social soundcloud.com/scottkildall... #dataSonification #maggots #electricity

The hyper-sensing of crickets in their defense mechanisms from spiders. biosymphonic.substack.com/p/spidey-sen... More inspiration from @edyong209.bsky.social in my ongoing biology studies for my own electronics sensor + soundscape works. #BioSymphonic #spiders #crickets #nature

I just launched a YouTube channel: BioSymphonic, which experiments with custom electronic sensors and data-generated soundscapes. The first episode is "Musical Maggots" — where composting maggots generate an ambient soundscape www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWNx... #electronics #sensors

Nature is a Gallery without walls, a nice little article by Char Rogg, about taking your work outside of the gallery environs. My thoughts are that nature isn't about control, but about collaboration. And, galleries are the opposite. substack.com/home/post/p-...

How do you manage plant care for 50+ plants? Plant Care Cards It's not quite ready for GitHub & sharing, but these are plant care cards whose layouts I generated with Python (yes, some AI helped with the code). A cohesive look with small laminated cards for each plant. #plantDaddy #codeNerding

The Corn Plant and the Wasp: chemical signals by these plants actually summon wasps to its defense. This weeks' article that stemmed from the writings by ‪‪@zoeschlanger in her recent and amazing book "The Light Eaters" biosymphonic.substack.com/p/the-corn-p... #biology #signaling #plants

Seaweed is very much alive. What started as a casual experiment off the deck of my friend's houseboat grew into a scientific inquiry. I'm still exploring... Full article here substack.com/home/post/p-... #BioSymphonic #ArtAndScience #Soundscape #Seaweed #EnvironmentalArt #SoundInstallation

So happy to be at Dinacon 4 in Bali. The organizers are so welcoming, and have partnered up with local orgs to provide a friendly onboarding environment. Cute handwritten local map! dinalab.bsky.social

Local nodes for more accurate air quality reporting: this is a writeup on the AQ Mesh Network that I prototyped at Mars College this winter. scottkildall.substack.com/p/prototypin...

Remember to post the cost of tariffs, friends. Ordering new several new sensor boards from JLPCB, which is the vendor in China that I have been using for years. Very reliable. And now double the cost.

Lots of new projects and discoveries in the last couple weeks: Alvin Lucier's Brain Music, the "new" color of Olo, and possible life on K2-18b open.substack.com/pub/scottkil...

This could be life on other planets — I've been talking about the possibility of astronomers detecting such biosignatures in my artist talks, after hearing a talk about this at @setiinstitute.bsky.social in 2016. More data + analysis needed, but still www.eurekalert.org/news-release...