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#Sciencetheearth

A journal of global discovery

England, Ireland, and Scotland: Robotics, Guinness, Cloning, and Fringe 2016

8/26/2016

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Clifton suspension bridge in Bristol
​The laboratory ofProfessor Ioannis Ieropoulos at the University of the West of England is located in the Bristol Robotics Laboratory. Within the Bristol Robotics Laboratory researchers are working on ways to seamlessly integrate robots into daily life. Scientists here are working on concepts including: developing robots to assist the elderly, optimizing drones, self-driving vehicles, machine driven surgery, prosthetics, automated machine learning, surrogate robot bodies for occupying physical space as a robot from virtually any location on the planet, and using human urine to power robots. Although all of these fields are fascinating, the laboratory of Ioannis Ieropoulos focuses on using pee as an energy source for microbial fuel cells to power robots and, since MFCs are my field, my visit focuses primarily on this technology.
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The Bristol Robotics Laboratory
​Now, this may sound similar to what Korneel Rabaey is doing in Gent. You may remember from just a few blogs ago that Korneel is also focusing on using urine in MFCs to improve energy recovery from waste in order to improve sanitation and access to toilets in countries like India. The lab of Ioannis is working on the same project, partially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as Korneel’s group to optimize MFCs for use in treating human waste. While visiting the Robotics laboratory, I was able to visit a few of the graduate students and post-docs that are working in the lab to make all the research happen!
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Jonathan Winfield next to the MFC stacks he uses to teach local elementary students about chemistry and microbiology
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Microbial Fuel cells shown in a tub of actual human piss (right)
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EcoBot I and II - now out of commission- sit on a bench in the lab
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A mock set up of a cell phone powered by a urinal
​Jonathan Winfield has been working on “EcoBots” I-IV- robots that operate on MFCs set up in series that are fed with human urine and/ or insect wastes. For example, with Chris Melhuish, the laboratory developed EcoBot II- a robot capable of powering itself via capturing flies and harnessing the energy in their biomass. With each new iteration of EcoBot, the technology improves and becomes more sophisticated. Now, the lab has begun to use giant stacks of MFCs in actual urinals to charge small electronic devices like cell phones and tablets. 
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​Pavlina Theodosiou, a PhD student in the lab, is currently working on a project called Evobliss which seeks to use 3D printing technology to completely automate the development and maintenance of MFCs. With a series of sensors, Pavlina’s research goal is to construct a platform that essentially enables robots to operate and maintain themselves.
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Don't worry grandma- assisted living robot will take care of everything
​Coincidentally, my visit to Bristol aligns perfectly with the Bristol Balloon Fiesta. This fiesta is a weekend long carnival event that has daily launchings of hundreds of hot air balloons. Having purchased my ticket a few months in advance, I am more than ready to take off on an adventure in the sky over Bristol. I managed to capture the entire trip on my GoPro, unfortunately most of the video was corrupted. However, I did manage to salvage the first 17 minutes of the launch so you can watch many of the balloons taking off in the video below:
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Getting ready for inflate-gate 2016!
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Sorry Nena- we got far more than 99 luftballons up in here
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View from the sky
​After getting a ride back to the hostel from a friendly American that I stood next to on the flight, I cook a late dinner. The only super market open at the time was an Asian market just down the street, so I decided to prepare some spicy tofu ramen. During the meal preparation and cooking, I met Roxana who was very interested in the meal I was preparing. Roxana is a Romanian artist and film maker that recently finished a documentary about local food, farming, and traditions in “old Romania.” You can watch the short feature, starring Roxana here.
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The whole crew at the London Eye. Left to right: Sanket, Alex, Brendan, Me, Amanda, Aaron.
​This trip also marked my second trip to London, England. Having no real plans in London, I talked with a few people from the hostel and we got a group together to journey around the town. London is a very popular tourist spot for Americans and I met more Americans here than any other location thus far. We hit up the major tourists spots including the Parliament building and Big Ben, the London Eye, the Cathedral of Fleet Street, and of course King’s Cross. Admittedly, I know almost nothing about Harry Potter; however, the other people I was with convinced me that it would be a good idea to wait in a 45 minute long line to visit a brick wall that had a sign reading Platform 9 ¾. I had no idea what this meant and literally spent an hour after the fact looking up what it was I waited in line for. To me, it seemed like I waited in line to look at some half-assed cheesy birdcage glued to a wall. But apparently there is some significance in the book that has to do with passing through a platform between 9 and 10 in order to get on a train to Hogwarts which is some wizard school or something like that. Unfortunately, this is impossible since there is no wall separating the two platforms since they are in completely different parts of the train station. This did not stop tourism bureau from putting up a sign in I guess where they assumed was close enough to the whatever space bullshit platform to draw in tourists so that they could fork over copious amounts of cash for what amounted to colored fabric manipulated into the shape of some Gollum looking elf thing and stuffed with what I assume is cotton and recycled Styrofoam. Look it up people- J.K. Rowling based the platform on the layout of a different train station and then I guess forgot which one she visited when she wrote the book. More fascinating, I thought, was the real life hawk perching just above the entrance to the subway station.
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Big Ben
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St. Margaret's Church
​Of course, visiting the Harry Potter tourist thing was not really all that bad. The people I was with were super nice. After the train station, we walked to Camden Market where they had really good food at reasonable prices. They also had a lot of record stores, interesting bars, and cool antique places to window shop. 
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On the way, they even had a series of statues that had no description. To the untrained eye, they may appear as mere oblong shapes with no real meaning or purpose. However, being the poop doctor I am, I immediately recognized them for what they were. Ladies and gentlemen, I kindly introduce an interactive sculpted experience better known as “Know Your Shit: The Bristol Stool Scale.” Upon close observation of the modern art pieces, one can clearly see that the artist payed special care to the intricate details of the shit at hand so that the observer could clearly delineate between: ​
Type I: Separate Hard Lumps (very constipated)
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Notice the crucified Jesus on the T-Junction sign. Nice touch.











​Type II: Lumpy and Sausage Like (slightly constipated)
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Type III: A Sausage Shape with Cracks on the Surface (normal)
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I blame the dog
Obviously I cannot be absolutely certain that this is what the artist had in mind, but with Bristol so nearby, I can’t help but believe I’m 100% on the money with my assumption that these statues are literally shit statues. Scientifically accurate shit statues mind you. For those of you skeptics out there, I’m not making this shit up- it is real and you may even be able to get money for donating your poop to assist people with C. difficile infections. I shit you not!
​While walking around town, I discovered that one of the people in our group, Amanda, is a visual development artist for Walt Disney Imagineering. Some of the stuff that she has developed is currently being used in Disneyland theme parks around the world. She had plans to see this show called the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and asked if I’d tag along. Right before the show, we get a message from one of the other people in the room that we were hanging out with earlier that there were bed bugs in our room. So, we go to the show thinking about bugs in our clothes. The show was about a child with Asperger’s and how he dealt with all the things that happen in a dysfunctional family. Personally, I liked the show. It had a very imaginative use of the stage- taking advantage of a geometric grid-line on the floor, ceiling, and walls. After the show, we venture back to our room and get our stuff. The hostel has given us complimentary tokens to wash our clothes as consolation for bed bugs crawling all over everything. This means that the two of us got to spend out Saturday night washing clothes in a small laundry room attached to a bar in the basement. The whole situation was so absurd that we actually had a pretty good time laughing about it.
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Inside Gielgud Theatre
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Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland (a typical summer day)
​Next, I was off to Dublin, Ireland. Although Dublin is known for containing one of the most prestigious colleges in Great Britain (Trinity College), I have not planned to give any lectures here. Dublin is meant to be a time for me to relax and enjoy some live music at local pubs. For Dublin, I have planned to visit the Guinness factory and theOld Jameson distillery (the current distillery is located in Cork). The first place I visit is the Guinness factory. The gift shop here is ridiculous- if you can think of it they’re selling it with the Guinness name slapped on it: Christmas ornaments, t shirts, stuffed animals, hats, sandals, cockrings, you name it! The tour itself is a little underwhelming. Rather than seeing the actual process of brewing, they have a bunch of ‘simulations’ for the brewing process in each room. Technically, they do cover all of the steps for the brewing process; however, as a microbiologist and environmental engineer, I want to see the actual reactors and incubators where the fermentation happens. 
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Met some friendly Indian optometrists at the bar located on the top floor of the Guinness factory.
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"The Store" pretty much captures it all.
​Brewing beer is one of my favorite examples as to how science is practical and understandable. After all, the brewing process is a nice blend of chemical engineering and microbiology. The way microbes (usually yeast in beer, unless you’re making a sour) are manipulated during the brewing process is not too dissimilar to how microbes are manipulated during the wastewater treatment process. For example; many of the materials require pretreatment (chemistry), the reactions are carried out in bioreactors (biology) with specific protocols based on rates (kinetics). At the end, you get a chemical product based on your inputs (chemical engineering) that has a high value (business practical). To put it into perspective, right now many researchers are trying to find ways to produce gasoline in bioreactors that they can then sell for $5 a gallon. A pint of Guinness is $5- there are 8 pints in a gallon- that’s $40 a gallon for Guinness. A pound of barely costs less than $0.07. This means that breweries have been using the simple biology of yeast fermentation to produce a product that people value ~10x more than the gasoline that operates their car! You can watch this delightfully tacky video on how Guinness is made below (please, please, please watch this after minute four- it’s just sooo awful is all the right ways):
​Here is a much more informative and practical video on the science of brewing:
and of course, Coco's visit to the Guinness brewery:
​The next day I go on a free walking tour and meet a guy form Spain named Jordi. He is in Dublin to learn English. We decide to visit the Old Jameson distillery together. The Jameson tour itself is utterly disappointing. There is literally nothing left to see in Dublin in regards to the Jameson distilling and manufacturing process. However, the tour does include a section where you get to taste three different kinds of whiskey and compare them. In this instance you get a Tennessee whiskey (Jack Daniels), a Scotch whisky (Johnnie Walker), and an Irish whiskey (Jameson). This part was really cool because you can really tell the difference between the three kinds by their flavor. The Tennessee whiskey tastes sweet because it is made from at least 51% American corn (this is true for Bourbon as well), the scotch has a smoke flavor because it is made with malted barley that is dried with peat fires, and the Irish  whiskey lacks the sweetness and the smokiness because the barley is not dried with peat fires. Check out this video for more information:
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Jordi and I grab a Guinness at the hostel in Dublin
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Bar at the old Jameson distillery.
​To close out my time in Dublin, I decide to rent a bike for the day to ride to a nearby island called Bull Island and to a nearby mountain called Howth to go on a hike. This is a trip I have been putting off since the day I arrived in Dublin due to the inclement weather. Just the day before, I determined not to go because it was cloudy in the morning and I figured the rain would destroy my day- the rest of the day turned out to be beautiful and I spent it at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. By now, I had learned that, to be Irish you cannot let the weather dictate how you spend your day. In Dublin, it can be pouring rain for five minutes, then clear for five hours, then pour for five minutes- you never know. The first order of business was to find a place to rent a bike- the place was about a thirty minute walk from the hostel. When I get to the place, I am greeted by an oily middle aged man holding a crescent wrench surrounded by about 50 bikes in a warehouse. He greets me in an Irish accent and I ask if I can rent a bike. He takes my 5 pounds and tells me to have a nice day. That’s it- he didn’t even ask my name!
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St. Patrick's Cathedral (Jonathan Swift is buried here)
​On the way to the island (next to Dublin Port – North Bull Wall), the weather is absolutely perfect. The coast is amazing and the view of Dublin from the other side is breathtaking. When I get to the beach, almost no one is there because of the clouds- I guess everyone figures it’s going to rain. I ride my bike along the sand and take in the scenery. I observe that some storm clouds are approaching (there’s always a storm cloud approaching in Dublin) so I find myself off the island and begin to make my way to the Fingal Way on the Howth and follow the Cliff Path before the storm arrives. At the trail head, I lock up my bike and continue my journey on foot. Five times I thought about turning back during this hike due to the apparent severity of the approaching storm, and five times I ultimately decided to trudge on- a few times finding my way into a nearby forest to avoid being completely soaked by the rain.
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On the bridge to Bull Island. Dublin in background
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The beach on Bull Island
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Bull Island 'bog'
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​​I made it off the path by the water and came to a clearing between two mountains. Ahead of me, was a tall hill that appeared to be purple in color. The colors: there were some many vibrant yellows and purples and greens and reds and browns- this place was like walking through a painting. I proceeded to the top of the cliff, despite the large gusts of wind, and took some photos. Fighting through the wind and the rain after riding for over an hour and then hiking to the top of the hill- I felt completely elated. I took a moment to cherish the experience before decided to head back to my bike. By now, the storm was on the water and I knew getting completely drenched was imminent- I rode on.
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​The ride back was just about what you’d expect from an Irish summer day. The rain started coming down almost exactly when I decided to start heading back to the hostel. Since the storm was coming straight at me, the wind was blowing directly against my direction. Droplets of rain water felt like they were piercing my eyes as they fell sideways into them. Nevertheless, I was in a spectacular mood- riding for over an hour in the rain- a lot of the time not able to pedal outside of first gear due to the incline and wind- the entire time singing Alice Cooper with a huge smile on my face.
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Dublin pub crawl with Jordi, Philipp, me, and Hiro.
​That night, a bunch of us from the hostel go on a pub crawl. During this pub crawl, I meet a man named Hiro who happens to live in Kobe, Japan. He had an interesting App on his phone that had a list of words not to say in English when visiting the United Kingdom or the United States. This word list included “18. Fuckathon… fuck you ♦ Fuck Marathon.” We had a good laugh. Since I am going to be at a conference in Kyoto, Japan in two weeks, I have already booked my plane ticket to Japan! We agree to meet up in Kobe if Hiro is in town when I get there.
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Absolute cluster fuck of people, horses, cars, bikes, police, vomit, fish, chips, you name it!
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Live music and this random guy who likes to point at things!
​Next, I take a quick plane ride to Edinburgh, Scotland to enjoy the Fringe Festival. The Fringe Festival is a month long cultural event in Edinburgh that includes street performers, musical acts, comedy acts, and theatrical performances from all over the world. Essentially, during the month of August, every thespian and theatre major in Europe is in Edinburgh. (A street performer tried to sass me during his show so I sassed him right back!) I captured some of the street performances and share them below:
​I knew that I wanted to attend some theatre performances while I was at the Fringe, but was completely overwhelmed by the sheer number of choices. I went through a catalog that had to have been over 200 pages and found a few that looked fun. I met Maria, a friendly Argentinian at the hostel and we agreed to try and see Trainspotting since we had both seen the movie before. When we arrived at the ticket booth, we were informed that Trainspotting is one of the most popular acts during the Fringe and had been sold out for several weeks, but that press passes would be made available in fifteen minutes if members of the press did not claim them. Ok, so we decided to walk around the block to kill some time. When we returned to the box office, there were several groups of people at each of the windows. We managed to find an open window and let the person at the ticket counter know we were interested in getting a ticket to Trainspotting if any were available.  She looked at us and said:
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Maria and I at Edinburgh Castle
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Edinburgh- I have you in my sights!
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Edinburgh, Scotland
​“All these people waiting are looking for the same tickets you are.”
“Oh, are there any available?”
“They have still not opened up in the computer. I will keep refreshing. Once they open up, whoever manages to hit refresh at the right moment will be the person who gets them. I hope you two get them.”
(Waiting in suspense. I had a good feeling. I don’t know why, but I felt like we were going to get the tickets. The clerk frowns. ‘Shit’, I think. She continues to look at the screen with great intensity.)
“Congratulations!”
And just like that, we had two tickets to a completely sold out show, one hour before the performance after decided to attend only a few hours before the moment we had the tickets. 
​With Maria, I attended two shows- both drug related:
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Opening rave at Trainspotting
  • Trainspotting: Trainspotting is based on the film which is based on the book of the same name. The show delves into drug abuse in Edinburgh and how it impacts a small group of Scottish friends. The performance itself is like nothing you have experienced before. Rather than sitting in traditional seats, the audience is made to sit on an area surrounding the ‘stage’ that is no higher than a curb on the side of the street. The act takes place directly in the middle of the audience with actors and actresses interacting directly with the audience. I was hugged once by a sweaty dude, but I saw people get slapped, kissed, touched; there was a moment during a scene where the main character goes through a toilet and was throwing condoms and fake pieces of shit at people in the audience. Lots of male full frontal nudity. This performance started out ‘fun’ like the movie, but got very serious at the end.
  • Reefer Madness: Reefer Madness is essentially ‘Greece’ on marijuana. The basic plot line of this show is that marijuana destroys youth and leads innocent kids astray. However, this message is delivered in a manner that is so over the top that it is very obvious they are being sarcastic. The hyperbole here is that everyone who does marijuana turns into a misanthropic drain on society. Lots of orgy scenes- both in heaven and in hell. It was interesting watching this little spoof on Americana in Scotland, performed by Scottish actors and actresses to an audience nearly completely devoid of Americans. The grand finale even included a visit from FDR himself! This was much more light hearted than Trainspotting.
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Reefer zombies!
​The next day, I met a nice German named Laura that was attending university for physics in Germany and was in Edinburgh to visit a friend of hers. We had a personal conversation about some of the struggles she is going through as a woman in a traditionally male dominated science field. Her idle was Marie Currie! Together, we saw:
  • Company: Company is a musical about being single in New York. The protagonist has a bunch of friends (gay, straight, and lesbian) that are in marriages that make them fundamentally unhappy. She is confronted by this on a daily basis and constantly questions whether it is better to be single or in a relationship. The show had its funny moments and overall I enjoyed the performance.
​While I was in Edinburgh, I made my way over to Holyrood Park for a climb to the top of a mountain located in Edinburgh (are you seeing a pattern here?). The hike is a great opportunity to feel like you are out in the elements even though you are technically in the middle of the city, between old Edinburgh and new Edinburgh. The trail is at a fairly steep incline, but the views of the city make this journey more than worth your while!
Remember 1996? Remember when cloning was all the rage? Remember Dolly the sheep? Well, it turns out that Dolly the Sheep was created in Scotland at Roslin Institute in Edinburgh, Scotland and is now on display at the National Museums of Scotland. As a matter of fact, the carcass of has been stuffed and placed on a Lazy Susan next a realistic pile of faux-shit- yes, this is true! Dolly is significant since she was first mammal cloned from an adult somatic cell, using the process of nuclear transfer. Find out how below (click here for a link to a much more in depth report from the New York Times):
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