as told to Eleanor Cummins / illustration by Pedro PiccininiBots of a feather
SIMON GARNIER,
SWARM LAB FOUNDER
AT NEW JERSEY INSTI-
TUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Army ants are
pretty dumb on
their own, but
together they can
form a protective
brigade around
their queen that
can conform to any
shape. We are using
these natural self-
organized systems
to inspire novel
algorithms for
more- intelligent
robot swarms.
Insider info
JOHN ROGERS,
MATERIALS SCIENTIST
AT NORTHWESTERN
UNIVERSITY
Medical devices
typically function
outside the body.
Now, with bioelec-
tronics (which
connect hardware to
living tissue),
we’re going inside.
I made a dissolv-
able sensor that
tracks brain swell-
ing post-injury.
Next up: similar
gadgets that also
deliver drugs.Tiny homes
SUZANNE ISHAQ, MICRO-
BIAL ECOLOGIST AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF OREGON
The microbiome typ-
ically refers to
tiny bugs living on
our skin or in our
guts. But we’ve
begun examining
seemingly inert
sites, such as homes
and offices, and re-
alized those spots
also have biomes.
Most Americans
spend 90 percent of
their time inside,
so understanding
these spaces is key.Primate spotlight
CLAIRE BURKE,
ASTROECOLOGIST AT
LIVERPOOL JOHN
MOORES UNIVERSITY
Telescopes and
computer programs
can detect heat
signatures that
match up with
stars. We turned
that setup around
to count endangered
primates. Drones
and those same al-
gorithms connect
body temperatures
with specific spe-
cies. We call it
astroecology.Changing places
SADIE RYAN, MEDICAL
GEOGRAPHER AT THE
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
Climate change will
have a huge impact
on human health. In
2012, my team found
that malaria’s op-
timal temperature
for transmission is
far lower than we
thought—just 77 de-
grees Fahrenheit.
In Africa, densely
populated areas
will soon be in the
danger zone more
often, so infection
rates could rise.COLLECTIONSblurring the
boundaries
in science
110 FALL 2019 • POPSCI.COM