Scott (Seamus) Kildall

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

Cells Make Light?!? Also, microscopes are fun

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

The First Light Eaters And maybe a purple world

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.

The Florian Schneider Collection The Florian Schneider Collection All property to be shipped or picked up from Gardena, CA, excluding lot 441, which will ship from Germany. Auc...

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 The Listers Movie and Bird Time

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.

The mini backpacks that prove bats hunt birds like fighter jets Scientists analysed Europe’s biggest bats to find how they target their prey, capturing distress calls and even the sound of chewing

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

Bird Songs Are Not What You Think The Listers Movie and Bird Time

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...

Dragonflies: First In Flight And still badass in every way

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

Marvelous Maggot Senila Not as disgusting as you'd think

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

Musical Maggots (7 min version) A journey to Les Organic Farm in Bali where I put bioelectric sensors in a bin of composting maggots. I made an ambient soundscape from the data from their wriggling bodies. Uses a variety of ambient

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

Spidey-sensing Crickets Hyper-evolved defense mechanisms

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

YouTube video by BioSymphonic Musical Maggots

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 love letter to art that dissolves the boundary between human and earth.

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-...