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Science at SXSW

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


This year will be my first time going to SXSW Interactive and I'm super excited. Here are a few of the science/tech/art panels that I'll be going to.

March 10:

  • Rethinking How to Communicate Science

    "Communicating about science requires balancing competing interests with conflicting evidence. The craft of science communication will evolve with new technology and the ways we decipher the political, social and economic context of available evidence will be increasingly critical."

  • Data Visualization and the Future of Research

    "This panel focuses on developments in data visualization strategies but will also covers the basics of data, some major issues with data analysis and data visualization, and prominent theories of visualization."


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March 11:

  • Brain As Interface: Future of Bio-Computing

    "Computer interfaces are evolving rapidly...We'll take a brief look at the evolution of interfaces for a historical perspective, then discuss the potential and perils of biological computing."

  • The European Tech Art Scene

    "Share director Simona Lodi will show video work by Paolo Cirio, Liens Invisibles, Stelarc, Lia, and Lucas Bambozzi. Bruce Sterling and Jasmina Tesanovic will describe the work of judging tech art, and how a Texan and a Serbian gleefully participate in a European creative scene."

March 12:

  • Get Excited and Make Things with Science

    "Science should be disruptively accessible – empowering people from a variety of different backgrounds to explore, participate in, and build new ways of interacting with and contributing to science."

  • iPlant: Advanced Computing to Feed the World

    "This session will describe The iPlant Collaborative, a large-scale project bringing high-end computing, data, and software resources to bear on the grand challenges of plant biology."

And of course, my panel with Patrick Boyle, Daisy Ginsberg, and Jason Kelly! Designing Living Things on March 9th.

  • "Synthetic biology aims to re-engineer living cells to sustainably produce fuels, medicines, and materials. With the promise of a new industrial revolution on the horizon, understanding the language of biotechnology will be more crucial than ever. This panel features a new generation of leaders in biotechnology from industry, academia, art and design discussing the future of biology."

Christina Agapakis is a biologist, designer, and writer with an ecological and evolutionary approach to synthetic biology and biological engineering. Her PhD thesis projects at the Harvard Medical School include design of metabolic pathways in bacteria for hydrogen fuel production, personalized genetic engineering of plants, engineered photosynthetic endosymbiosis, and cheese smell-omics. With Oscillator and Icosahedron Labs she works towards envisioning the future of biological technologies and synthetic biology design.

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