I'm a biologist who uses robots to study animals. Counter-intuitive, right? How can you study life by studying machines? It gets better --> I'm interested in how long-extinct species may have evolved. The trouble is that dead fossils tell no tales: their behavior isn't preserved in the rocks! That's where robots come in. We design a special class of robots, called biorobots, to mimic and simplify animals. We build biorobots to be autonomous, meaning that they act on their own, in the world, without a human remote controller. We use autonomous biorobots to re-enact the game of life, evolution. For more, read Darwin's Devices! Also visit: blog: http://pages.vassar.edu/darwinsdevices/ FaceBook page: www.facebook.com/DarwinsDevices Twitter: @DarwinsDevices By the way, I'm a professor of Biology and Cognitive Science at Vassar College. I'm also the Chairman of the Biology Department and the Director of the Interdisciplinary Robotics Research Laboratory. But I'm NOT John Long, the famous paleontologist and author, nor John Long, the famous rock climber and author, nor John Long, the author who lives in France, nor John Long, the former Detroit Piston. Phew. Who, then, am I? I'm John H. Long, Jr., the one holding a Ph.D. in Zoology (specializing in biomechanics) from Duke University, and Darwin's Devices is my first book.
