We get mail
Posted in Uncategorized
On the same day I was invited to the White House Conference on the BRAIN Initiative, we also received a personal letter from a man serving a life sentence for a triple homicide. Nicely, both letters…
Scheme-it: online schematics integrated with Digikey
Scheme-it is an online electronics schematics/design tool that is integrated with Digikey’s catalog. This way, you can skip a step and go directly from design to order, without having to spend time sourcing…
MISUMI for customized parts
Posted in Hardware
When fabricating custom parts, starting from raw materials gives you flexibility. However, it is time consuming and design changes can mean starting from scratch. It’s faster if you can find some part off the shelf…
GCaMP6 reporter mice
Posted in Tips
There are a bunch of GCaMP6 mouse lines out now, from Hongkui Zeng (Ai93, Ai95, Ai96 are available), Cris Niell, GENIE (paper), and others. Have you tried any of…
SfN 2014 – Barrels XXVII registration
Posted in Uncategorized
There’s still time to register for Barrels XXVII.
Register
Dendritic Processing in Somatosensory and Visual Cortices
Moderator: Robert Sachdev, Yale University/Charité-Berlin
Arthur Konnnerth, Technische Universität München
Matthew Larkum, Humboldt Universität Berlin
Jeff Magee,…
SfN Short Courses – Advanced techniques
Posted in Uncategorized
Sign up now for SfN Short Courses. In addition to the excellent material that is covered, these workshops can be a great opporunity to make new connections with like-minded people– scientists with the…
Cubehelix color scheme
Posted in Software
Cubehelix is a color scheme that retains contrast as it is desaturated (top), as opposed to a more typical rainbow scheme (bottom). It’s great for look-up-tables (LUTs).
Dave Green’s web site has multiple…
Personal laser cutter
Posted in Hardware
It’s easy to underestimate the implications of running a laser cutter. Toxic fumes, tons of space occupied (machine and stock materials), breakdowns. It’s maybe not worth it since there are so many companies that will…
OpenTrons – liquid handling robots for high throughput
Posted in Hardware
OpenTrons is a project to develop an open architecture for liquid handling lab robots. Actually, they’re more versatile than that. They can also be used for related robotic tasks, such as pick-and-place machines. They…
Abbe Diffraction setup
Posted in Hardware
Kurt Thorn shared the parts list for his Abbe diffraction setup. He describes how to use it in his blog post, but you can also check out his talk.
…
OpenLabTools at Cambridge
OpenLabTools is a new initiative at Cambridge University, using engineering students to develop modular lab equipment.
The OpenLabTools initiative aims to provide a forum and knowledge centre for the development of low cost and…
Barrels XXVII
Posted in Uncategorized
The focus of the Barrels XXVII meeting is still very much on barrel cortex, but they’re generously permitting a bit of visual cortex work to be presented. Here’s more information (pdf link-but the…
Optomechanics and microscopy technical notes – many items
Posted in Hardware
Vojnovic’s group at Oxford has dozens of technical notes. Most are concise, and include software code, if applicable. SolidWorks files and PCB files are available on request.
Here are a few examples:
Cardboard for prototyping
Posted in Tips
Anonymous tipster Alfred shared this snapshot of a ThorLabs Quick Bites box repurposed as a project box.
Cardboard isn’t a bad thing to prototype things up with, for example:
Google’s stereoscopic goggles
Relatedly, here’s …
DIY Von Frey filaments
Posted in Hardware