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Terra, Ar, Fogo, Água, e Entropia: A História de Como a Informação Foi Forjada Segundo o Pioneiro da Internet e da Biologia Sintética Randy Rettberg

Clarissa Reche, Érico Sant Anna Perrella June 27, 2023
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Nosso primeiro encontro com Randy Rettberg foi um tanto surreal. Não que os outros não fossem—a atmosfera sui generis está sempre presente—mas aquele primeiro encontro foi ambientado em um cenário tão distante da nossa realidade cotidiana que parecia que tínhamos sido jogados em um romance de ficção científica. Aconteceu em 2022 e estávamos um pouco desorientados após dez horas de viagem transatlântica e duas horas andando de Bentleys até o interior da Inglaterra. Era julho, e havíamos deixado o vento frio e seco do nosso quase nunca rigoroso inverno brasileiro para encontrar um agradável sol de verão que banhava suavemente as terras inglesas. As pessoas presentes estavam de bom humor e sorridentes. Alguém nos disse que era um momento atípico, que a vida não era tão brilhante na maioria das vezes. Tivemos sorte. Pelo menos o clima nos fez sentir um pouco em casa, mas só isso. (read more...)

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Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Entropy: Internet and Synthetic Biology Pioneer Randy Rettberg’s Story on How Information Was Forged

Clarissa Reche, Érico Sant Anna Perrella June 27, 2023
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Our first encounter with Randy Rettberg was somewhat surreal. Not that the others weren’t—the sui generis atmosphere is always present—but that first meeting was set in a scenario so far from our everyday reality that it felt like we’d been thrown into a science fiction novel. It happened in 2022 and we were a bit disoriented after ten hours of transatlantic travel and two hours riding Bentleys to the British countryside. It was July, and we had left the cold and dry wind of our almost never rigorous Brazilian winter to find a pleasant summer sun that gently bathed the English lands. The people there were in a good mood and smiling. Someone told us that it was an atypical moment, that life was not so bright most of the time. We got lucky. At least the weather made us feel a little bit at home, but only that. (read more...)

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Making Bioethnographic Teams Work: Disciplinary Destabilization, Generative Friction, and the Role of Mediators

Zoe Boudart, Catherine Borra June 22, 2023
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Increasingly, scholars across the life and social sciences recognize the necessity of multi-method, interdisciplinary research for its ability to adequately understand the world’s complex problems. However, the process of designing and executing these projects can be challenging. Interdisciplinary endeavors often risk privileging one discipline/methodological paradigm with others incorporated in a more consultative manner (i.e. quantitative versus qualitative), or, they run in-parallel without integrating epistemologies and methodologies (Lewis 2021). Examples of symmetric and integrative projects which unsettle disciplinary boundaries to afford new kinds of knowledge remain few and far between. (read more...)

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Becoming a Socialite: How Virtual “Fakeness” Produces Material Realities among Urban Chinese Gay Men

Yifeng Troy Cai June 20, 2023

On Chinese gay dating apps, “fake profiles” are a constant concern: photos might have been altered or biometrics might have been fabricated. Offline, the person might barely resemble their profile. The lived experiences of Chinese gay men, however, show us that the fake is not always antithetical to the real. The fake, under certain circumstances, could enact material realities of its own. Gay socialites (同志名媛, tongzhi mingyuan) in urban China’s gay community are cases in point. (read more...)

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How Microbes Became Friendly: Visualizations of the Microbiome in Public Media

Janelle Curry, Alexandra Widmer June 15, 2023
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The biology, as astonishing as it is, does not tell us what it will mean. -Stephan Helmreich, “Homo Microbis” (2014, 4) Within microbiome research, the human body can be recast as a host of microbial ecologies, a “supraorganism” or “holobiont.” From this comes new ways of understanding and treating digestive diseases as well as illnesses associated with brain functioning, like depression and Alzheimer’s. This research reflects the increasing emphasis in the life sciences on “life as process” (Dupre and O’Malley 2007, Dupre 2020), and in the social sciences on the body as “biosocial” (Niehwöhner and Lock 2018). We take up these insights and examine one way that these ontologies of body and environment circulate in public ways by analyzing how the human body is depicted in relation to microbes and environments through public visualizations of the human microbiome. (read more...)

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Cómo los Microbios Se Volvieron Amistosos: Visualizaciones del Microbioma en los Medios de Comunicación Públicos

Alexandra Widmer, Janelle Curry June 15, 2023
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La biología, por asombrosa que sea, no nos dice lo que significará. -Stephan Helmreich, “Homo Microbis” (2014, 4) Dentro de la investigación sobre el microbioma, el cuerpo humano puede refundirse como un anfitrión de ecologías microbianas, un “supraorganismo” u “holobionte.” De ahí surgen nuevas formas de entender y tratar las enfermedades digestivas, así como las enfermedades asociadas al funcionamiento del cerebro, como la depresión y el Alzheimer. Esta investigación refleja el creciente énfasis en las ciencias de la vida en la “vida como proceso” (Dupre y O’Malley 2007, Dupre 2020), y en las ciencias sociales en el cuerpo como “biosocial” (Niehwöhner y Lock 2018). Retomamos estas ideas y examinamos una forma en que estas ontologías del cuerpo y el entorno circulan de forma pública analizando cómo se representa el cuerpo humano en relación con los microbios y los entornos a través de visualizaciones públicas del microbioma humano. (read more...)

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Platypod, Episode Seven: An Anthropology of Data, AI, and Much More

Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes June 13, 2023
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Download the transcript of this interview. For this episode of Platypod, I talked to Dr. Tanja Ahlin about her research, work, and academic trajectory. She’s currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, and her work focuses on intersections of medical anthropology, social robots, and artificial intelligence. I told her of my perspective as a grad student, making plans and deciding what routes to take to be successful in my field. Dr. Ahlin was very generous in sharing her stories and experiences, which I’m sure are helpful to other grad students as well. Enjoy this episode, and contact us if you have questions, thoughts, or suggestions for other episodes.  (read more...)

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Platypod, Episódio Sete: Sobre Antropologia dos Dados, Inteligência Artificial e Muito Mais

Ana Carolina de Assis Nunes June 13, 2023
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Para este episódio de Platypod, conversei com a Dra. Tanja Ahlin sobre sua pesquisa, trabalho e trajetória acadêmica. Tanja Ahlin é atualmente pesquisadora de pós-doutorado na Universidade de Amsterdã, na Holanda, e seu trabalho se concentra nas interseções da antropologia médica, robôs sociais e inteligência artificial. Em nossa conversa, contei a ela sobre minha perspectiva como estudante de pós-graduação, que faz planos e tenta traçar rotas que me levarão ao sucesso em minha área de pesquisa. A Dra. Ahlin foi muito generosa em compartilhar as suas histórias e experiências, que tenho certeza também serão úteis para outres estudantes de pós-graduação em antropologia e Estudos em Ciência, Tecnologia e Sociedade . Espero que você aproveite este episódio e entre em contato conosco se tiver dúvidas, comentários ou sugestões para outros episódios. (read more...)

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