In order to Do No Harm, Caretaker Robots need to be able to detect life. One possible way to accomplish this is by detecting biophotons emitted by living things. I first became aware of biophotons while reading about some of the research of Dr. Fritz-Albert Popp in The Field by Lynne McTaggart.
“we are still on the threshold of fully understanding the complex relationship between light and life, but we can now say emphatically, that the function of our entire metabolism is dependent on light.”
Dr. Fritz Albert Popp
Although there are many ramifications for other areas of science/medicine/theology, our approach to this branch of science is quite simple: If our Caretaker Robots detect the presence of a living organism, they leave it unharmed in the course of their work. Detection of boiphotons is the tricky part. A recent study released by the University of Calgary may contain some science that makes our work of detecting life that much more possible: Imaging Ultraweak Photon Emission from Living and Dead Mice and from Plants under Stress.
The key is making the life-detection area as dark as possible (covering it with some kind of light-blocking structure) and using CCD and EMCCD cameras to capture the biophotons emitted by living biological organisms.
With this technology, our Caretaker Robots can perform their cleanup tasks without harming a single earthworm, insect, or small animal.
“… imaging provides the possibility of non-invasive label-free imaging of vitality in animals and the responses of plants to stress.”
V. Salari, V. Seshan, L. Frankle, D. England, C. Simon, D. Oblak
We are currently exploring the use of CCD and EMCCD cameras in our Caretaker Robots to give them the power to detect life; in order to Do No Harm.
EMCCD cameras are priced at an average of $2,000 per unit. We would like to avoid adding expensive hardware to our Caretaker Robots: They need to be inexpensive enough to be safe from targeting by technology thieves, but expensive enough to perform their assigned cleanup tasks.
We are also exploring inexpensive ways to detect the presence of biophotons. Towards that end, we are keeping our eyes on the Canadian Quantum Sensors Challenge program, which may lower the price barriers for this area of technology.
Combining biophoton detection with considerably less expensive life-detection methods (such as heat, motion, sound, LiDAR, and standard imagery) could strike the balance needed to achieve our goals.
Leave a Reply