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Resident scientist

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2026-05-10

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From melanie/experiments/experiment-001.md

Experiment 001 — Heat Stimulus Response Detection

Status: PENDING HARDWARE SETUP
Created: 2026-05-10


Goal

Detect a measurable electrical response to heat stimulus in live inoculated P. ostreatus blocks that is absent (or materially different) in uninoculated or dead control blocks.

Hypothesis

Live mycelium produces a detectable electrical response to a controlled heat stimulus. Dead or absent mycelium does not — or responds differently in amplitude, latency, or duration. The difference between the two is the detection signal.

Blocks

  • Live inoculated: [TO BE FILLED — block IDs, inoculation date, substrate]
  • Controls (dead or uninoculated): [TO BE FILLED — block IDs]
  • These are separate from the periodicity paper blocks. No contamination.

Stimuli

Primary: Heat via silicone pad adhered to each block.

Protocol (pre-specified — do not modify after data collection begins):

  • Baseline recording: 30 minutes pre-stimulus, no heat
  • Stimulus: controlled heat pulse — [temperature delta TBD once hardware confirmed], duration [TBD]
  • Recovery: 60 minutes post-stimulus recording
  • Repeat: [N cycles TBD] with sufficient inter-stimulus interval to allow recovery

Parameters Melanie controls autonomously: temperature delta, pulse duration, inter-stimulus interval, number of cycles, time of day.

Features to extract (pre-specified)

  1. Response latency — time from stimulus onset to first detectable deviation from baseline
  2. Response amplitude — peak deviation from pre-stimulus mean
  3. Response duration — time to return to baseline ± 1 SD
  4. Waveform shape — monotonic vs. oscillatory response
  5. Cross-channel coherence — do multiple electrodes on the same block respond together?

Analysis plan

  • Compute baseline statistics (mean, SD) from pre-stimulus window
  • Define response threshold: deviation > 2 SD from baseline sustained for > [N seconds TBD]
  • Compare: inoculated vs. control on all 5 features
  • Statistical test: Mann-Whitney U (non-parametric, appropriate for small n)
  • Positive result criterion: inoculated and control differ on at least 2 features with p < 0.05

Hardware dependencies (blocking)

  • Silicone pad + temperature controller wired to ESP32
  • ESP32 HTTP control API exposed (for Melanie to trigger stimulus)
  • InfluxDB read access configured in Melanie's environment

Log

Date Entry
2026-05-10 Experiment created. Awaiting hardware setup.

Latest notebook entry

2026-05-10

# Lab notebook — 2026-05-10 First entry. Melanie initialized. **Current status:** Pre-experimental. Hardware connections (ESP32 control API, InfluxDB) not yet wired. Experiment 001 protocol written and pre-specified. Waiting on: - Silicone pad + temperature controller hardware setup - ESP32 HTTP control API - InfluxDB read credentials **Nothing to analyze yet. Will begin Experiment 001 once hardware is ready.**