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Cloud Labs: Where Robots Do the Research
Article

Cloud Labs: Where Robots Do the Research

A host of companies provide a remote, automated workforce for conducting experiments around the clock.

Nature, 2023


Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Scientific

Recommendation

The reproducibility crisis has plagued many fields of biomedical research. Automating lab work, by outsourcing experiments to “cloud labs” full of programmable machines, can solve this problem. These labs are also more efficient, and allow remote and underserved scientists access to state-of-the-art equipment. Such labs may well be where scientific breakthroughs are made in the future.

Take-Aways

  • Cloud labs are like a streaming service, but for lab equipment instead of media content.
  • Outsourcing lab work is convenient, highly reproducible and can help promote equity.
  • Carnegie Mellon University Cloud Lab will be the first to operate in an academic setting.

About the Author

Carrie Arnold is a freelance science writer covering many aspects of health and the living world. She has written for a wide variety of magazines and publications, including Scientific American, Discover, Slate, Aeon, Nautilus and Women’s Health.


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