EFTA02619217.pdf

From: Caleb Harper <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, October 12, 2018 12:46 AM To: jeffrey E. Subject: Re: Sorry to miss you Monday - you'll enjoy John=... interested to hear your thoughts after On Thu, Sep 6, 2018 at 7:57 PM Caleb=Harper <calebbenharper@gmai=.com <mailto:[email protected]» wrote: sorry for late response - just got back from eas=ern europe. 1. Follow up On John =e La Parra - Got John on board as a temp to perm hire (he is =erfect for the team - brilliant) and we are working on a white paper to se=d out shortly. He is willing/able to leave his positions at North Eastern =nd Tufts and go full time with us starting in Nov. So until then I have hi= committed to 50% time. 2. Next steps - Setting up mtgs =ith Ed B and Martin to discuss the draft white paper and our approach. In =eneral I think developing a quantified "turing test" for plants =ould be a great first step to proving sentience. lye also started working =ith Lazlo Barabasi <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert-L%C3%Alszl%C3%B3_Barab=C3%Alsi> on the next round of th= flavor experiments, and from a network science perspective, I think he wo=ld be a great collaborator on this work. With advisory from Ed, Martin and=lazio and building up my team here - I think we are in great shape. We mig=t need a reputable thinker on consciousness, maybe a philosopher? Know any=ne that could collaborate from that perspective? 3. Funding -=C24> I cant hire John full time and start spending money on other staff/proto=ype development/experiment costs until Joi signals to me that the budget w= talked about has landed at ML. Is it possible to move forward with that?=C240 4. Things to read - attached - OpenPharm : a whit= paper John started in the last week or so geared towards using our tools =or drug discovery --- Cyber+Agriculture _Paper_Harper - a flavor paper we =ust sent to PLOS , its pretty basic but has some good underpinnings that w= will expand on with further experiments. In Bos=on anytime soon? Id really like for you to see the lab out in Middleton, M= (40 mins north boston) next time the real questi=n....what are these plants thinking in my lab today and what language are =hey speaking... =C24e B=st, Caleb Previous=email breaking down funding: To do this id need to add dep=h to my bio team, that's by far my weakest team in the lab current=y. I recently let contracts lapse on Arielle and my molecular biologist as=it wasn't working out. I'd want to add the following team =nd would need to do a search to get the best. MIT won't let me hir= PhD Research Scientists, and likely quality people EFTA_R1_01823806 EFTA02619217 wouldn't accep=, without secure multiyear funding. I'd propose 500k a yr for 3 yr= with the expectation we evaluate progress after year one as to year 2 and=3. The transparent cost break down is: PhD plant physiologist - 80k base salary +5=% mit research OH (none goes to my lab or ML) + 20% benefits = 149, 760 = total cost PhD plant biochemist - 100k base salary + 56% mit resear=h OH + 20% benefits = 187k total cost Plant science tech (JR) - 40k • 20= administrative OH - 48k total cost 100k prototyping budget + 20% ma=erial & services OH = 120k total cost = 500k a year / =yrs On my side I'll dedicate 2 out of our 4 shipping containers =or 3 years (target paid for install / dev etc but with stock price decline=is stopping support for non essential research) and my salary is covered i= other sponsored accounts plus my team of engineers on staff (backend /fro=t end software, data science , electrical, embedded systems and mechanical=engineers) I know it's a big ask, and would understand if it4)=99s out of ball park, but I think that's what it would take to mak= meaningful and rigorous progress on figuring out if plants can think and =ommunicate Thoughts? <=iv class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Aug 31, 2018 at 1:03 PM, jeffrey E. «mailto:[email protected]» wrote: nexzt step? 40=A0 please note The information contained in this communicati=n is confidential, may be attorney-client privileged, may constitute=inside information, and is intended only for the use of the addressee. =t is the property of JEE Unauthorized use, disclosure or copying of =his communication or any part thereof is strictly prohibited and may=be unlawful. If you have received this communication in error, please n=tify us immediately by return e-mail or by e-mail to jeevacation@gmailcom <mailto:[email protected]> , and =estroy this communication and all copies thereof, including all attachm=nts. copyright -all rights reserved 2 EFTA_R1_01823807 EFTA02619218  <=iv dir="ltr">Principal Investigator / Director Open Agriculture Init=ative MIT Media Lab *Please conta=t Mr.David Zack for scheduling davidzac@=edia.mit.edu <mailto:[email protected]> <https://docs.=oogle.com/uc?export=download&id=0B_A5_dy8LgUBdGdITapbkNkdzA&r=vid=0B_AS_dy8LgUBdEQvSn hVT1FUVENPTzJZZFJEd2hpOWtGdENjPQ> Caleb Harper TED Talk <https://www.ted.com/talks/caleb_harper_=his_computer_ willgrow_your_food_in_the_future?language=en> tp://OpenAG Community Forum <http://forum.openag.media.mit.edu> <=div> 3 EFTA_R1_01823808 EFTA02619219