Daniel Pilchman grew up in Long Beach, CA. He received a Ph.D. in 2014 for his research in bioethics and international law, and has published original research in both fields. He holds degrees from UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, and UC Irvine. He first discovered science as a child working in the vegetable garden with his mother and learning about birds from his grandfather, and has loved it ever since. When he was 12, he designed a nationally award-winning city on Mars. When he was 17, he and a team of classmates designed and created an autonomous and solar-powered robotic band that played the Super Mario theme song. He has been tinkering and inventing and learning ever since.