The present invention provides methods and apparatus for acquisition, compression, and characterization of spatiotemporal signals. In one aspect, the invention assesses self-similarity over the entire length of a spatiotemporal signal, as well as on a moving attention window, to provide cost effective measurement and quantification of dynamic processes. The invention also provides methods and apparatus for measuring self-similarity in spatiotemporal signals to characterize, adaptively control acquisition and/or storage, and assign meta-data for further detail processing. In some embodiments, the invention provides for an apparatus adapted for the characterization of biological units, and methods by which attributes of the biological units can be monitored in response to the addition or removal of manipulations, e.g., treatments. The attributes of biological units can be used to characterize the effects of the abovementioned manipulations or treatments as well as to identify genes or proteins responsible for, or contributing to, these effects.