Engineering the Future
Engineering the FutureIf you want to succeed in today’s hypercompetitive global economy, there are two things Jen-Hsun Huang wants you to know:
The name of the game is innovation, and innovation is a team sport.
“This is the innovation imperative,” he said.
That’s the message Huang plans to deliver this morning, when he will be the keynote speaker for the grand opening of the Kelley Engineering Center at Oregon State University.
In 1993 Huang cofounded
Nvidia.
Catalyzing Nanotechnology
Catalyzing Nanotechnology by David Pescovitz, ScienceMatters@Berkeley.
The researchers have also explored a method to imprint bulk silica with particle templates as large as 15 nanometers. Rather than organize several functional groups at a time, the synthesis of nanoparticle building blocks for bulk silica imprinting is ideal for organizing thousands of functional groups at once, Katz says.
This slide depicts the synthetic and biological catalysts consisting of similar organic and organometallic active sites. The confined environment surrounding both biological catalysts results from the hydrophobic interior of the enzyme. The researchers successfully replicated this confinement in the synthetic equivalents of the biological active sites shown on the right side of this figure. (courtesy the researchers)
Ministry of Silly Walks
The Mechanics of Foot TravelThe engineers' computer simulations conclude that walking is simply most energy efficient for travel at low speeds, and running is best at higher speeds. And, they report, a third walk-run gait is optimal for intermediate speeds, even though humans do not appear to take advantage of it.
The findings help to explain why the possible--but preposterous--gaits in the Monty Python sketch, "
Ministry of the Silly Walks," have never caught on in human locomotion. The researchers add that extensions of this work might improve the design of prosthetic devices and energy-efficient bipedal robots.
You have to like a government news release that references a Monty Python sketch, don't you? Especially if they realize Monty Python was poking fun at ludicrous government departments (using physical humor). I am glad they choose to add some spice to the scientific news. Learn more about the
Ministry of Silly Walks.
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education
Nanoscale Science and Engineering Education projects funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Abstracts for programs funded given by NSF.
For example
How Do We Know What We Know? Resources for the Public Understanding of Scientific Evidence,
This project is designed to improve communication between scientists and the public focusing on the role of evidence in science. It is a two-year project that includes: 1) implementing a national survey on the public use of science web sites; 2) conducting a national Science Education Outreach Forum bringing together scientists and informal science educators; 3) implementing workshop sessions at a national conference to disseminate lessons learned from the survey and Forum; and 4) developing a prototype website on the role of evidence that will be evaluated for audience engagement and understanding.
This project builds on the Exploratorium's prior NSF-funded project (ESI#9980619) developing innovative strategies using the Internet to link scientists and the public using Webcasts, annotated datasets and interactive web resources. Project collaborators include the Pew Internet and American Life Project, Palmer Station, Scripps Oceanographic Institute, FermiLab and the Society of Hispanic Physicists among others. The research and evaluation of the project has the potential for strategic impact by providing new information and models on how science centers can more effectively use the Internet to improve communication between scientists and the public while engaging learners more effectively.
Arctic System on Trajectory to New, Seasonally Ice-Free State
Arctic System on Trajectory to New, Seasonally Ice-Free State by (see below):
This future Arctic is likely to have dramatically less permanent ice than exists at present. At the present rate of change, a summer ice-free Arctic Ocean within a century is a real possibility, a state not witnessed for at least a million years.
...
The ramifications of a transition to this newsystem state would be profound. The deglaciation of Greenland alone would cause a substantial (up to 6 m) rise in sea level, resulting in flooding along coastal areas where much of the world's population resides.
Jonathan T. Overpeck, Institute for the Study of Planet Earth, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, USA;
Matthew Sturm, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Fort Wainwright, Alaska, USA;
Jennifer A. Francis, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA;
Donald K. Perovich, the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA;
Mark C. Serreze, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
Ronald Benner, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina, USA;
Eddy C. Carmack, Institute of Ocean Sciences, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada;
F. Stuart Chapin III, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA;
S. Craig Gerlach, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA;
Lawrence C. Hamilton, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire, USA;
Larry D. Hinzman of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, Alaska, USA;
Marika Holland, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA;
Henry P. Huntington, Huntington Consulting, Eagle River, Alaska USA;
Jeffrey R. Key, National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Madison, Wisconsin, USA;
Andrea H. Lloyd, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Virginia, USA;
Glen M. MacDonald, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA;
Joe McFadden, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA;
David Noone, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA;
Terry D. Prowse, University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada;
Peter Schlosser, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York, USA;
Charles Vörösmarty, University of New Hampshire, Durham New Hampshire, USA.
E = mc²
That Famous Equation and You by Brian Greene
Over the last couple of decades, this less familiar reading of Einstein's equation has helped physicists explain why everything ever encountered has the mass that it does. Experiments have shown that the subatomic particles making up matter have almost no mass of their own. But because of their motions and interactions inside of atoms, these particles contain substantial energy - and it's this energy that gives matter its heft. Take away Einstein's equation, and matter loses its mass. You can't get much more pervasive than that.
D.C. Red-Light Cameras Fail to Curb Accidents
D.C. Red-Light Cameras Fail to Curb Accidents by Del Quentin Wilber and Derek Willis.
The explanation of the data presented in the article does not support claim made in the headline.
But a Washington Post analysis of crash statistics shows that the number of accidents has gone up at intersections with the cameras. The increase is the same or worse than at traffic signals without the devices.
I'm not sure why accidents should go down at intersections with red light cameras. First what percentage of accidents are caused by red light running? Second, is sending tickets somehow preventive to a specific location?
It would seem the assumption behind their conclusion is people who run red lights are so careful that they notice a camera and chose not to run the red light that they would have otherwise run. That doesn't make much sense to me. If red light cameras work I would think they work because people learn if they run red lights they will be ticketed and therefore stop running all red lights therefore decreasing red light running at all lights. Or perhaps they don't and lose their driver's license due to too many violations.
I can imagine that some people who choose to run red lights figure out that a couple of specific locations that they frequently use have camera and therefore they choose not to run those red lights but continue to run other red lights but this seems unlikely to be of such an impact as to decrease red light running significantly. I would think either red light running everywhere decreases or it does not decrease significantly not that people learn where they can violate the law and where then cannot. Though that is merely conjecture on my part.
Chang and the other traffic specialists said the city should not abandon red-light cameras. Rather, they said, the mixed results indicate that D.C. officials should conduct a thorough review of camera sites.
"They definitely should look at the locations and find where the cameras would be much more effective," said Nicholas J. Garber, a professor of civil engineering at the University of Virginia who studied the use of red-light cameras in Fairfax County.
I am not sure why they think placing a camera is going to get people to stop running that red light. And I am not sure why that would be what you would target anyway. Wouldn't you want people to stop running all red lights?
D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said he remains convinced that the devices are worthwhile. Even if the number of crashes is not going down, he said, citations for red-light running have dropped by about 60 percent at intersections that have cameras.
Ramsey said the number of accidents would be even higher without the cameras, adding that he would like to install them at every traffic light in the city. He pointed to last year's steep decrease in traffic fatalities -- 45 people died compared with 69 in 2003 -- as evidence that the program is working.
Again the article seems to be muddling the analysis of the data. What is the goal of the red lights cameras (to reduce red light running at those intersections or everywhere?). What percentage of accidents are due to red light running?
Injury and fatal crashes climbed 81 percent, from 144 such wrecks to 262. Broadside crashes, also known as right-angle or T-bone collisions, rose 30 percent, from 81 to 106 during that time frame.
Are the conditions (other than the red light cameras) identical to the previous years? If there is more traffic and if more traffic means more accidents then it could be the equivalent of saying that accidents increase as HDTVs were introduced to the marketplace. Why do accidents keep increasing the more that people use HDTV's. Somehow I think more people are driving with cell phones today than in previous years. Are more accidents being caused by drivers with cell phones?
It may be that the actual data has been analyzed sensibly and the article just doesn't explain it well, but based on the data from the article the data doesn't seem to say much of anything of value and doesn't seem to support the conclusions stated in the article.
The increase is the same or worse than at traffic signals without the devices.
You might think this means the cameras are ineffective. However that would only be the case if drivers were so selective with red light running that they chose to run some red lights and not others. And second if the intersections with cameras experienced the same changes as other intersections (same increases in traffic...) and if those intersections were not at some tipping point which meant they would have actually increased by some percentage in excess of the average intersection absent those cameras.
It could be you have 10 really bad intersections and the traffic exceeds the safe capacity and therefore as traffic increases the level of accidents increases at a much greater rate. Then if you took sensible and effective measures at those intersections but those reductions to the accident level were not enough to overcome the deteriorating other conditions (say increased traffic) they could have worse results compared to the average intersection. That data would not support the conclusion that the measures taken were ineffective however, careless analysis of the data could lead some to believe that is what the data said.
Bird Flu Resistant to Main Drug
Bird Flu 'Resistant to Main Drug':
While the H5N1 virus is now mostly passed directly from bird to human, health experts have warned that it is just a matter of time before it mutates into a form that is easily transmissible between people. When that happens, it may result in as many as 150 million human deaths.
Obviously the
1918 flu pandemic should stand as a recent example of the danger posed by flu epidemics. I don't have any ability to judge how likely these threats of "bird flu" are but it seems like we could very easily be failing to invest sufficient resources in fighting such a possibility.
Have bird flu warnings affected you?, BBC
It also is a reminder that we should be careful not to
overuse anti-biotics.
