HPC In the News
Millions of Websites Hit by Drupal Hack Attack
BBC News
The sites use Drupal to manage web content and images, text and video. Drupal has issued a security warning saying users who did not apply a patch for a recently discovered bug should "assume" they have been hacked. It said automated attacks took advantage of the bug and can let attackers take control of a site. In its "highly critical" announcement, Drupal's security team said anyone who did not take action within seven hours of the bug being discovered on October 15 should "should proceed under the assumption" that their site was compromised. To read further, please visit http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-29846539.
Why Are Women Leaving Science, Engineering, And Tech Jobs?
U.S. women working in science, technology engineering, and math (STEM) fields are 45 percent more likely than males to leave the industry over the next year, according to a recent Center for Talent Innovation survey. Although 80 percent of the women surveyed say they love their work, many still report barriers to advancing their careers. "Women entering STEM fields have a much shorter runway for career takeoff than women entering other industries," the report says. Surveyed women describe the "lab-coat culture" of science that encourages long hours, the "hard-hat culture" of engineering, and the frat-like "geek workplace culture" of technology, all of which discourage women from advancing or even joining in the first place. The study also found 86 percent of women in the United States lack sponsors, which significantly holds them back from progressing to more senior level positions. In addition, 72 percent of women surveyed reported sensing gender bias at work in their evaluations. A recent Fortune study of performance reviews from 28 companies in the technology industry found almost 88 percent of women received critical feedback compared to just 59 percent of men. To read further, please visit http://www.fastcompany.com/3037075/strong-female-lead/why-are-women-are-leaving-science-engineering-tech-jobs.
SC14 News
Coming Attractions: Print ‘n Fly Guide to New Orleans Cuisine
It’s been four years since the SC supercomputing conference came to the great city of New Orleans. At insideHPC, we are getting ready with an all-new Print ‘n Fly Guide to SC14 New Orleans. To give you a taste of the Local’s Guide to New Orleans Cuisine, please visit http://insidehpc.com/locals-guide-to-new-orleans-dining/.
HPC Call for Participation
Call for Abstracts: Rice University Oil and Gas Workshop
Abstract Submission Deadline – November 14, 2014
The Oil and Gas High Performance Computing (HPC) Workshop, hosted annually at Rice University, is the premier meeting place for discussion of challenges and opportunities around high performance computing, information technology, and computational science and engineering. The Program Committee is pleased to invite you to participate in the 8th annual workshop. Rice encourages you to submit a technical abstract(s) to be considered for the workshop program. The workshop offers ample opportunities to attend talks, engage in networking and technical conversation, and talk with students about research and employment opportunities. For complete information, including submission guidelines, please visit http://rice2015.og-hpc.org/call-for-abstracts/.
Upcoming Workshops, Conferences and Webinars
SDSC WorDS Center Workflow Hackathon
November 4, 2014 – San Diego Supercomputer Center, La Jolla, California
Have any data science applications you want to experiment with and scale? Join us for the second and last WorDS Hackathon event of 2014. Build your own applications or just choose one from a list of pre-designed challenges. Based on individual use cases, we will help you hack workflow-driven applications by building a prototype of your workflows from scratch, running them on HPC/cloud/cluster resources, ensuring reproducibility via provenance tracking, and wrapping them as web applications. For more information and to register, please visit http://words.sdsc.edu/events.
Research News From Around the World
NCSA’s Brown Dog Digs Into the Deep, Dark Web
Researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign's National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) are developing Brown Dog, a Web-based tool designed to make accessing unstructured data significantly easier. The researchers say Brown Dog is an effort to bring together all of the best existing automated tools for accessing data. The two primary components are the Data Access Proxy (DAP) and the Data Tilling Service (DTS). The DAP is embedded into a user's machine settings and operates like an Internet gateway. When the machine requests data over HTTP, the DAP will determine if the machine can read the native file and, if not, convert it into the best possible readable format, all in the background. To read further, please visit http://gcn.com/articles/2014/10/10/brown-dog-deep-web-search.aspx.
Uprising: Less Prestigious Journals Publishing Greater Share of High-Impact Papers
Science
There is a growing trend of greater egalitarianism among scientific journal articles, with clear suggestions that online article-sharing platforms are part of the driving force behind this change, according to a new study by the team behind Google Scholar. As part of Google Scholar's 10th anniversary the team looked back at the articles on the service to see if the publications from which the most popular articles are drawn had changed over time. They examined articles published between 1995 and 2013 in 261 subject areas within nine broad scientific fields, with the top 10 journals in any area defined as elite. Elite journals included the likes of Science and Nature, and the team found in 1995 only 27 percent of citations pointed to articles from non-elite journals, but by 2013 that number was 47 percent. To read further, please visit http://news.sciencemag.org/scientific-community/2014/10/uprising-less-prestigious-journals-publishing-greater-share-high-impact.
NIH Makes $32 Million in Awards to Mine Big Data
Science Insider
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently announced $32 million in new awards that will support research designed to make it easier to analyze and use biological data sets. The awards are part of NIH's Big Data to Knowledge (BD2K) initiative, which was launched last year to help foster efforts to make it easier for researchers to manipulate and make sense of large data sets such as those found in the study of genomics, proteins, and medical imaging. The awards will grant $2 million to $3 million a year over four years to 11 "centers of excellence" researching everything from modeling cell signaling in cancer to ways of integrating data gathered from wearable sensors worn by health study volunteers. To read further, please visit http://news.sciencemag.org/biology/2014/10/nih-makes-32-million-awards-mine-big-data.
UC Berkeley Awarded $4.5 Million for Big-Data Projects in Ecology, Astronomy & Microscopy
Three University of California, Berkeley professors will each receive $1.5 million over the next five years from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation as part of the foundation's Data-Driven Discovery Initiative, which was launched to enable new types of scientific breakthroughs by supporting interdisciplinary, data-driven researchers. The three researchers are among 14 new Moore Investigators in Data-Driven Discovery, who together will receive $21 million in unrestricted funds to "harness the unprecedented diversity of scientific data now available and answer new kinds of questions," according to the initiative. Berkeley professor Laura Waller wants to capture less data in less time using inexpensive equipment, but to do so in a smart way that still produces images that are as good as expensive optical and X-ray microscopes. Berkeley professor Joshua Bloom is teaching computers to analyze data in real time to pick out anomalies that may indicate new cosmic phenomena. Berkeley professor Laurel Larsen is modeling ecosystems to understand how local changes in the environment impact larger areas, and how brief events can have long-lasting effects.
How Many Scholarly Papers Are on the Web? At Least 114 million, Professor Finds
Pennsylvania State University (PSU) researchers recently conducted a study of two major academic search engines to estimate the number of scholarly documents available on the Web. They calculated the number by studying the overlap in coverage of Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic Search. Google Scholar is a freely accessible Web search engine that indexes the full text of scholarly literature across an array of publishing formats and disciplines, while Microsoft Academic Search is a free public search engine for academic papers and literature. The researchers used statistical methods to estimate that at least 114 million English-language scholarly documents are accessible on the Web, of which at least 27 million are freely available since they do not require a subscription or payment of any kind. To read further, please visit http://news.psu.edu/story/329490/2014/10/09/research/how-many-scholarly-papers-are-web-least-114-million-professor-finds.
Educator News and Opportunities
Registration Now Open - Project GUTS: Growing Up Thinking Scientifically CS4HS Course
Curse Begins - November 24, 2013
Course Ends – January 16, 2015
With support from the Google CS4HS program, Santa Fe Institute’s Project GUTS: Growing Up Thinking Scientifically is offering a free online course focused on teacher professional development in computer modeling and simulation.
Project GUTS CS4HS provides eight weeks of free online instruction to educators who are interested in embedding computer science within regular school day science classes through the integration of computer modeling and simulation. Course materials will be posted online at the start of the course to enable teachers to progress through the coursework at their own pace. This course was designed for middle and high school teachers interested in learning how to integrate computer science concepts and practices within the context of earth, life, and physical science classes. The Project GUTS modules infuse computational thinking into science classes by engaging students in using, modifying, and creating computer models and conducting scientific investigations using their computer models as experimental test beds. For more information and to register, please go to: https://guts-cs4hs.appspot.com.
Kentucky Uses IdeaFestival to Push Students Toward Hour of Code Movement
TechRepublic
Kentucky Coders hopes to register 1 million Hour of Code coding events before December, starting at the 2014 IdeaFestival, an international event held in Louisville. The Hour of Code movement was launched by Code.org, which wants to have millions of people try Hour of Code during Computer Science Education Week, which takes place December 8-14, 2014. "The Hour of Code is intended to get kids excited about taking their first steps for computer science education that they can continue either in the classroom or outside of the classroom," says Code.org's Cameron Wilson. Twenty students from the Louisville Urban League's Project Ready Program plan to learn coding at IdeaFestival. The students are attending as guests of Louisville tech company Net Tango, which also will speak with the students about careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Code.org says Kentucky is one of 23 states where students can take computer science classes for credit toward high school graduation. To read further, please visit http://www.techrepublic.com/article/kentucky-uses-ideafestival-to-push-students-toward-hour-of-code-movement/.
Tech Jobs: Minorities Have Degrees, but Don't Get Hired
USA Today
Top universities graduate minority computer science and engineering students at twice the rate that leading technology companies hire them, according to USA Today. On average, black and Hispanic technology employees at seven leading Silicon Valley tech firms make up just 2 and 3 percent of the total workforce, respectively, while about twice as many received bachelor's degrees in computer science or engineering from prestigious universities last year, according to data from the Computing Research Association (CRA). USA Today analyzed the data from CRA's annual Taulbee Survey, which includes 179 U.S. and Canadian universities that offer doctorates in computer science and engineering. TO READ FURTHER, PLEASE VISIT http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2014/10/12/silicon-valley-diversity-tech-hiring-computer-science-graduates-african-american-hispanic/14684211/.
Making the Internet Accessible for Everyone – You Can Help
Sunne Wright McPeak, President and CEO of the California Emerging Technology Fund (CETF), is asking people who want to reduce the “Digital Divide” to sign a petition to help make the Internet affordable for those who can least afford it. The CETF is a statewide non-profit organization whose mission is to close the Digital Divide by accelerating the deployment and adoption of broadband. Having Internet Access at home is important for all students, including those who live in the most disadvantaged and impoverished neighborhoods. According to McPeak: “One in four Californians do not have Internet at home and we have a unique opportunity to change that.” McPeak said: “Many of you have already endorsed the 5 Recommendations we are making to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to hold Comcast accountable for improving and expanding its affordable Internet offer, Internet Essentials. Now we are asking you sign a petition urging the FCC to act on the recommendations and make Internet affordable for those who can least afford it. To learn more and take part, please visit http://www.thepetitionsite.com/644/744/997/tell-comcast-and-the-fcc-we-need-affordable-internet-for-all-now/.
Get Ready for the 2014 Hour of Code
December 8-14, 2014 - Computer Science Education Week
Computers are everywhere, but fewer schools teach computer science than 10 years ago. If you heard about the Hour of Code last year, you might know it made history. In one week, 15 million students tried computer science! Code.org has developed the Hour of Code as a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. If you did this last year, you know that students loved it. There are new tutorials for students of all ages and ones that require no computer at all. Please visit http://hourofcode.com/us to watch an informational video and to learn more.
Student Engagement and Opportunities
New Research Competition for High School Students
April 7-9, 2014 – Cambridge, Massachusetts
First Abstract Submission Deadline – January 7, 2015
The INSPIRE student group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is pleased to invite you to participate in MIT INSPIRE, a new national research competition in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, organized by MIT students, exclusively for high school students. The first of its kind on a national scale, INSPIRE will enable students like you to showcase and present original research in one of thirteen fields, ranging from anthropology to music, economics, and philosophy. Expert judges will award prizes for the most outstanding work in each category. For eligibility criteria and application information, please visit http://getinspired.mit.edu/.
2015 Computing Sciences Summer Student Program at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Req #80142
For students majoring in Computational Science, Computer Science, Mathematics and related science and engineering fields, Berkeley Lab Computing Sciences hosts a 10-12-week research summer program that provides students with the opportunity to gain research experience. Participants will work on projects in computational research, high performance computing, high speed networking or a collaboration of each, under the guidance of one or more staff members. Berkeley Lab, located in Berkeley, CA is a world leader in computing, biological, physical, materials, chemical, and energy sciences research. For additional information, please visit https://lbl.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?lang=en&job=80142.
Meet the Young Women Helping to Build the Future of Robotics.
In a larger climate where women face discrimination in a number of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and have a high dropout rate, a growing number of all-girls teams are entering robotics competitions — and winning. Girls of Steel, Exit 5 Robotics and Space Cookies are just a few of the all-girls teams beating out the boys. They’re challenging the backwards idea that girls struggle in STEM, one circuit at a time. If you haven’t seen it before, the FIRST Robotics Competition is one of the biggest of its kind. The new season officially gets underway in January and teams around the country are starting to prep for the 2015 season. Teams around the world design and build their own robots to compete in the annual championships. For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, or FIRST, is an organization founded by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen in 1989. It seeks to inspire young people to take an interest in STEM and hosts robotics competitions throughout the country, including the world championship each spring in St. Louis. Out of 2,700 total FIRST Robotics Competition teams, there are 31 active all-girls teams. To read further, please visit http://mic.com/articles/102426/meet-the-young-women-helping-to-build-the-future-of-robotics.
Other Computational News
Build Something: The Computer Science Answer to Habitat for Humanity
Slate
Research has found that giving students a sense of the usefulness of their studies to the greater world can help improve learning. For the computer sciences, one way of doing this is the Humanitarian Free and Open Source Software (HFOSS) project. Begun at Trinity College in 2007, HFOSS has been compared to the well-known Habitat for Humanity charity, but instead of building houses for those in need, students participating in the HFOSS project build software used by humanitarian organizations, social service organizations, and disaster-response groups. One example is the Sahana disaster-management system, which is used by organizations responding to disasters such as earthquakes and tsunamis. HFOSS students help to update and expand the program in accordance with standards set out by the Sahana Software Foundation. To read further, please visit http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2014/09/hfoss_software_for_humanity_computer_science_students_solve_real_world_problems.html.
Here Comes the Future: We're Making Robots That Feel!
Salon.com
Cornell University professor Hod Lipson envisions the creation of robots with self-awareness. He notes, for example, computers can be programmed to undergo rapid evolution and adjust to changes in their surrounding environment. "In the next couple of decades we won't be programming machines, but...like children, exactly...we'll shape their experiences a little bit, and they'll grow on their own and do what they do," Lipson predicts. He also thinks this quality will make the machines adaptable to whatever specific tasks are required, and they will have emotions as well, although not necessarily human emotions. Lipson wants his robots to use past experience to make assumptions or deductions. However, he says machines that learn from experience may not necessarily learn what people want them to learn, and they also may acquire knowledge that was not intended for them to know. A notable achievement by Lipson's Creative Machines Lab is Eureqa, a scientific computer that can craft a hypothesis, design an experiment, consider the results, and derive natural laws from them. Researchers such as Lipson and University of Aberystwyth professor Ross King see automation as essential to boosting the efficiency of science to solve societal challenges quicker. To read further, please visit http://www.salon.com/chromeo/article/here_comes_the_future_were_making_robots_that_feel/.
Social Media News
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Twitter Invests in MIT Lab Focused on Online Social Movements
DG News Service
Twitter is investing $10 million in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Laboratory for Social Machines (LSM) to develop platforms for online collaboration by people studying civic and political issues. LSM will have access to Twitter's real-time, public stream of tweets as well as archives that date back to the first tweet on the social network. LSM will examine the potential of social networks "to remake the public sphere" by providing tools for institutions and individuals to collaborate on social problems, according to the MIT Media Lab. MIT researchers will analyze the tweets looking for patterns and links and will use large-scale analysis of content in real-world contexts to investigate the interaction patterns in relevant social systems. In February, Twitter introduced the Twitter Data Grants program, a pilot project that provides tweet data to select research institutions. To read further, please visit http://www.computerworld.com/article/2690693/twitter-invests-in-mit-lab-focused-on-online-social-movements.html.
Google Pittsburgh Instrumental in Fight Against Hackers, Co-Directors Say
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Google pulled back the curtain of secrecy surrounding its 400-person research operation in Pittsburgh, revealing the office has distinguished itself as a leading investigator of difficult and complicated computer science problems. Co-directors Jeremy Kubica and Kamal Nigam told an audience of local business people about two of the Pittsburgh office's leading projects during a recent event. The first project is an ongoing effort to thwart online scams being led by Kubica as part of his team's role trying to enhance the quality of the ads Google users see. Kubica says the project is particularly challenging because there is "innovation going on both sides," meaning his team has to constantly keep pace with spammers and scammers. The other project is an effort being led by Nigam to develop a facial-recognition feature for Google's Android mobile operating system that would enable devices to be locked and unlocked by taking a picture of the user's face. To read further, please visit http://triblive.com/business/headlines/6869010-74/google-kubica-nigam#axzz3F0VFmrOs.
Facebook, Intel Back Effort to Lift Engineer Diversity
Bloomberg News
Rectifying a lack of diversity among computer science undergraduates is the goal of the
Building Recruiting and Inclusion for Diversity (BRAID) program, an effort in which several companies, including Facebook, Intel, Google, and Microsoft, will contribute $1.35 million over the next three years to 15 universities' computer science departments. Harvey Mudd College president Maria Klawe and Anita Borg Institute CEO Telle Whitney will lead BRAID, and Klawe says she aims to prove that any department can successfully direct women and minorities into computer science. She emphasizes methods used at Harvey Mudd that have boosted the appeal of computer science among female students. To read further, please visit http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-24/facebook-to-intel-back-effort-to-lift-engineer-diversity.html;
