JANUARY 2013
No Women in CS? Well, Not for Long
TechCrunch
Less than 21 percent of undergraduate computer science (CS) majors at Stanford University are female, and many students say stereotypes, misconceptions, and lack of confidence cause women to drop the introductory CS lasses in large numbers. Research indicates that the two biggest factors for the dearth of female CS students is a lack of confidence and not having a firm grasp of what CS is really about and what its applications are. Stanford students Ayna Agarwal and Ellora Israni recently founded she++, a Stanford community for women in tech. "We would like to see a self-sustaining community of female technologists in the Bay Area working to collaborate with and inspire each other to make technology a field as welcoming to women as it is to men, and to have this community be a model for similar microcosms throughout the nation and the world," Israni says. To read further, please visit http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/27/stanford-bridging-gender-gap/.
Now, 'Smart Closet' to Help You Dress Up
The Times of India
Researchers at the National University of Singapore and the Chinese Academy of Science are developing Magic Closet, a smart closet system that uses artificial intelligence to suggest occasion-based and color-appropriate outfits. “The Magic Closet can be used as a mobile personalized clothes management app,” according to National University of Singapore researchers Si Liu and Shuicheng Yan. “It can also be used as a plug-in system in online shops to help customers choose suitable clothes.” The Magic Closet software makes outfit suggestions for 10 different occasions, including weddings, funerals, work, and dates. The software also matches clothing to an item the user already owns, taking suggestions from the user’s wardrobe and from online shops. The researchers trained the program with more than 24,000 photos of outfits from online shopping sites and photo-sharing communities. They searched for photos that were highly rated to catch fashionable combinations. To read further, please visit http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-12-28/science/36035663_1_photos-outfits-suggestions.
Education Nonprofit Gets $3 Million for New Math, Science Programs in 23 Districts Including Oakland
Oakland Local
Citizens Schools recently received a $3 million U.S. Department of Education grant to bring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educational experiences to students. The nonprofit plans to use the grant money to serve 23 school districts across the U.S., including Oakland Unified School District. The Citizen Schools program will set up and expand after-school programs in Oakland to be apprenticeships with technology professionals who would involve them in hands-on engineering and computer science projects. “These hands-on STEM apprenticeships not only help students build skills but also spark their interest in STEM subjects,” says Citizen Schools' Stacey Gilbert Lee. The grant will fund 500 apprenticeships a year. “As more information becomes electronic, the inability to get online can leave entire communities at an extremely dangerous disadvantage,” says Black Girls Who Code founder Kimberly Bryant. Oakland also recently launched Get Connected Oakland, which put 1,500 Internet-connected computers in two public places within Oakland Housing Authority campuses. “As a country, we need more STEM professionals but we are not preparing our students to become STEM professionals,” Gilbert Lee says. To read further, please visit http://archive.oaklandlocal.com/article/education-nonprofit-gets-3-million-new-math-science-programs-23-districts-including-oakland.
Best Tech Colleges Are Harder Than Ever to Get In
Network World
Early admission statistics indicate that 2013 will be another difficult year for high school seniors to get accepted into the leading undergraduate computer science and engineering programs. The U.S.'s most highly ranked tech colleges reported a sharp rise in early applications, prompting them to be more selective in choosing prospective freshmen. For example, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology received 6,541 early applications, an increase of 9 percent over 2011, and accepted 650 students for an acceptance rate of 10 percent. Stanford University received 6,103 early applications and accepted 725 students for an acceptance rate of 12 percent. The California Institute of Technology received 1,713 early applications, a 17 percent increase over 2011, and accepted 250 students for an acceptance rate of 15 percent. Harvard University received 4,856 early applications, an increase of 14 percent over 2011, and accepted 895 students for an acceptance rate of 18 percent. Carnegie Mellon University received 1,064 early applications, a 12 percent increase over 2011, and accepted 264 students for an acceptance rate of 23 percent. And Georgia Tech received 9,000 early applications, a six percent increase over 2011, and accepted 4,950 students for an acceptance rate of 55 percent. To read further, please visit http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/010313-tech-colleges-265471.html.
FEBRUARY 2013
C# Named Top Programming Language of 2012
eWeek
Microsoft's C# programming language was ranked as the number one programming language of 2012, according to the PYPL PopularitY of Programming Language index. C# had the biggest growth in 2012, rising more than 2.3 percent and surpassing Java, PHP, and C++, according to the PYPL index. However, "over a five-year period, Python is the language whose popularity is growing the fastest; it is already the second most popular in the U.S," according to the index. The PYPL index is based on data from Google Trends, which measures search volume, and the results are based on the relative number of searches for programming tutorials in the given language. Although the popularity of Java and JavaScript have remained stable over the past year, the growth of C# has come at the expense of C and Basic, while Python's growth has come at Perl's expense. Xaramin CEO Nat Friedman offers several reasons why C# is the best language for mobile development. "The launch of Windows 8 has probably played a role--C# remains the dominant language of third-party application development on Windows devices," Friedman notes. To read further, please visit http://www.eweek.com/developer/c-named-top-programming-language-of-201.
University of California Creates 3D Microchip
University of Cambridge researchers have developed a type of microchip based on spintronics that allows information to travel in three dimensions. To create the microchip, the researchers used an experimental technique called sputtering, which involves layering cobalt, platinum, and ruthenium atoms on a silicon chip. The cobalt and platinum atoms store the digital information similar to the way hard disk drives store data: the ruthenium atoms act as messengers, communicating data between other layers of cobalt and platinum. The researchers then used a laser technique called MOKE to probe the data content of the different layers. As the researchers switched a magnetic field on and off, they used the MOKE signal to watch the data climb layer by layer from the bottom of the chip to the top. "I find it amazing that by using nanotechnology not only can we build structures with such precision in the lab, but also using advanced laser instruments we can actually see the data climbing this nano-staircase step by step," says Cambridge professor Russell Cowburn. To read further, please visit http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/3d-microchip-created.
Cornell Engineers Solve a Biological Mystery and Boost Artificial Intelligence
Cornell University
Researchers at Cornell University, the University of Wyoming, and the Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University have used 25,000 simulated generations of evolution within computers to determine why biological networks tend to be organized as modules, a finding that will lead to a better understanding of the evolution of complexity. The discoveries also could help evolve artificial intelligence, enabling robot brains to develop more like animal brains. Researchers assumed that modules evolved because entities that were modular could respond to change more quickly, and therefore had an adaptive advantage over non-modular competitors. However, the researchers found that evolution produces modules because modular designs have fewer and shorter network connections, which are costly to build and maintain. The researchers tested the theory by simulating the evolution of networks with and without a cost for network connections. "Once you add a cost for network connections, modules immediately appear," says Wyoming professor Jeff Clune. "Without a cost, modules never form. The effect is quite dramatic." The researchers say the simulation's outcome may help explain the almost universal manifestation of modularity in biological networks as diverse as neural networks and vascular networks, gene regulatory networks, protein-protein interaction networks, metabolic networks, and man-made networks such as the Internet.
MARCH 2013
MIT Considering Data's Effect on Society
The New York Times
A group of academics, business executives, and journalists recently met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT's) Media Lab to discuss the concept of data-driven societies. MIT professor Alex Pentland gave a presentation titled "Reinventing Society in the Wake of Big Data," which focused on the fact that the most important data becoming available is information about people's behavior. He says the specific behavioral data could lead to changing how we think about society and how a society is governed. Pentland notes that new technologies enable researchers to track social phenomena down to the individual level and the social and economic connections among individuals. He says the ability to monitor such tiny patterns means "we're entering a new era of social physics.” To read further, please visit http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/25/the-promise-and-peril-of-the-data-driven-society/?_r=0.
University of Pittsburgh Connecting the (Quantum) Dots
University of Pittsburgh News
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and Delft University of Technology have developed a method that better preserves qubits for use in quantum computers. The researchers say that hole spins, rather than electron spins, can keep quantum bits in the same physical state up to 10 times longer than before. The holes within hole spins are empty spaces left when electrons are taken out, notes Pittsburgh professor Sergey Frolov. The researchers used extremely thin filaments made of indium antimonide nanowires to create a transistor-like device that could transform the electrons into holes. They then precisely placed one hole in a nanoscale box called a quantum dot and controlled the spin of that hole using electric fields. To read further, please visit http://www.news.pitt.edu/connecting-quantum-dots.
SDSC, Calit2 Create Cyberinfrastructure Network for ‘Big Data’ Transmissions
After developing one of the most advanced research communications infrastructures on any university campus during the past decade, the University of California, San Diego is taking another leap forward in the name of enabling data-intensive science. The Prism@UCSD project is building a research-defined, end-to-end cyberinfrastructure on the La Jolla campus that is capable of supporting bursts of data between facilities that might otherwise cripple the main campus network. “High-performance cyberinfrastructure is a strategic necessity for a research university,” said UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla. “The Prism network will enable rapid movement of ‘Big Data’ for multiple, diverse disciplines across campus, including science, engineering, medicine, and the arts.” To read further, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR032013_prism.html.
At nearly 10 petaflops, TACC's Stampede supercomputer provides comprehensive advanced computing needs for nation's scientists
A National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported world-class supercomputer named Stampede, which has already enabled research teams to predict where and when earthquakes may strike, how much sea levels could rise, and how fast brain tumors grow--was officially dedicated today. The ceremony, held at The University of Texas at Austin's Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) and attended by corporate, government and university leaders, formally introduced Stampede to the public. The Stampede system has been operational since January 7 with more than 600 active scientific and engineering projects—and well over 1,000 researchers—already using the system to execute simulation and data analysis applications to make new discoveries.
Stampede, a massive Dell/Intel cluster, is a centerpiece of NSF's investment in an integrated advanced cyberinfrastructure, which empowers America's scientists and engineers to interactively share advanced computational resources, data and expertise to further research across scientific disciplines. Stampede is now the most powerful and capable of the 16 high performance computing, visualization and data analysis resources in the NSF-funded Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) partnership. To read further, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/press-releases/2013/stampede-supercomputer.
APRIL 2013
Indiana University’s Don Brown (Interactive Intelligence) Receives Trailblazer in Technology Award -
Trailblazer in Technology Award (Dr. Donald Brown, chairman, president, CEO, Interactive Intelligence): The award recognizes individuals whose vision and efforts in advancing technology have made a lasting and significant impact on Indiana. Dr. Donald Brown, chairman, president and CEO of Interactive Intelligence, is a graduate of North Central High School in Indianapolis and holds an undergraduate degree, a medical degree and a master’s in computer science from Indiana University. After founding tech company Software Artistry and selling it to IBM and creating several other companies, he founded software company Interactive Intelligence (Nasdaq: ININ). The company went public in 1999 and today employs 1,500 workers around the world. - See more at: http://blog.techpoint.org/blog/indiana-technology-news-2/don-brown-interactive-intelligence-receives-trailblazer-in-technology-award#sthash.fduqHwME.dpuf. To read further, please visit http://blog.techpoint.org/blog/indiana-technology-news-2/don-brown-interactive-intelligence-receives-trailblazer-in-technology-award.
Purdue CS Student Project Receives Entrepreneurship Prototyping Grant
Sudeep Gottipatti and Austin Loudin, a freshman and a sophomore in Computer Science respectively, were among those selected to have a project funded by a new grant program for student entrepreneurs at Purdue. The student mini grant program makes awards up to $3,600 to accelerate entrepreneurship at Purdue by helping students with entrepreneurial ideas construct a first prototype. A total of 24 proposals were submitted to this inaugural competition and 11 students on nine teams won grants. The awardees are expected to pursue additional opportunities to advance their projects, such as business plan competitions and other grants. Gottipatti and Loudin won a $3,038 grant for their project Basket, a mobile app and Web-based platform for same-day delivery of thousands of items, from groceries to laundry detergent. The mini grant program is sponsored by Purdue's College of Technology and the Purdue Innovation and Commercialization Center-IT (ICC-IT) using funds from the endowed professorship held by Melissa Dark, W.C. Furnas Professor of Technology, who serves as the ICC-IT's faculty director. To read further, please visit https://www.cs.purdue.edu/news/PurdueICC.html.
Engineers Use Brain Cells to Power Smart Grid
National Science Foundation
Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy, director of Clemson University's Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems Laboratory, is leading a team of engineers and neuroscientists using neurons cultured in a dish to control simulated power grids in the hope that the work will inform new methods for U.S. power grid management. "In order to get the most out of the different types of renewable energy sources, we need an intelligent grid that can perform real-time dispatch and manage optimally available energy storage systems," Venayagamoorthy says. He notes that a brain-like control system is vital for such a grid, as it gives it the ability to monitor, predict, plan, learn, and make decisions. The dish-grown neuronal network is connected to a computer via an electrode grid, enabling two-way communication between the organic and the electronic elements. The network is trained to identify and respond to voltage and speed signals from the power grid simulation. So far, the researchers have successfully trained the network to respond to complex data, incorporating their findings into bio-inspired artificial neural networks that are currently being used to control synchronous generators linked to a power system. The team says their research could lead to smarter control of the future power To read further, please visit http://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=127605&org=NSF.
MAY 2013
The Man Behind the Google Brain: Andrew Ng and the Quest for the New AI
Wired News
Stanford University professor Andrew Ng, believing that true progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is attainable within his lifetime, leads a new field of computer science research known as deep learning, which aims to create machines that can process data in the same manner as the human brain. Deep learning aims to blend computer science and neuroscience, which has long been a stumbling block for AI. “I’ve seen a surprisingly large gulf between the engineers and the scientists,” Ng says. A turning point for Ng came seven years ago when he read a theory that human intelligence stems from a single algorithm. When Ng was in school, he believed real advances in AI were out of reach due to the dominant theory at the time that human intelligence derived from thousands of simple agents working together. At that time engineers thought real AI required the creation and integration of thousands of individual computing modules. To read further, please visit http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/05/neuro-artificial-intelligence/.
For Young Students, a C# Coding Workshop for Kids
Computerworld
Two Utah-based programmers from TeachingKidsProgramming.org recently held workshops at seven schools around the state to expose students and teachers to C# programming. The curriculum is based on a free online curriculum that the programmers developed for Pluralsight, and was originally intended for use by professional programmers to share online with their own children at home. "In the U.S., with some exceptions, programming is only introduced in high school as an Advanced Placement course and very few students see programming courses until college," says former Microsoft developer Lynn Langit. The programmers have taken their coursework to other countries and have developed a teaching framework based on experiential learning. "We teach programming almost like an art class, and students create their first executable program in three minutes," Langit says. Meanwhile, the National Science Foundation has funded research into the development of ScratchJr, a new version of the programming language designed specifically for early childhood education. Having an "approach with volunteers and teachers working with small groups of students to form a community is another great way to get programming into the education system, especially if it's difficult to get programming classes into a school curriculum," says Brown University's Wendy Drexler.To read further, please visit http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9238987/For_young_students_a_C_coding_workshop_for_kids.
New Techniques Behind Energy's Plan for Exascale Computing
Government Computer News
Increasingly fast supercomputers are emerging as application needs drive advances in processing capability, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) hopes to have an exaflop supercomputer as early as 2018. Currently, DOE's Titan supercomputer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is capable of 20 petaflops, and while the exaflop goal seems aggressive, the project's team believes its methodical design approach makes it attainable. Titan's design combines central processing units (CPUs) and graphical processing units (GPUs) into one computing architecture. CPUs have hard-wired functions that enable greater efficiency in desktop and workstation environments, but because they are often not used, significant computing power is wasted in a typical supercomputer setup that only contains CPUs. By contrast, GPUs are primarily blank slates that can utilize data parallelism, so using both CPUs and GPUs enables CPUs to drive the GPU tasks and be available when needed. To read further, please visit http://gcn.com/articles/2013/05/07/techniques-behind-doe-exascale-computing-plan.aspx.
UC San Diego/Open Science Grid Collaboration Speeds Quest for Dark Matter Discovery
The XSEDE-allocated Gordon supercomputer at San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) has been working on one of its most data-intensive tasks to date: rapidly processing raw data from almost 1 billion particle collisions as part of a project to help define the future research agenda for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). Under a partnership between a team of UC San Diego physicists and the Open Science Grid, Gordon has been providing auxiliary computing capacity by processing massive data sets generated by the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS), one of two large general-purpose particle detectors at the LHC used by researchers to find the elusive Higgs particle, a discovery that has garnered international attention. While the CMS has significant compute resources, partnering with XSEDE to incorporate Gordon into the CMS workflow allowed analysis of the parked data to be completed months ahead of time, letting scientists review the results immediately to help provide input for future plans for the LHC. The around-the-clock data processing run on this XSEDE-allocated resource was completed in about four weeks’ time, making the data available for analysis several months ahead of schedule. About 1.7 million core hours—or about 15 percent of Gordon’s total compute capacity—were dedicated to this task, with more than 125 terabytes of data streaming through the supercomputer’s nodes and into the XSEDE-allocated Data Oasis storage system at SDSC for further analysis. To read further, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR040413_lhc.html.
JUNE 2013
TACC's Hadoop Cluster Breaks New Ground
HPCwire
A 256-node Hadoop system at the University of Texas at Austin is breaking down the barriers that have traditionally kept high performance computing relegated to technical experts. Nearly 70 students and researchers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) have used the cluster to crunch big datasets, and provide potential answers to questions in the fields of biomedicine, linguistics, and astronomy. There's been a lot of hype over Apache's Hadoop in the last few years, and with good reason. With the emergence of big data, new technologies like Hadoop promise to make it easier to sort through huge datasets and tease out the patterns, without burdening users with low-level plumbing, like I/O, memory structures, and job queuing. To read further, please visit http://archive.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-05-30/tacc_s_hadoop_cluster_breaks_new_ground.html.
China Trounces U.S. in Top500 Supercomputer Race
IDG News Service
China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer has overtaken the U.S.'s Titan system as the world's most powerful computer, according to the latest Top500 List, a twice-yearly ranking of the world's fastest publicly known supercomputers. Tianhe-2 was able to execute 33.86 petaflops, compared to Titan's 17.59 petaflops. China's National University of Defense Technology built Tianhe-2 with 16,000 nodes, each of which runs two Intel Xeon IvyBridge processors and three Xeon Phy processors, for a combined total of 3.12 million computing cores. The system should be fully operational by the end of the year. Still, the United States remains a dominant presence on the list, with 253 of the 500 systems. China ranks second with 65 systems, followed by the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Tianhe-2 also is notable for its use of Chinese-developed technologies. "Most of the features of the system were developed in China, and they are only using Intel for the main compute part," notes Top500 editor Jack Dongarra. "The interconnect, operating system, front-end processors, and software are mainly Chinese." To read further, please visit http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/061713-china-trounces-us-in-top500-270883.html.
Google to Use Balloons to Provide Free Internet Access to Remote or Poor Areas
Washington Post
Google recently announced Project Loon, a plan to provide free Internet access to disaster-stricken, rural, or poor areas using giant helium balloons that beam Wi-Fi signals to the ground below. Eventually, as the balloons move across the stratosphere, consumers in participating countries along the 40th parallel in the Southern Hemisphere could access the service. Project Loon aims to provide much cheaper worldwide Internet connections, says Google's Mike Cassidy. "We think we can help and start having a discussion on how to get 5 billion people in remote areas" connected to the Internet, he says. The thin plastic balloons use a mix of highly sophisticated and basic methods to deliver Internet connections of at least 3G cellular speeds. The balloons are equipped with antennas, radios, solar power panels, and navigation equipment that can communicate with specialized antennas on rooftops below. As long as one of the balloons is within a 24-mile radius, users should be able to access the network, according to Google. The company, which needs permission from local governments to access public airwaves, will first test the balloons in New Zealand. "There is an enormous problem of affordability of broadband access in much of the developing world," notes consultant Gene Kimmelman. To read further, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/google-to-use-balloons-to-provide-internet-access-to-remote-areas/2013/06/14/f9d78196-d507-11e2-a73e-826d299ff459_story.html.
TEDGlobal: Cloud Schools Offer New Education
BBC News
Newcastle University professor Sugata Mitra in February won a $1 million award to set up a series of cloud-based schools, and described his vision of the first "school in the cloud" at the recent Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) Global conference. "A school in the cloud is basically a school without physical teachers," Mitra says. He plans to establish five cloud schools, with three in India and two in the United Kingdom. The glass classrooms will contain many computers and one large screen, through which moderators will Skype in. Mitra's initiative is based on the hole-in-the-wall computers that he set up in India's slums in 1999. The computers were left for children to explore without any prior instruction, and Mitra says he was amazed at the skills they developed on their own. Also at TEDGlobal, Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Anant Agarwal discussed how his edX online platform could help bring top-tier university education to students in developing countries. "Education has not changed in 500 years--we still herd children like cats into classrooms at 9 a.m.," says Agarwal, who argues a different approach is needed in the developing world. To read further, please visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22891283.
JULY 2013
App to Trace the Impact of Texts Over Time
CORDIS News
The European Research Council and the European Union are funding an initiative that is developing a tool to track the impact of digital texts over time. The Web application would enable users to measure and visualize the impact of research and the 'reach' of messages in forms such as blogs, news, and commentary. The app from the IMPACTTRACER project would analyze texts available in the digital world, from ancient scriptures to the latest news and press releases. For example, the software could be used to track how much influence a particular press release has on subsequent blog posts or social media. The tool also could provide ad agencies, non-governmental organizations, and political parties with a cost-effective and efficient means of monitoring their public pronouncements and corporate messages, and analyzing possible trends over time. To read further, please visit http://cordis.europa.eu/news/rcn/35851_en.html.
Understanding a Novel Enzyme from a Family of Marine Crustaceans May Bolster Biofuels Development Say NICS Researchers
Tiny, wood-boring marine crustaceans with a funny name and a penchant for collectively attacking piers and dining on driftwood, ships, boats and docks have made a big splash in the science news media lately. These creatures, called Gribbles (scientific name: Limnoria quadripunctata), have as their recent claim to fame, a novel biomass-degrading enzyme in their guts that is of keen interest to the biofuels research and engineering communities.
Biomass from waste plant materials can be used to make biofuels when its main structural component, cellulose, is depolymerized — that is, broken down — and its component sugar, glucose, is fermented into ethanol or converted into other transportation fuels such as gasoline, diesel or jet fuel. However, low-cost, efficient enzymes tough enough to withstand industrial conditions are needed to enhance the economic viability of processes to produce biofuels, alternatives to fossil fuels. Novel enzymes found in the wood-eating Gribbles, which hail from intertidal zones of the ocean, may provide clues on how to meet those needs and bolster the biomass-conversion process by enabling the creation of tougher enzymes, as some of the enzymes found in the Gribble are of the same family as ones almost exclusively found in fungi, but with several novel properties. To read further, please visit http://www.nics.tennessee.edu/Gribble-enzymes-for-biofuels.
Blacklight Research Spurs Change in Stock Exchange Rules
Findings on the effects of “odd lot” trades on the financial markets, using computations on PSC’s Blacklight, have led the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq Stock Market and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. to redefine how the industry tracks small stock trades. The new rules will be enacted in October. Previously, odd lots — trades of 100 or fewer shares — did not have to be reported to regulators. The rationale was that these trades involved small investors who were unlikely to affect the larger market significantly. But recent volatility in the markets, driven by automated small trades that occur far faster than any human can think, called that assumption into question. In an upcoming paper in The Journal of Finance, Mao Ye, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Chen Yao of UIUC and Maureen O’Hara, Cornell University, report that odd lots are playing an increasingly important role in the wider behavior of the markets. The researchers used Blacklight and the San Diego Supercomputer Center’s Gordon to analyze market data for the effects of odd-lot trading. To read further, please visit http://www.psc.edu/index.php/newscenter/2013/848-blacklight-research-spurs-change-in-stock-exchange-rules.
AUGUST 2013
University of Texas researcher Creates Computer Simulations That Investigate Molecular Movement in Real-Time
A University of Texas (UT) researcher is using XSEDE-allocated resources to create computer simulations that investigate molecular movement in real-time. Atoms are in constant motion, making slight position adjustments in timescales that start in femtoseconds—or one quadrillionth of a second. These short-scale atomic transitions are the starting point of the varying molecular conformations that drive vital biological movements, like the opening and closing of protein channels that trigger a heart beat, or the movement of a molecule through a cellular membrane. Milestoning, an algorithm developed by UT researcher Ron Elber, breaks the movements of molecules into discrete patches of shorter time that can be pieced back together. Elber creates computer simulations that investigate molecular movement in the time scale that they actually occur, whether that happens to be milliseconds or hours. The XSEDE-allocated Lonestar supercomputer at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) was used to prepare the initial calculation conditions because of its GPU nodes, which run the particular calculations better than standard CPUs. The parallel capabilities of Lonestar, and more recently the XSEDE-allocated Stampede supercomputer, also at TACC, were also used to calculate 10 to 100,000 potential molecular trajectories between the milestones. Each individual trajectory was run on four cores, with various trajectories being run across as many cores as were available at any one time. To read further, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/feature-stories/2013/the-ultimate-timekeeper.
Keeneland's GPU–CPU Combination Facilitates Large-scale Image Analysis in a Multi-faceted Approach to Understanding Disease at NICS
As disease progresses over space and time in the body, high-resolution imaging can capture the changes taking place down to the sub-cellular level; meanwhile, huge sets of hereditary (genomic) information hold clues about the dynamics of illness. Comparing certain characteristics in the images with genomic and clinical data may be key in predicting disease progression and in targeting new treatments. The current work of a research team from Emory University in Atlanta and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) revolves around making those very connections. The researchers are using high-resolution images of thin slices of brain tumors called gliomas in the comparisons to understand what’s involved in the onset and progression of the tumors. The knowledge acquired will allow for the prediction of disease behavior and the targeting of new treatments. To read further, please visit https://nicsdev.nics.tennessee.edu/keeneland-brain-tumors.
Computer Science Teacher Certification 'Deeply Flawed,' Report Says
Education Week (
State systems for certifying computer science teachers are fundamentally flawed, creating a major obstacle to ensuring that high-quality educators can prepare students for employment in the technology field, according to a report (http://csta.acm.org/ComputerScienceTeacherCertification/sub/CSTA_BugsInTheSystem.pdf) from the Computer Science Teachers Association. "Computer science teacher certification across the nation is typified by confounding processes and illogical procedures--bugs in the system that keep it from functioning as intended," the report says. The situation contributes to students not entering computer science, a field that will offer 4.6 million jobs by 2020. "The information technology and computing industry cannot find the talent it needs to fill lucrative positions across the country," the report notes. "These companies want more young people to discover computer science and study it, and the country's economic fortunes depend on it." Among the report's findings is the fact that only two states, Arizona and Wisconsin, require computer science certification to teach any computer science course; in many states, "teachers with little or no computer science knowledge can teach it," the report says. To read further, please visit http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2013/08/computer_science_teacher_certi.html.
SEPTEMBER 2013
How DNA Repair Helps Prevent Cancer
The biological information that makes us unique is encoded in our DNA. DNA damage is a natural biological occurrence that happens every time cells divide and multiply. External factors such as overexposure to sunlight can also damage DNA. Understanding how the human body recognizes damaged DNA and initiates repair fascinates Michael Feig, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Michigan State University. Feig studies the proteins MutS and MSH2-MSH6, which recognize defective DNA and initiate DNA repair. Natural DNA repair occurs when proteins like MutS (the primary protein responsible for recognizing a variety of DNA mismatches) scan the DNA, identify a defect, and recruit other enzymes to carry out the actual repair. "The key here is to understand how these defects are recognized," Feig explained. "DNA damage occurs frequently and if you couldn't repair your DNA, then you won't live for very long." This is because damaged DNA, if left unrepaired, can compromise cells and lead to diseases such as cancer. To read further, please visit https://www.tacc.utexas.edu/news/feature-stories/2013/how-dna-repair-helps-prevent-cancer.
MOOC Spells New Skills for Job Seekers, Can Fill Gaps
Investors.com
Companies struggling to fill high-tech jobs are considering expanding their applicant pool by tapping people trained in massive open online courses (MOOCs). Although MOOCs were started with a university setting in mind, recruiting firms recently began offering MOOCs after clients voiced concerns that even educated and experienced job applicants lacked now-necessary skills. "Technology seems to keep outpacing skill sets," says Aquent's Alison Farmer. "We are constantly hitting labor gaps." Large MOOC providers offer courses from math and science to business, computer science, and languages. Aquent launched its first MOOC last summer, a free class in HTML5 design. About 300 who completed the course later enlisted Aquent to represent them in job hunts, with many landing positions in part thanks to the MOOC training. Industry experts predict other companies will mimic Aquent's program. Although the early signs of a MOOC movement are appearing mostly in the technology sector, Wells Fargo's Trace Urdan says other businesses are taking notice, as job applications look for new ways to gain needed skills. "The challenges of paying for higher education are enormous," Urdan says. To read further, please visit http://news.investors.com/business/090513-670030-online-open-courses-new-skilled-labor-source.htm.
Teens Are Losing Interest in Science, Survey Finds
NextGov.com
The number of teenagers interested in careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) dropped 15 percent this year to 46 percent, according to a survey of 1,025 teens released Wednesday by Junior Achievement USA and the ING U.S. Foundation. The decline indicates that talent shortfalls in STEM will continue, with the U.S. Department of Labor predicting that STEM employment opportunities will rise 17 percent through 2018. Despite the drop, STEM remained the most popular field, with public service claiming the second spot. Teens cited "passion" and "areas of interest" as top factors in guiding their career plans. "It is crucial that we reinvigorate teens about pursuing opportunities in STEM and medical-related careers," says Junior Achievement USA's Jack E. Kosakowski. "These fields drive our economy and innovation; they are not only high-growth career paths but also creative outlets where teens can apply their passions." To read further, please visit http://www.nextgov.com/cio-briefing/wired-workplace/2013/09/teens-losing-interest-stem-fields-survey-finds/69946/?oref=ng-HPriver.
OCTOBER 2013
SDSC Scientists Help Tame Tidal Wave of Genomic Data Using SDSC’s Trestles
Sequencing the DNA of an organism, whether human, plant, or jellyfish, has become a straightforward task, but assembling the information gathered into something coherent remains a massive data challenge. Researchers using computational resources at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego, have created a faster and more effective way to assemble genomic information, while increasing performance. In a paper presented the past month at the 39th International Conference on Very Large Databases (VLDB2013) in Riva del Garda, Italy, Xifeng Yan, the Venkatesh Narayanamurti Chair of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, explains how he used SDSC’s Trestles compute cluster to help develop a new algorithm called MSP (minimum substring partitioning) that helps to assemble genomes with extreme efficiency. MSP is a critical part of a pipeline, or a group of software that assembles entire genomes, with each piece of the software doing one part of the job. Yan and his colleagues were able to optimize one of two steps to use a mere 10 gigabytes of memory without runtime slowdown. To read further, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR091913_genome.html.
XSEDE, NSF Release Cloud Survey Report
The Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE) and the National Science Foundation Division of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure today released the XSEDE Cloud Survey Report with results of its survey identifying cloud computing use cases in research and education. Data was collected from eighty projects from around the globe, representing a cross-section of cloud users from twenty-one science and engineering disciplines and the humanities, arts, and social sciences. Quantitative dimensions of cloud usage (number of cores used peak/steady state, bandwidth in/out of the cloud, amount of data stored in the cloud, etc.) and qualitative experiences (the benefits and challenges of using the cloud) were explored. The report is available at http://hdl.handle.net/2142/45766.To read further, please visit https://www.xsede.org/xsede-nsf-release-cloud-survey-report.
Google, Facebook and Government Back Sir Tim Berners-Lee Mission to Bring Web to the World
V3.co.uk
The U.K. government and large technology companies will assist Sir Tim Berners-Lee in his effort to bring the Internet to developing parts of the world. The U.K.'s Justine Greening says Internet access is a driver of economic growth and can benefit millions of people. Google, which is already addressing the issue through Project Loon in New Zealand, believes its technological innovation and expertise could be helpful. Berners-Lee has founded the Alliance for Affordable Internet, an organization that will push for regulations and policies in Asia and Africa to make it easier to install Internet infrastructure. "The real bottleneck now is anti-competitive policies that keep prices unaffordable," Berners-Lee says. "The Alliance is about removing that barrier and helping as many as possible get online at reasonable cost." Berners-Lee also cites issues around taxes and state telecom monopolies as obstacles. Other companies backing the Alliance include Facebook, Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, and Microsoft. "The result of high prices is a widening digital divide that slows progress in vital areas such as health, education, and science," Berners-Lee says. "Yet with the advent of affordable smartphones, new undersea cables, and innovations in wireless spectrum usage, there is simply no good reason for the digital divide to continue." To read further, please visit http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2299028/google-facebook-and-government-back-sir-tim-berners-lee-mission-to-bring-web-to-the-world.
NOVEMBER 2013
NICS Study Links Items in Library Collection Based on Subject Matter and User Behaviors
In this age of Big Data, the “recommender system” — a la Amazon.com — has emerged as a way of prioritizing descriptive information based on social behavior. Shoppers of Amazon are familiar with the words, “Customers who bought this item also bought,” followed by images of suggested books. But how could university libraries provide tools that will help patrons access the full depth of their comprehensive content? Taking on that investigation is a team composed of Principal Investigator Harriett Green and Kirk Hess of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library, along with Richard Hislop of the UIUC Department of Economics. The Nautilus supercomputer, housed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and managed by the National Institute for Computational Sciences (NICS), provided high-performance computing support to the project, which entailed data mining involving the 14 million items in the UIUC Library. To read further, please visit http://www.nics.tennessee.edu/library-collection-research.
UC San Diego Researchers Advance Explanation for Star Formation
UC San Diego researchers are using a plethora of XSEDE resources to provide a physical explanation for the origin of three observed correlations between various properties of molecular clouds in the Milky Way galaxy known as Larson’s Laws. The supercomputer simulations support a turbulent interpretation of Larson’s relations, and the study concludes that there are not three independent Larson laws, but that all three correlations are due to the same underlying physics, i.e. the properties of supersonic turbulence. XSEDE-allocated Trestles supercomputer at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC), along with SDSC's Triton cluster and now-decommissioned DataStar system, were used to generate the simulations, as well as the XSEDE-allocated Kraken and Nautilus supercomputers at the National Institute for Computational Science, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. These unprecedented results were published this month in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Great Britain’s pre-eminent astronomy and astrophysics journal; the paper is called ‘A Supersonic Turbulence Origin of Larson’s Laws.' To read further, please visit http://www.sdsc.edu/News%20Items/PR102113_starformation.html.
Chinese Supercomputer Still No. 1, ORNL's Titan No. 2
Oak Ridge Today
China's Tianhe-2 supercomputer, which is housed at that nation's National University of Defense Technology, placed first on the Top500 supercomputer rankings released today at the SC13 Conference in Denver, and the U.S.'s Titan system housed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory ranked second, mirroring the top two spots from the previous rankings in June. The most recent rankings found that Tianhe-2 can perform at 33.86 petaflops, while Titan can achieve 17.59 petaflops. Titan also is one of the most energy-efficient systems on the list, consuming a total of 8.21 megawatts and delivering 2.143 gigaflops per watt. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Sequoia system ranked third on the Top500 list, Fujitsu's K computer ranked fourth, and Argonne National Laboratory's Mira ranked fifth. Swiss National Supercomputing Center's Piz Daint system is a new entry in the Top10, with a peak performance rating of 627 petaflops. Piz Daint also is the most energy-efficient system in the Top10, consuming 2.33 megawatts and delivering 2.7 gigaflops per watt. Texas Advanced Computing Center's Stampede system ranked seventh, Forschungszentrum Juelich's JUQEEN ranked eighth, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Vulcan ranked ninth, and Leibniz Rechenzentrum's SuperMUC ranked tenth. To read further, please visit http://oakridgetoday.com/2013/11/18/chinese-supercomputer-still-1-ornls-titan-2/.
Strategy for Women in STEM
Inside Higher Ed
Women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields might benefit from a project-based curriculum, based on evidence from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) surveys of project-based program graduates. WPI dean Richard F. Vaz says the school has "a lot of evidence showing that this is a curriculum that is appealing to students, that it doesn't turn them off, it doesn't drive them away." Project-based learning enables students to solve real-life, open-ended problems outside of the classroom. WPI students complete two projects, including one focused on an interdisciplinary problem and another based on a problem within their major. Women seem to benefit more than their male counterparts in terms of personal and professional development. For example, 63 percent of women, but only 50 percent of men, said the program contributed "much" or "very much" to allowing them to understand the connections between technology and society. Among women, 66 percent said the curriculum helped them "be an effective leader," compared with 54 percent of men. More than 70 percent of women and 62 percent of men said the program taught them to function effectively in the real world. Men and women reported similar benefits from the technical skills typically learned through traditional course work. The findings are consistent with previous research suggesting that social context and collaboration play a larger role in motivating women than men. To read further, please visit http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/11/20/project-based-learning-could-help-attract-and-retain-women-stem-study-suggests.
DECCEMBER 2013
INCITE Grants Awarded to 59 Computational Research Projects
Oak Ridge Today
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science is awarding grants to 59 computational research projects that will share almost six billion core hours on two of the most powerful supercomputers in the United States. The grants come from the Innovative and Novel Computational Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program, which provides the world's most advanced computational research projects with access to DOE's computing facilities at Oak Ridge and Argonne National Laboratories. "The INCITE program, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary, provides researchers with the opportunity to make scientific breakthroughs in fields that would not be probable or even possible without access to the most powerful available supercomputers," says James Hack, director of the National Center for Computational Sciences, which houses the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility. To read further, please visit http://oakridgetoday.com/2013/11/20/incite-grants-awarded-59-computational-research-projects/.
Weeklong 'Hour of Code' Campaign Lures Millions of U.S. Students to Computer Coding
The Washington Post
More than 11 million students in 167 countries this week have taken a free programming tutorial as part of the "Hour of Code" initiative, a worldwide campaign to encourage computer science in education, according to Code.org founder Hadi Partovi. The initiative, which has received the support of President Barack Obama and features free tutorials by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is part of Computer Science Education Week. The Hour of Code offers lessons in computer coding that are aimed at every age group and accessible on a range of devices, from tablets to desktops. "We know that deep in their heart, Americans feel that technology is moving super fast, and they're afraid their kids are going to get left behind," Partovi says. "It's important to keep teaching biology and chemistry. But in this century, learning how the Internet works, what an algorithm does, is as foundational as those other subjects." He notes that more than half of the participating students have been girls. Partovi says the tutorials will remain available to the public after this week. "If you did the first hour, there are 20 more hours of tutorials you can do," he says. To read further, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/hour-of-code-campaign-gets-wild-response-from-kids-trying-out-computer-science/2013/12/10/7b9913ec-61db-11e3-bf45-61f69f54fc5f_story.html.
Teachers Start 25 State Petitions to Add Computer Science to Grad Requirement
VentureBeat
Teachers in the United States have initiated more than 25 petitions for state and education officials to make computer science courses satisfy requirements toward high school graduation and for college admission. Only 14 states currently count computer science courses toward graduation requirements for math and science, even as surveys suggest that 570,000 computing jobs are going unfilled. "A key obstacle is that rigorous, college-preparatory computer science courses do not satisfy a core mathematics or science admission requirement for either the University of California or California State University system," says Debra Richardson, who created a petition for California schools. "By 2018, California will need to fill 517,890 computing-related jobs--about half of a total of 1.1 million [science, technology, engineering, and math] jobs." In addition to California, Texas, New York, Maine, Florida, New Jersey, Kansas, Massachusetts, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota have active petitions. "Less than 2.4 percent of college students graduate with a degree in computer science," says Code.org's Amy Hirotaka. "Everyone should have access to quality computer science (CS) education...with more states allowing CS credits to count toward graduation, we’ll see programs expand and more students take part in this essential field." To read further, please visit http://venturebeat.com/2013/12/09/teachers-start-25-state-petitions-to-add-computer-science-to-grad-requirements/.
Rutgers Battling Cancer With Use of Supercomputing
Rutgers Today
Rutgers University doctors and scientists are using supercomputers to significantly increase the speed of genome and human tissue analysis to pinpoint cancer patterns. Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey physicians, geneticists, and others are collaborating on the effort with Rutgers Discovery Informatics Institute (RDI2) computer engineering experts as well as experts at Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository Infinite Biologics. "We have the latest technology to come up with potential solutions very fast," says RDI2 director Manish Parashar. The Cancer Institute sends RDI2 scientists patient tissue samples that have been digitized at high resolution, and the RDI2 team then works with the institute's medical imaging experts to devise a treatment plan. The researchers optimized data-mining and pattern-matching algorithms developed by a Cancer Institute team led by David J. Foran to enable software to run in a high-performance computing environment. "That way the analysis can be completed in a matter of minutes, rather than days," Parashar says. To read further, please visit mycentraljersey.com/article/20131210/NJNEWS/312100016/Rutgers-battling-cancer-use-supercomputing?gcheck=1.
Hipster, Surfer or Biker? Computers May Soon Be Able to Tell the Difference
UCSD News
University of California, San Diego (UCSD) researchers are developing an algorithm that uses group pictures to determine what urban tribe a specific person belongs to with up to 48 percent accuracy. The researchers say the algorithm could have a wide range of applications, from generating more relevant search results and ads, to allowing social networks to provide better recommendations and content. "We are scratching the surface to figure out what the signals are," says UCSD professor Serge Belongie. In developing the algorithm, the researchers decided to examine group pictures rather than pictures of individuals, a strategy they hope will make it easier to pick up social cues, such as clothing and hair styles, to determine people's tribes based on visuals featuring more than one person. The researchers designed the algorithm to analyze the picture as the sum of its parts and attributes, and to analyze the boxes for color, texture, and other factors. They then fed the algorithm images labeled for the urban tribes they represent, such as hipsters, surfers, bikers, and Goths. Finally, they fed the algorithm pictures free of labels. The researchers say they are now working to improve the analysis of facial features and other attributes within the system. To read further, please visit http://www.jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/news_events/releases/release.sfe?id=1453.
Hundreds of Teens Attend Computer Science Education Day at UC Berkeley
Contra Costa Times
The University of California, Berkeley held its annual Computer Science Education Day on Dec. 10, drawing hundreds of students across the Bay Area. Students participated in programming activities, listened to a presentation on crafting games, and toured the university. The daylong event is designed to introduce high school students to programming, and possibly inspire them to study computer science in college. The programming day also is part of the larger international Computer Science Education Week, which hopes to build greater interest in computer science careers. Dan Garcia, a computer science instructor who helped launch the university's program, believes the outreach programs are working. More than half of Berkeley freshmen take an introduction to computer science class, and women accounted for more than half of the students taking the course for the first time last year. Garcia's course is a prototype for a new Advanced Placement computer science course promoted by the U.S. National Science Foundation through its CS 10K campaign. To read further, please visit http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_24696647/hundreds-teens-attend-computer-science-education-day-at.
