Engineering the Future

In 1993 Huang cofounded Nvidia.

Stanford innovation helps ‘enlighten’ silicon chips, Stanford.

Catalyzing Nanotechnology by David Pescovitz, ScienceMatters@Berkeley.

Related: nanotechnology posts

China Prepares for Return of Shenzhou, Washington Post:

Like the United States government in the late 1960’s and the 1970’s the Chinese government sees scientific advancement as one of the top priorities for future success.

China’s vision for new space age, BBC.
China National Space Administration

The Mechanics of Foot Travel

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.

Global Engineering Excellence

Global Excellence Team:

• Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany
• Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich, Switzerland
• Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
• Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
• Tsinghua University, China
• Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
• University of Tokyo, Japan
• Continental AG, Germany

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,

Arctic System on Trajectory to New, Seasonally Ice-Free State by (see below):

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.

Four Vehicles Finish in $2 Million Robot Race:

Update: link broken - too bad they don’t know pages must live forever

That Famous Equation and You by Brian Greene

Intel and Scholastic Schools of Distinction Awards

In 2005, 20 winning schools recieved over $200,000 overall. Application for 2006. In addition to monetary rewards the winning schools recieve rriculum materials, software and hardware.

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.

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.

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?

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?

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.

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.

Nobel for Stomach Ulcer Discovery, BBC:

Bird Flu ‘Resistant to Main Drug’ (cite removed content so link to them removed)

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.

Holy Squid! Photos Offer First Glimpse of Live Deep-Sea Giant, National Geographic News:

Purdue is starting a new journal, International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering: