Archives for posts with tag: Science

C9 Conversations: Yuri Gurevich On Logic, Imperative, Abstraction and Algorithms

February 9, 10 //

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Welcome to the latest installment of C9 Conversations. For this episode, we were very fortunate to get a chance to converse openly with one of the world’s preeminent mathematical logicians, the great Yuri Gurevich.

Dr. Gurevich is Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan. He is currently a principle research scientist in Wolfram Schulte’s RiSE team (Research in Software Engineering group at Microsoft Research).

Originally, Dr. Gurevich started his career as an algebraist. Later he became a logician. Then he moved to computer science, where his main projects have been Abstract State Machines, Average Case Computational Complexity, and Finite Model Theory. Dr. Gurevich has been honored as a Dr. Honoris Causa of the University of Limburg, Belgium (1998), as a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (1996), as well as a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1995).

Dr. Gurevich’s fundamental work on the theory of Abstract State Machines (ASMs) is of paramount importance for theoretical and applied computer science. The significance of the theoretical concepts developed by Gurevich is confirmed by the substantial impact they have on mathematical modeling of discrete dynamic systems.

*This is probably the only interview in C9’s history where a good case is made for imperative programming versus declarative and functional (this starts right off the bat at around 02:31).

Read Yuri’s Annotated Articles

Tune in. Meet Yuri Gurevich.

Do My Thoughts Deceive Me? Human Factors and Design

February 8, 10 //

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Do My Thoughts Deceive Me? Human Factors and Design

Google Tech Talk December 16, 2009 ABSTRACT Presented by Jason H. Wong. Our brains are not as reliable as we would like to think. Human factors is the science of understanding human cognition and designing systems to work within its limitations. A lot of time and effort has gone into understanding how our brains work (and when they don't). However, we continue to make fundamental design errors that not only go against cognitive science principles but common sense as well. This talk will explore some of the quirkier aspects of our cognition, from visual attention to memory and decision making. There will be copious examples of design gone wrong along with discussions of how to understand how we think and how to avoid making design mistakes in the future. Dr. Jason H. Wong is a Human Factors Scientist with the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC). He received his Ph.D. in 2009 from George Mason University in Human Factors and Applied Cognition, where he conducted research on visual attention and working memory. He was awarded the Department of Defense SMART Scholarship in 2007. This paved the way for his work at NUWC, where Dr. Wong examines the human-computer interaction aspects of complex systems, develops efficient submariner training methodologies, and creates cognitive models to simulate human performance.

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Divide and Conquer: How the Essence of Mindfulness Parallels the Nuts and Bolts of Science

February 4, 10 //

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Divide and Conquer: How the Essence of Mindfulness Parallels the Nuts and Bolts of Science

Google Tech Talk January 28, 2010 ABSTRACT Presented by Shinzen Young. The purpose of this talk is threefold: (1) to describe how senior adepts use mindfulness to reduce suffering and gain insight into selfhood and emotions. (2) To point out how the method they use in many ways parallels what scientists do when confronted with a complex and inscrutable system in nature. (3) To discuss how this fundamental parallelism between the two endeavors can become the basis for a productive collaboration in the future. Bio: Shinzen Young became fascinated with Asian culture while a teenager in Los Angeles. Later he enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Buddhist Studies at the University of Wisconsin. Eventually, he went to Asia and did extensive training in each of the three major Buddhist meditative traditions: Vajrayana, Zen, and Vipassana. Upon returning to the United States, his intellectual interests shifted to the burgeoning dialogue between Eastern internal science and Western technological science. In recognition of his original contributions to that dialogue, the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology has awarded him an honorary doctorate. Shinzen's innovative techniques for pain management derived from two sources: The first is his personal experience dealing with discomfort during intense periods of meditation in Asia, and during shamanic ceremonies with tribal cultures. The second is some three decades of experience in coaching people through a wide spectrum of chronic and <b>…</b>

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01:09:46
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Craig Mundie shows off the future of NUI

January 20, 10 //

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I met with Microsoft’s Chief research and Strategy officer, Craig Mundie, to discuss how science and information technology can solve the worlds biggest problems. He focuses on the environment and demonstrates work from the Computational Science Group out of Microsoft Research Cambridge (U.K.). Craig discusess the huge leaps in computing power, the shift to a client plus cloud platform, the emergence of more natural user interfaces and the ability to manipulate and understand terabytes of data. truly fascinating stuff!

MORE INFO HERE

Ping 44: Science of Natal, Kodu, HP, Free SEO

January 18, 10 //

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Paul and Laura kept a close eye on their inboxes and ear to sounds of ‘Softies buzzind to bring you these stories:

The Science behind Project Natal
Start developing NOW
Microsoft & HP
Bill Gates makes Soap Operas?
Free SEO Tool

Everything You Wanted to Know about Stem Cells But Were Afraid to Ask

January 11, 10 //

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Everything You Wanted to Know about Stem Cells But Were Afraid to Ask

48
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51:34
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Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

December 10, 09 //

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Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life

Google Tech Talk December 9, 2009 ABSTRACT Presented by Dacher Keltner. Prof. Keltner will be presenting work related to his recent book "Born to be Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life": "In this talk I will survey the latest evolutionary and neuroscience that aligns with Charles Darwin's thesis that sympathy is our strongest instinct, or that we are born to be good. I will take the audience on a tour of recent evolutionary thought, which suggests that our hyper vulnerable offspring rearranged our brains, genes, and social structures. I will detail new research on the vagus nerve and oxytocin, branches of the nervous system that have evolved to enable cooperation, trust, and caretaking. I detail new signaling systems — tactile communication and vocalization — which are critical to the transmission of prosociality across individuals. Throughout the talk I integrate the latest science with the wisdom found in Eastern thought." Dr. Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley, and Director for Greater Good Science Center.

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Time:
01:05:34
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The Truth About Your Food

November 20, 09 //

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The Truth About Your Food

Google Tech Talk November 19, 2009 ABSTRACT Presented by Adiel Tel-Oren. Dr. T will address many issues concerning nutrition and functional medicine. Based on hard science, he will give us more clarity on the truth about our food. Dr. T lectures to doctors and the public worldwide, including his popular www.thetruthaboutyourfood.com teleseminars and his drtin3 video clips http . He is the founder of the www.ecopolitan.com where he offers Ecological Solutions for Metropolitan Living. Dr Adiel Tel-Oren (Dr. T), MD is trained in Europe and in the USA; US-Licensed, Board-Certified Nutritionist; US-Trained & Licensed Doctor Of Chiropractic (Retired); Board Certified in Functional Medicine and Professor of Functional Medicine and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Natural Medicine. For additional info about Dr. T, please see http

69
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Time:
51:05
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Propping Open the Document Trapdoor

November 13, 09 //

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Propping Open the Document Trapdoor

Google Tech Talk November 5, 2009 ABSTRACT Presented by Steven R. Bagley & David F. Brailsford, School of Computer Science, University of Nottingham, NOTTINGHAM NG8 1BB , UK Computer document processing often starts with an abstract, structural, representation before entering a processing pipeline which creates a desired layout and appearance. But unfortunately the whole system resembles a series of steps in a one-way chemical reaction, or the successive irreversible stages of creating …

34
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Time:
50:22
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Initiatives in Education

October 26, 09 //

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Initiatives in Education

Google Tech Talk October 20, 2009 ABSTRACT Presented by Maggie Johnson, Google Director of Education and University Relations, at the NSF Computer Science Education Leadership Summit. Google believes that all students should have the opportunity to become active creators of tomorrows technology. Through our diverse set of education efforts, we invest in the next generation of computer scientists and engineers, providing opportunities for all students to engage more directly in technology. To …

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Time:
30:07
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