CS 101: Grading

Applications of Computer Science

Why study computer science? In fact, computer technology is often central to much scientific research. This research requires not just domain experts, such as medical and environmental researchers, but also people with deep knowledge of computer technology who are able to develop algorithms and complex applications to facilitate scientific research.

Over the course of this semester, I will add news articles to this page highlighting the many roles computers play in these scientific advancements and the many opportunities that are available for those interesting in applying their computer science expertise in ways that are deeply meaningful to humanity.

General Science

All Science is Computer Science - George Johnson, New York Times, March 25, 2001: Physics, biology, chemistry, neuroscience, genetics, even sociology and anthropology depend heavily on computers. Increasingly, experiments are done "in silica", that is, by developing and experimenting with models of real systems rather than the systems themselves.

Geology

Mother Earth gets undressed - Nature, July 31, 2008: Earth scientists and computer scientists have collaborated to produce the first global digital geological map, allowing you to see rocks underground everywhere.

Health and Medicine

Computers Help Docs Spot Breast Cancer on X-rays - Associated Press, October 1, 2008: British researchers have performed a rigorous experiment comparing the ability of a single radiologist using computer-aided detection software to the ability of two radiologists without support software in their ability to identify breast cancern from mammogram images. The results are that these two techniques are equally effective and superior to an individual radiologist.
Software Maps Rwandan Health - BBC News, July 16, 2008: Max Baber from the University of Redlands in California is using geographic information to track and predict disease outbreaks, particularly malaria, in Rwanda.
Mapping Infectious Diseases - Emily Singer, Technology REview, July 10, 2008: HealthMap is a public-health system that uses a variety of Internet sources to create a world map showing the locations of outbreaks of diseases. The biggest beneificiaries are expected to be poorer nations which have less good public health monitoring.
Virtual Surgery Becoming a Reality - CNN, October 17, 2007: Two doctors in Argentina used high-quality, real-time audio and video communication to successfully complete their first laparoscopic gastric sleeve surgery while being monitored by Dr. Alex Gandsas in Baltimore, Md.
MIT Model Could Improve Some Drugs' Effectiveness - MIT News, September 23, 2007: MIT professors Dane Wittrup and Bruce Tidor have developed a computer system that predicts which structural changes of antibodies in drugs will improve their effectiveness.
Computers help chemists in superbug battle - vnunet.com, August 21, 2007: Researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in Canada are using chemo-informatics, a combination of computer science and chemistry, to analyze drugs to quickly find medications when anitbiotic-resistant bacteria emerge.

Environment

Smart camera keeps an eye on endangered penguins - Colin Barras, New Scientist, June 28, 2008: University of Bristol researchers Tilo Burghardt and Peter Barham are using a remote-control camera and automatic image analysis to study penguins on Robben Island, South Africa.
Robots Go Where Scientists Fear to Tread, Georgia Institute of Technology, May 27, 2008: Scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology and Penn State have developed SnoMotes, robots designed to travel on volatile ice sheets to collect data that will help understand why the world's ice shelves are melting.

Sociology

Bet on It! - IEEE Spectrum, September 2007: Software and services that help companies tap the "wisdom of crowds" to project public response to new products, sales revenue, or the price of new commodities are being developed and marketed.

Biology

Researchers Develop Automated Cell-Screening System - Carnegie Mellon News, Sept. 8, 2008: A computational biologist and an expert in machine learning at Carnegie Mellon have collaborated to produce a system that can rapicly analyze images of cells and classify the cells into groups, an activity critical to biological research.
Computational Biochemist Uncovers a Molecular Clue to Evolution - Florida State University, Sept. 10, 2008: Professor Wei Yang at Florida State University has developed a computer modle of the inosine monophosphate dehrydrogenase (IMPDH) enzyme that has led to a better understanding of evolution at the molecular level.
Carnegie Mellon Engineering Researchers Automate Analysis of Protein Patterns in Tissues = Carnegie Mellon News, May 12, 2008: Carnegie Mellon University biomedical engineering PhD student Justin Newberg and professor Robert Murphy have developed software that will help bioscience researchers characterize protein patterns in human tissues that could help with cancer diagnosis and therapy.
Pursuing the Next Level of Artificial Intelligence - New York Times, May 3, 2008: Stanford University researcher Daphne Koller has developed tools that helped facilitate a new type of cancer gene map based on analyzing the behavior of a large number of genes that are active in an assortment of tumors, which yielded a new explanation of how breast tumors spread into bone.
Computers Show How Bats Classify Plants According to Their Echoes - ScienceDaily, March 24 2008: A team of machine learning scientists and experts on bats have developed software that demonstrates how bats use echoes to classify food sources.
A Computer Simulation Shows How Evolution May Have Speeded Up - Weizmann Institute of Science, August 28, 2007: Nadav Kashtan, Elad Noor, and Uri Alon at the Weizmann Institute of Science's Molecular Cell Biology and Physics of Complex Systems Departments have developed computer simulations that mimic natural evolution, and found that changing environmental conditions sped the evolution of the genome.
3D models provide virtual approach to plant optimisation - EUREKA, August 7, 2007: A new computer model involving computer science, biochemistry, and horticulture allows farmers to study the effects of irrigation, spraying, temperature and nutrients without experimenting on real crops.

Astronomy

Two New Ways to Explore the Universe, in Vivid 3-D - New York Times, May 13, 2008: Microsoft has developed WorldWide Telescope to allow users to explore detailed and animated 3D astronomical images via a Web site. The Google Sky project applies Google's searchable map service to space image.
Software Coordinates 19 Mirrors, Focuses James Webb Space Telescope - NASA News, August 24, 2007: NASA researchers have created "Wavefront Sensing and Controls," that will control 19 mirrors in the James Webb Space Telescope to allow the telescope to capture light from objects at the edges of space.

Human Assistance

Helping the deaf to 'see sound' - BBC News, August 13, 2008: Researchers from the University of London have created a user interface that displays sound in a way that makes it easier for deaf children to be aware of interact with the sound.
Tongue Drive System Allows Individuals with Disabilities to Operate Powered Wheelchairs and Computers - Abby Vogel, Georgia Institute of Technology, June 30, 2008: Georgia Institute of Technology professor Maysam Ghovanloo and graduate student Xueliang Huo have developed the Tongue Drive system to allow people with disabilities to operate devices by moving their tongues.
Paralyzed Man Takes a Walk in Virtual World, Agence France Presse, June 2, 2008: Researchers at Keio University in Japan have enabled a paralyzed man to use his mind to control Second Life in order to meet another person and hold a conversation.
Monkeys Think, Moving Artificial Arm as Own, New York Times, May 29, 2008: University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University brain-machine researchers have implanted tiny sensors in two monkeys that enable them to control a mechanical arm using only their thoughts.; The Google Earth Outreach program combines Google Earth, Google Maps, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office to provide help to humanitarian agencies by showing where refugees are, the conditions of those locations, and infracsturcture problems.
Software Strikes a Chord for Disabled Students - eSchool News, November 29, 2007: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's "Adaptive Use Musical Instruments for the Physically Challenged" program enables students with severe physical disabilities to make music by just moving their heads.
New Technology Can be Operated by Thought, Science Daily, November 9, 2007: Reserachers at the Wadsworth Center in Albany and Washington University School of Medicine have developed brain computer intefaces to control PCs, wheelchairs and a robotic arm by thought.
Technique Links Words to Signing - BBC News, Sept. 15, 2007: IBM researchers have developed SiSi, a system that translates spoken words into British Sign Language (BSL).

Music

Microsoft Creates 'Instant Backing Band' for Singers - New Scientist, April 7, 2008: Microsoft Research's Dan Morris and Sumit Basu and the University of Washington's Ian Simon developed MySong, software that takes a sung vocal and generates a file containing the sequence of sung notes and uses that sequence to create backup music.

Art

Predicting Stress - Sydney Morning Herald, April 17, 2008: University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Vadim Shapiro and his colleagues have developed Scan and Solve, software that can determine the stress on an object based only on its shape, which could help experts preserve pieces of artwork or help treat people's physical problems.
ACM Honors Randy Wang and Digital Study Hall Team for Using Community-Generated Video to Improve Education in India, AScribe Newswire, June 10, 2008: Randy Wang and the Digital Study Hall (DSH) team developed a video-sharing system that allows videos of the best teachers to be shared with local teachers in South Asia use to improve learning.
Tapping Computer Science for a More ACCURATE Vote, National Science Foundation, June 9, 2008: Stanford University professor David Dill developed AttackDog, software that examines thousands of ways in which a voting system can be attacked and analyzes countermeasures against those attacks. This is an example of a computer science tool being used to help local officials improve the security of their elections.
NASA: 'Extreme programming' controls Mars Lander robot, Computerworld, June 5, 2008: Approximately 30 NASA engineers and programmers work to write and test 1,000 to 1,500 lines of software code every day that is sent to the Mars Lander, which is searching for elements that could support life on Mars.
Nissan Goes High-tech to Stop Accidents, Inefficient Driving, PC World, August 4, 2008: Nissan has developed two high-tech systems to help drivers. One helps with avoiding vehicles in the driver's blind spot. The other helps drivers maintain the most fuel-efficient speed and acceleration.