all computer science stories

Computer scientists model cell division

50443248 — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:36:48 -0400

Computer scientists at Harvard have developed a framework for studying the arrangement of tissue networks created by cell division across a diverse set of organisms, including fruit flies, tadpoles, and plants.

The finding, published in the June 2009 issue of PLoS Computational Biology, could lead to insights about how multicellular systems achieve (or fail to achieve) robustness from the seemingly random behavior of groups of cells, and provide a road map for researchers seeking to artificially emulate complex biological behavior.

Computer science pioneer Barbara J. Grosz awarded Allen Newell Award

50443248 — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:19:11 -0400

Barbara J. Grosz, Higgins Professor of Natural Sciences at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and dean of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, was awarded the Allen Newell Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)/Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI). The Newell Award recognizes career contributions that have breadth within computer science or that bridge computer science and other disciplines.

The way of the digital dodo

50443248 — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:33:54 -0500

The laser light glowed brilliant red, forming a moving line as it bounced information from the dodo’s bones back into the high-tech scanner sitting on a tripod on the Museum of Comparative Zoology’s (MCZ) fifth floor.

Again and again, the red line traced the contours of the skeletal bird, one of just a handful of complete skeletons of one of the world’s most famous cases of human-caused extinction.

Diverse ‘connectomes’ hint at genes’ limits in the nervous system

404132862 — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:01:00 -0500

Genetics may play a surprisingly small role in determining the precise wiring of the mammalian nervous system, according to painstaking mapping of every neuron projecting to a small muscle mice use to move their ears. These first-ever mammalian “connectomes,” or complete neural circuit diagrams, reveal that neural wiring can vary widely even in paired tissues on the left and right sides of the same animal.

Thinking globally and mapping locally

404132862 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 11:02:51 -0500

Akiyuki Kawasaki thinks globally and maps locally.

To do that, the Japanese researcher, who is spending the academic year as a visiting scholar at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, has developed software that allows researchers to predict how changes in population, land use, climate, urbanization, agriculture and other variables will affect water flow in a given area.

David Parkes named professor of computer science

404132862 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:20:49 -0400

David C. Parkes, a leader in research at the nexus of computer science and economics, has been appointed Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences(SEAS).

Parkes, 35, was previously John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Natural Sciences and associate professor of computer science at Harvard, where he has been on the faculty since 2001.

HOPE in African HIV/AIDS fight

404132862 — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:32:16 -0500

It was close to midnight one day this week in Durban, South Africa, when Harvard AIDS researcher Bruce D. Walker switched on his computer and made a visit to 104 Mt. Auburn St. in Cambridge.

Creating a computer currency

50443248 — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:36:02 -0400

Computer scientists are using the latest version of peer-to-peer video sharing software to explore a next-generation electronic commerce model that uses bandwidth as a global currency.

The software, called Tribler, is available for download beginning today (Aug. 29) on the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) Web site: http://tv.seas.harvard.edu.

Once installed, the software lets those who download it join a peer-to-peer video sharing network. Tribler was originally created by scientists in The Netherlands, at Delft University of Technology and Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam. The most recent release was created in collaboration with scientists at Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

'Digital immigrants' teaching 'digital natives'

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 09:46:42 -0400

Students coming into universities today are 'digital natives' and fundamentally different in their use of technology than the 'digital immigrants' who teach them, according to John Palfrey, executive director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

Collaboration yields first citywide network of wireless sensors

50443248 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:13:39 -0400

Harvard University, BBN Technologies, and the city of Cambridge have begun a four-year project to install 100 wireless sensors atop streetlights in Cambridge, Mass., creating the world’s first citywide network of wireless sensors.

Sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the project is open-source, meaning it could eventually be accessible to researchers worldwide for everything from gathering meteorological data to monitoring traffic conditions and noise pollution.

Called CitySense, the wireless sensor network developed by computer scientists at Harvard and BBN Technologies, a technology solutions firm in Cambridge, will focus initially on monitoring air pollution and weather conditions, collecting data on a scale never before attempted.

Libraries, museums meet with IT

50443248 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:19:59 -0400

The ability to search the actual text of millions of books — instead of just titles or summaries — will change the way students and academics conduct research, revealing a host of new sources invisible to current search methods, a Harvard University Library official working on the Google project said on March 28.

Accelerating science with innovative computing

50443248 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 16:31:17 -0400

How daunting a task is it, in an age when it is possible to visualize structures and to see them at magnifications not even dreamed of a short time ago, to produce a "wiring diagram" of the human brain?

It is an extreme challenge when one considers that the amount of information that needs to be gathered, manipulated, and analyzed is "equal to all the written materials in all the libraries in the world," Jeff Lichtman, professor of molecular and cellular biology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, explained to those attending the inaugural symposium of Harvard's new Initiative in Innovative Computing.

Microsoft's Ballmer pulls out the stops at HBS talk

50443248 — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 09:51:11 -0400

The 24th richest person in the world made a visit to the Harvard Business School (HBS) last week (Dec. 7), and gave an audience of 700 advice on how to succeed in business: Have passion, curiosity, and empathy.

Microsoft CEO Steven Anthony Ballmer '77 (whose net worth is around $14 billion) also shared his vision of the high-tech industry's future: It's bright.

"The next 10 years will be hotter than the last 10 years," he said - surpassing the past decade with its huge new global markets for PCs, cell phones, the Internet, and digital cameras. (Microsoft's already grabbed its share. About 800 million PCs - 90 percent of the world's computers - use Microsoft Windows.)

Comprehensive model first to map protein folding at atomic level

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 09:53:08 -0400

Scientists at Harvard University have developed a computer model that, for the first time, can fully map and predict how small proteins fold into three-dimensional, biologically active shapes. The work could help researchers better understand the abnormal protein aggregation underlying some devastating diseases, as well as how natural proteins evolved and how proteins recognize correct biochemical partners within living cells.

The technique, which can track protein folding for some 10 microseconds - about as long as some proteins take to assume their biologically stable configuration, and at least a thousand times longer than previous methods - is described this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Innovative computing initiative sets sights on projects

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 11:05:49 -0400

After a year of hiring, moving into new digs, and generally getting its feet wet, the Harvard Initiative in Innovative Computing (IIC) is ready to forge ahead into the new year, diving into computer-intensive projects that need not just computational firepower, but also innovative thinking.

The initiative is moving ahead on a half-dozen or so projects generated by groups of Harvard faculty in response to a call for ideas last spring. These projects span a broad array of disciplines, from using medical imaging technology to illuminate star creation to producing astonishingly detailed pictures of the mammalian brain to designing a Web portal that offers astronomers new ways to share data.