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| Photo: JumpStory |
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers and subscribers for your support and I hope that you continue to support my eLearning News with comments, suggestions in 2020.
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Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Happy New Year! Wish You A Great 2020! | Helge Scherlund's eLearning News
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers and subscribers for your support and I hope that you continue to support my eLearning News with comments, suggestions in 2020.
Interview with a genius mathematician, award-winning maths tutor: Cansu Olce | Interviews - Best in Australia
You can follow up with Cansu Olce at https://astarmaths.com.au
Many maths tutors can be found in Brisbane but they are not all the same!, notes Mike Smith, Executive Editor at Best in Australia.
Today we speak with Cansu Olce from A Star Brisbane Maths Tutor who has been tutoring mathematics and statistics to university and high school students for over nine years.
Cansu has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and is passionate about helping people of all ages develop their skills and confidence in maths.
Read more...
Source: Best in Australia
Many maths tutors can be found in Brisbane but they are not all the same!, notes Mike Smith, Executive Editor at Best in Australia.
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| Cansu Olce, A Star Brisbane Maths Tutor |
Cansu has a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and is passionate about helping people of all ages develop their skills and confidence in maths.
Read more...
Source: Best in Australia
Donald Knuth's Christmas pi surprise | Pi - Boing Boing
Donald Knuth’s 2019 ‘Christmas Tree Lecture’ Explores Pi in ‘The Art of Computer Programming’ [David Cassel/The New Stack]
Jon Cog writes, "For Christmas, mathematician Donald Knuth shared some great geeky fun.
Stanford Lecture: Don Knuth - "Pi and The Art of Computer Programming" (2019
He revealed how for the last 57 years, he's been incorporating the digits of pi into the exercises of his computer programming books -- a whopping 1,700 times. And before long his annual 'Christmas Tree' lecture 'had turned into a kind of intellectual funhouse,' sharing other mind-boggling pi-related miscellanies."
Read more...
Source: Boing Boing and stanfordonline Channel (YouTube)
Jon Cog writes, "For Christmas, mathematician Donald Knuth shared some great geeky fun.
Stanford Lecture: Don Knuth - "Pi and The Art of Computer Programming" (2019
He revealed how for the last 57 years, he's been incorporating the digits of pi into the exercises of his computer programming books -- a whopping 1,700 times. And before long his annual 'Christmas Tree' lecture 'had turned into a kind of intellectual funhouse,' sharing other mind-boggling pi-related miscellanies."
Read more...
Source: Boing Boing and stanfordonline Channel (YouTube)
Mathematician Conceives of Novel Genius Way to Solve Quadratic Equations | Science - Interesting Engineering
Loukia Papadopoulos, journalist, writer, and editor explains, The equations have been around for nearly 4000 years.
Quadratic equations are equations
to the second degree that contain at least one term that is squared. So
far, in order to solve them, we have had to make use of the
complicated quadratic formula.
A smarter alternative
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| Photo: Screenshot from Expii's Video |
A smarter alternative
Now, mathematician Po-Shen Loh from Carnegie Mellon
University has conceived of an easier and better way to solve these
tricky equations. "It is unfortunate that for billions of people
worldwide, the quadratic formula is also their first experience of a
rather complicated formula which they memorize," writes Loh in his new research paper that offers a smarter alternative...
4,000 years of history
4,000 years of history
"This article introduces an independently discovered
simple derivation of the quadratic formula, which also produces a
computationally-efficient and natural method for solving general
quadratic equations. The author would actually be very surprised if this
pedagogical approach has eluded human discovery until the present day,
given the 4,000 years of history on this topic, and the billions of people who have encountered the formula and its proof," writes Loh.
Read more...
Source: Interesting Engineering
Read more...
Source: Interesting Engineering
The 10 Biggest Math Breakthroughs of 2019 | Science - Popular Mechanics
From answering ancient questions to finding new innovations, these are the year’s magnificent mathematical highlights, according to Dave Linkletter, Ph.D. candidate in Pure Mathematics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
In 2019, math seemed to have many mainstream moments—and that’s not including the viral problems
that made us want to rip our hair out. This year saw a steady stream of
answers (or at least partial answers) to tough questions that had
puzzled mathematicians for decades, as well as new techniques that
captured our attention in a big way.
Here are the numbers—and the minds behind them—that mattered most this year.
Read more...
Source: Popular Mechanics
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| Photo: JumpStory |
Here are the numbers—and the minds behind them—that mattered most this year.
Read more...
Source: Popular Mechanics
Monday, December 30, 2019
How to Make an E-Learning Web App: Features, Estimation, and More | How to - RecentlyHeard.com
Modern technologies have changed the way of teaching and learning, continues RecentlyHeard.com.
There are a lot of platforms that provide various online courses,
seminars, and more. According to the latest stats, 43% of US college students claim that digital learning is ‘extremely helpful.’
To create a successful e-learning service, you need to have an exciting idea along with a stable platform. In this article, we’ll discuss must-have features, business models, and development costs of your future e-learning web app.
Read more...
Source: RecentlyHeard.com
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| Photo: John-schnobrich-unsplash |
To create a successful e-learning service, you need to have an exciting idea along with a stable platform. In this article, we’ll discuss must-have features, business models, and development costs of your future e-learning web app.
Read more...
Source: RecentlyHeard.com
Software Engineers Just Want to Keep Learning: Study | Software Engineers - Dice Insights
What motivates software engineers to pursue new opportunities?, according to Nick Kolakowski, Senior Editor at Dice Insights.
According to data crunched by Triplebyte,
“opportunity for professional growth” is the biggest motivator, ahead
of salary, better work/life balance, and “impressive team members.” (The
company, which tries to streamline the technical hiring process, asks
every engineer on its platform about what would excite them most in
their next position.)
For most software engineers, professional growth is necessary for a healthy career. “It’s not uncommon for us to see skilled programmers left on the sidelines for the sin of sticking with PHP or Perl for a little too long,” Triplebyte wrote in a note accompanying the data. “For all that software engineering is a lucrative and comfortable career in some respects, a smart and career-aware engineer knows that their long-term employability is more precarious than it might look at any given time.”...
Or if you’re interested in expanding into machine learning and artificial intelligence (A.I.) (and why wouldn’t you be, given how important those things are becoming to most software engineers?), everyone from Google to Bloomberg and OpenAI all offer courses of varying intensity; for instance, if you’ve mastered the underlying mathematical concepts and want to really plunge into the intricacies of machine learning, check out Bloomberg’s online video course.
Read more...
Source: Dice Insights
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| Photo: Shutterstock |
For most software engineers, professional growth is necessary for a healthy career. “It’s not uncommon for us to see skilled programmers left on the sidelines for the sin of sticking with PHP or Perl for a little too long,” Triplebyte wrote in a note accompanying the data. “For all that software engineering is a lucrative and comfortable career in some respects, a smart and career-aware engineer knows that their long-term employability is more precarious than it might look at any given time.”...
Or if you’re interested in expanding into machine learning and artificial intelligence (A.I.) (and why wouldn’t you be, given how important those things are becoming to most software engineers?), everyone from Google to Bloomberg and OpenAI all offer courses of varying intensity; for instance, if you’ve mastered the underlying mathematical concepts and want to really plunge into the intricacies of machine learning, check out Bloomberg’s online video course.
Read more...
Source: Dice Insights
10 charity digital resolutions for 2020 | Tech Trends - Charity Digital News
As we enter a new decade, it’s time to look back on its lessons, as Chloe Green, Author at Charity Digital News reports.
To
round up 2019, we reflect on the great digital principles shown by
charities – and how these can carry over into 2020 and beyond.
Here are our top 10 charity digital resolutions:
Read more...
Source: Charity Digital News
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| Photo: Charity Digital News |
Here are our top 10 charity digital resolutions:
Read more...
Source: Charity Digital News
Blended learning | DAWN.com
Neda Mulji, works at Oxford University Press summarizes, PakistanTextbooks alone cannot match the benefits of blended learning.
A 25-YEAR-OLD old takes her new car out on the broken roads of Karachi,
on the way to her first job. It has taken her nearly two years to land a
job after she graduated with an MBA degree from a local university.
There are thousands like her still struggling to find employment.
We often hear the word ‘entitled’ to describe young people demanding something bigger and better — be it a new digital device, travels abroad, or simply chasing a desire to win an arm-chair argument against their parents in the family living room. The fact is, there is not much room for ‘entitlement’ in a society where, as Maya Angelou aptly put it, ‘joy is an act of resistance’. The girl driving her very first car isn’t the only one looking for a bit of joy in the urban madness — millions of others like her are finding ways to subvert deprivation. There are millions of hard-earning parents investing in their children’s education only to eventually realise it won’t deliver a professionally-driven future.
How effective is a higher education system if it cannot be a launching pad for graduates to be able to afford their own housing, health and improve the quality of their lives? The responsibility to enable the dreams and aspirations of our young generation rests with all those higher education institutes that are preparing them for a career. In the absence of job-embedded learning, there is little connect between a college education and real life needs. Our young graduates are often deprived of the prospects that most universities provide the world over.
Whilst many of our local universities claim to delve into evolving teaching methods and a wider scope of learning, a closer look often shows a gaping divide between theory and practice. For example, the concept of blended learning is currently touted as the next big thing in our higher education institutes but have we got the framework in place to help familiarise teachers with the evolving strategies to use it in classrooms?.
Universities worldwide are using blended learning as a powerful mechanism that combines traditional face-to-face teaching with the digital tools required to prepare students for the demands of a professional life...
These blended learning tools help students take ownership of their education and engage more deeply with course material as they get opportunities for self-advocacy through individually defined goals and flexible assessment.
Read more...
Source: DAWN.com
 |
| Photo: JumpStory |
We often hear the word ‘entitled’ to describe young people demanding something bigger and better — be it a new digital device, travels abroad, or simply chasing a desire to win an arm-chair argument against their parents in the family living room. The fact is, there is not much room for ‘entitlement’ in a society where, as Maya Angelou aptly put it, ‘joy is an act of resistance’. The girl driving her very first car isn’t the only one looking for a bit of joy in the urban madness — millions of others like her are finding ways to subvert deprivation. There are millions of hard-earning parents investing in their children’s education only to eventually realise it won’t deliver a professionally-driven future.
How effective is a higher education system if it cannot be a launching pad for graduates to be able to afford their own housing, health and improve the quality of their lives? The responsibility to enable the dreams and aspirations of our young generation rests with all those higher education institutes that are preparing them for a career. In the absence of job-embedded learning, there is little connect between a college education and real life needs. Our young graduates are often deprived of the prospects that most universities provide the world over.
Whilst many of our local universities claim to delve into evolving teaching methods and a wider scope of learning, a closer look often shows a gaping divide between theory and practice. For example, the concept of blended learning is currently touted as the next big thing in our higher education institutes but have we got the framework in place to help familiarise teachers with the evolving strategies to use it in classrooms?.
Universities worldwide are using blended learning as a powerful mechanism that combines traditional face-to-face teaching with the digital tools required to prepare students for the demands of a professional life...
These blended learning tools help students take ownership of their education and engage more deeply with course material as they get opportunities for self-advocacy through individually defined goals and flexible assessment.
Read more...
Source: DAWN.com
Become a Machine Learning Expert from India's #1 Machine Learning Lab and AI Research Center | Machine Learning - YourStory.com
Applications for an 18-week AI/ML Executive Certification Program by IIIT Hyderabad, in association with TalentSprint, is now open, inform Apoorva Puranik, Senior Writer at YourStory Media.
Deep tech has been the
buzzword in the Indian startup ecosystem for quite some time and several
homegrown companies are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI),
Machine Learning(ML), IoT, big data, cloud, mobility, and data analytics
and bringing to the fore innovative solutions. In fact, a recent report
by Infosys, which surveyed 1,000 senior IT and business decision-makers
in companies across seven countries, found that more than half of the
companies assessed had already invested in deep-learning AI algorithms.
The report also showed that companies are investing in a wide range of offerings — retail in augmented reality, automotive in connected cars and utilities looking at tech for omni-channel customer experience.
That’s why professionals across organisations, independent of their job roles, are expected to have a working knowledge of AI and how they can effectively use these disruptive technologies in their area of work...
Here’s why you should sign up
Apart from the fact that this program is offered by India's No. 1 Machine Learning Lab at IIIT Hyderabad, it follows a unique 5-step learning process to ensure fast-track learning: Masterclass Lectures, Hands-on Labs, Mentorship, Hackathons and Workshops. Moreover, participants will get a chance to learn and collaborate with leading people from academia, industry and global bluechip Institutions. Participants will receive an advanced certification by IIIT Hyderabad ML Lab.
If you are a business leader, developer, project manager who wants to leverage the power of AI and ML, register today for IIIT Hyderabad's AI/ML executive certification program.
Read more...
Source: YourStory.com
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| Photo: YourStory.com |
The report also showed that companies are investing in a wide range of offerings — retail in augmented reality, automotive in connected cars and utilities looking at tech for omni-channel customer experience.
That’s why professionals across organisations, independent of their job roles, are expected to have a working knowledge of AI and how they can effectively use these disruptive technologies in their area of work...
Here’s why you should sign up
Apart from the fact that this program is offered by India's No. 1 Machine Learning Lab at IIIT Hyderabad, it follows a unique 5-step learning process to ensure fast-track learning: Masterclass Lectures, Hands-on Labs, Mentorship, Hackathons and Workshops. Moreover, participants will get a chance to learn and collaborate with leading people from academia, industry and global bluechip Institutions. Participants will receive an advanced certification by IIIT Hyderabad ML Lab.
- #1 Rated Machine Learning Lab in India
- Hosts Kohli Center (KCIS), India's leading center on intelligent systems
- KCIS's research was featured in 600 publications and received 5,792 citations
- Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for IP Management and Technology Commercialization
- Hosts CVIT that focuses on basic and advanced research in Image Processing Computer Vision, Computer Graphics and Machine Learning
If you are a business leader, developer, project manager who wants to leverage the power of AI and ML, register today for IIIT Hyderabad's AI/ML executive certification program.
Read more...
Source: YourStory.com
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Poets Susannah Nevison, Christopher Kondrich to read at New Dominion Bookshop | Augusta Free Press
New Dominion Bookshop will host a book reading and signing with poets Susannah Nevison and Christopher Kondrich on Friday, Jan. 31 beginning at 7 p.m.
This reading is free to attend. The event will be hosted by poet Valencia Robin and will be cosponsored by local nonprofit WriterHouse.
About New Dominion Bookshop
Serving Albemarle and Central Virginia since 1924, New Dominion Bookshop is the oldest independent bookseller in Virginia. Located in Historic Downtown Charlottesville, New Dominion is a general trade bookshop that serves as the hub for readings and other literary events in the community.
For more information, visit ndbookshop.com.
Source: Augusta Free Press
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| Photo: New Dominion Bookshop |
This reading is free to attend. The event will be hosted by poet Valencia Robin and will be cosponsored by local nonprofit WriterHouse.
About New Dominion Bookshop
 |
| New Dominion Bookshop |
Serving Albemarle and Central Virginia since 1924, New Dominion Bookshop is the oldest independent bookseller in Virginia. Located in Historic Downtown Charlottesville, New Dominion is a general trade bookshop that serves as the hub for readings and other literary events in the community.
For more information, visit ndbookshop.com.
Source: Augusta Free Press
In pics: poetry themed bookstore in Shanghai | Photo - China - Xinhua
Take a closer look at these pictures from Si'nan Books-Poetry Bookstore by Xinhua.
Source: Xinhua
 |
| A poem themed salon is held at a poetry themed bookstore in Shanghai, east China, on Dec. 28, 2019. The bookstore called Si'nan Books-Poetry Bookstore started business on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua/Liu Ying |
The best eReaders: store thousands of books and read on the go | Features - Louder
Becca Caddy, Louder suggest, Read wherever you are with our pick of the best eReaders, from Kindle to Kobo.
eReaders have come a long way over the past decade or so, since the
first Kindle was released in 2007. Now they have built-in lights, lots
of customisation options and syncing features – while many models are
even waterproof. The best eReaders in this list represent the pinnacle
of this technology.
But although only a few brands dominate the space these days, it isn’t always easy to find the best eReader for you. That’s why we’ve created this buying guide to help you figure out which eReader will best fit your lifestyle, your reading habits and your backpack. So, whether you're reading The Dirt on the bus to work, or delving into Hammer Of The Gods by the pool on your next holiday, there will be an option for you.
How to buy the best eReader for you
eReaders are for those who don’t want to carry around paper books, but would like to keep hundreds, thousands even, on one device...
Armed with these considerations, it’s time to take a look at the best eReaders for turning your reading, research and relaxation time fully electronic.
Read more...
Source: Louder
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| Photo: Amazon |
But although only a few brands dominate the space these days, it isn’t always easy to find the best eReader for you. That’s why we’ve created this buying guide to help you figure out which eReader will best fit your lifestyle, your reading habits and your backpack. So, whether you're reading The Dirt on the bus to work, or delving into Hammer Of The Gods by the pool on your next holiday, there will be an option for you.
How to buy the best eReader for you
eReaders are for those who don’t want to carry around paper books, but would like to keep hundreds, thousands even, on one device...
Armed with these considerations, it’s time to take a look at the best eReaders for turning your reading, research and relaxation time fully electronic.
Read more...
Source: Louder
6 books that were worth reading in 2019, according to local bookstore owners | Media & Books - Deseret News
Check these books out below.
In case you missed them, here are six worthwhile reads from this year, recommended by some of Salt Lake City’s local bookstores by Valerie Jones, Deseret News.
Read more...
Source: Deseret News
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| Local bookstore owners recommended six books from 2019 that are worth a read. Photo: Adobe Stock |
Read more...
Source: Deseret News
These Books Will Help You Understand the Relationship Between Human and Machine | Design - Fortune
A version of this article appears in the January 2020 issue of
Fortune with the headline "Bridging the Gap Between Human and Machine."
People and machines can accomplish wonders when they understand each other—and create cataclysms when they don’t by Clay Chandler, Executive Editor, Asia at Fortune Magazine.
The partial meltdown of a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 is typically explained as the product of mechanical malfunction and human error. The precipitating cause of the catastrophe, the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history, was the malfunction of a pipe meant to pump water into one of the plant’s two reactors to keep it from overheating. Plant operators inadvertently made things worse by shutting off a backup system.
But Cliff Kuang, in a fascinating new book, argues that Three Mile Island is better understood as a design failure. The reactor, he notes, would have saved itself had it been left alone. Instead, a simple pump failure became a nuclear nightmare because “catastrophically bad control room design” made it impossible for the men operating the plant to understand what had gone wrong. “The plant and the men were talking past each other,” Kuang writes. “The plant hadn’t been designed to anticipate the imaginations of men; the men couldn’t imagine the workings of a machine.”
Humans and machines talking past each other is the central preoccupation of 2019’s two most important design books. One is Kuang’s, written with designer Robert Fabricant and titled User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play. The other is How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us, by design and tech guru John Maeda...
What Kind of Designer Are You?
Recommended Reading
Source: Fortune
People and machines can accomplish wonders when they understand each other—and create cataclysms when they don’t by Clay Chandler, Executive Editor, Asia at Fortune Magazine.
The partial meltdown of a reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania in 1979 is typically explained as the product of mechanical malfunction and human error. The precipitating cause of the catastrophe, the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history, was the malfunction of a pipe meant to pump water into one of the plant’s two reactors to keep it from overheating. Plant operators inadvertently made things worse by shutting off a backup system.
But Cliff Kuang, in a fascinating new book, argues that Three Mile Island is better understood as a design failure. The reactor, he notes, would have saved itself had it been left alone. Instead, a simple pump failure became a nuclear nightmare because “catastrophically bad control room design” made it impossible for the men operating the plant to understand what had gone wrong. “The plant and the men were talking past each other,” Kuang writes. “The plant hadn’t been designed to anticipate the imaginations of men; the men couldn’t imagine the workings of a machine.”
Humans and machines talking past each other is the central preoccupation of 2019’s two most important design books. One is Kuang’s, written with designer Robert Fabricant and titled User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play. The other is How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us, by design and tech guru John Maeda...
What Kind of Designer Are You?
Tech and design guru John Maeda taxonomizes
designers into three categories. Business leaders may find that their
problem-solving styles overlap with one or more of the descriptions.
“Classical" designers create physical objects or products for a specific group of people, usually with an end-goal of a single tangible product in mind. This is the approach taught in traditional design schools.
“Commercial” designers seek insights into how customers interact with products and services, and innovate based on that knowledge. The idea of “design thinking” is associated with this category.
“Computational” designers use programming skills and data to attempt to quickly satisfy users. These practitioners often deploy imperfect or incremental designs, and modify them after seeing how they perform.
Read more... “Classical" designers create physical objects or products for a specific group of people, usually with an end-goal of a single tangible product in mind. This is the approach taught in traditional design schools.
“Commercial” designers seek insights into how customers interact with products and services, and innovate based on that knowledge. The idea of “design thinking” is associated with this category.
“Computational” designers use programming skills and data to attempt to quickly satisfy users. These practitioners often deploy imperfect or incremental designs, and modify them after seeing how they perform.
Recommended Reading
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| User Friendly: How the Hidden Rules of Design Are Changing the Way We Live, Work, and Play |
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| How to Speak Machine: Computational Thinking for the Rest of Us |
Source: Fortune
Saturday, December 28, 2019
Men are more likely than women to call their science ‘excellent’ | Science - The Washington Post
A subtle difference in how male scientists frame their findings may help fuel the gender gap in science and medicine, writes Carolyn Y. Johnson, Science reporter at The Washington Post.
Source: The Washington Post
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| Photo: iStock |
Gender disparities in science and medicine have been studied by task forces
and committees that have identified problems and possible solutions,
but stark gaps remain — at the highest levels and down the ladder. On
average, female researchers still earn less, receive less funding at the crucial start of their careers and are cited less often than their male counterparts.
A new study
adds to a growing body of research that suggests subtle differences in
how women describe their discoveries may affect their career
trajectories. Male authors were more likely to sprinkle words like
“novel,” “unique” and “excellent” into the abstracts that summarize
their scientific papers, compared to female authors. Such positively
framed findings were more likely to be cited by peers later on, a key
measure of the influence of a person’s research, according to the study
published in the British Medical Journal.
“The complicated question that this data is raising is: Should women
start to overhype their research?” said Marc Lerchenmueller, an
economist at the University of Mannheim who led the BMJ study...
An earlier study of economists, “Publishing While Female,”
found that women faced higher editorial standards: “Their manuscripts
are subject to greater scrutiny, spend longer under review and women, in
turn, respond by conforming to those standards,” wrote Erin Hengel, an
economist at the University of Liverpool.
Source: The Washington Post
The Absurdity of the Nobel Prizes in Science | Science - The Atlantic
They distort the nature of the scientific enterprise, rewrite its history, and overlook many of its most important contributors by Ed Yong, staff writer at The Atlantic.
There are assuredly good things about the prizes. Scientific discoveries should be recognized for the vital part they play in the human enterprise. The Nobel Prize website is an educational treasure trove, full of rich historical details that are largely missing from published papers...
In fairness, unlike the problem of how many scientists to award in a given year, the issue of laureates going off the rails is not one that the Nobel committee can solve. That one’s on us—on our tendency to see the Nobel Prize as the apotheosis of scientific worth. It is not. Like every other prize, it is flawed and subjective. By reifying it, we overinflate the egos of those who receive it, and we undermine those who do not. “Ultimately, it’s up to us to dethrone the Nobel Prizes,” wrote science writer Matthew Francis last year. “They rule our perception of science and how it’s done by our consent, and it’s past time we withdrew that consent.”
Read more...
Source: The Atlantic
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| Photo: JumpStory |
On October 3, 2017, physicists Rainer Weiss, Kip
Thorne, and Barry Barish received the Nobel Prize for Physics, for
their discovery of gravitational waves—distortions in the fabric of
space and time.
The trio, who led the Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) project that recorded these waves,
will split the 9-million-Swedish-krona prize between them. Perhaps more
importantly, they will carry the status of “Nobel laureate” for the
rest of their lives.
But what of the other scientists who contributed to the LIGO project, and whose names grace the three-page-long author list in the paper that describes the discoveries? “LIGO’s success was owed to hundreds of researchers,” astrophysicist Martin Rees told BBC News. “The fact that the Nobel Prize 2017
committee refuses to make group awards is causing increasingly frequent
problems and giving a misleading impression of how a lot of science is
actually done.”
This refrain is a familiar one. Every year, when
Nobel Prizes are awarded in physics, chemistry, and physiology or
medicine, critics note that they are an absurd and anachronistic way of
recognizing scientists for their work. Instead of honoring science, they
distort its nature, rewrite its history, and overlook many of its
important contributors.
There are assuredly good things about the prizes. Scientific discoveries should be recognized for the vital part they play in the human enterprise. The Nobel Prize website is an educational treasure trove, full of rich historical details that are largely missing from published papers...
In fairness, unlike the problem of how many scientists to award in a given year, the issue of laureates going off the rails is not one that the Nobel committee can solve. That one’s on us—on our tendency to see the Nobel Prize as the apotheosis of scientific worth. It is not. Like every other prize, it is flawed and subjective. By reifying it, we overinflate the egos of those who receive it, and we undermine those who do not. “Ultimately, it’s up to us to dethrone the Nobel Prizes,” wrote science writer Matthew Francis last year. “They rule our perception of science and how it’s done by our consent, and it’s past time we withdrew that consent.”
Read more...
Source: The Atlantic
Nobel Prize winners 2019: The full list from Peace to Literature and Economics | World - Evening Standard
The 2019 Nobel Prize winners will be presented with their awards at ceremonies in Norway and Sweden.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will collect the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on December 10 while the winners of prizes in the other categories head to Stockholm to receive theirs.
The annual ceremonies are held on December 10 to mark the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, who stipulated in his will that Norway was to host the peace prize ceremony and Sweden the other prizes.
With the ceremony taking place on Tuesday, here's the list of winners plus how to keep up to date with all of the action...
Where will the ceremonies be held?
Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and economics will be awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway...
Full list of Nobel Prize winners
Source: Evening Standard
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| Photo: JumpStory |
The annual ceremonies are held on December 10 to mark the anniversary of Alfred Nobel's death, who stipulated in his will that Norway was to host the peace prize ceremony and Sweden the other prizes.
With the ceremony taking place on Tuesday, here's the list of winners plus how to keep up to date with all of the action...
Where will the ceremonies be held?
Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and economics will be awarded at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Stockholm, Sweden.
The Nobel Peace Prize will be awarded at Oslo City Hall in Oslo, Norway...
Full list of Nobel Prize winners
- Nobel Peace Prize: Abiy Ahmed
- Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Professor William Kaelin Jr, Sir Peter Ratcliffe and Professor Gregg L. Semenza
- Nobel Prize in Physics: Canadian-American cosmologist James Peebles and Swiss scientists Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz
- Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Scientists John Goodenough, Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Chemistry
- Nobel Prize in Literature: Austria's Peter Handke won the 2019 Nobel Prize for Literature, and the postponed 2018 award went to Polish author Olga Tokarczuk
- Prize in Economic Sciences: Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo and Michael Kremer
Source: Evening Standard
Friday, December 27, 2019
KinderLabs Robotics Kibo robot kit can help teach younger kids to code, no screens required | Robotics - TechHive
Kids can program the robot by arranging a series of wooden programming blocks, all without ever touching an iPad, recommends Ben Patterson, Senior Writer - TechHive.
Try and try again
In watching my daughter and her friends program and play with the Kibo kit, the biggest challenge was typically getting the scanner to work properly. Because the main Kibo unit weighs about 1.5 pounds, holding it up to scan a barcode takes a bit of effort, and the buzz of a failed scan led to a few grumbles of frustration.
But to my surprise, the kids (who, being seven, will often give up on a task the moment it becomes the tiniest bit challenging) kept at at, eventually figuring out that it was easier to scan the barcodes from the side rather than the top.
Read more...
Source: TechHive
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| Photo: Amazon |
Sure, there are plenty of apps designed to teach coding to
kids, but most of them involve iPads—and as any parent with little kids
knows, the last thing they need is more iPad time.
Enter KinderLabs and its nifty STEAM-oriented Kibo robot kits,
which use motors, sensors, modules, scanners, and (most intriguing)
building blocks to introduce young ones to coding, no screens required.
My
seven-year-old daughter and her friends have been coding away with a
Kibo kit for a couple of months, and they’re way into it, furiously
rearranging the wooden coding blocks, snapping on sound and light
sensors, and (gently) tossing ping pong balls with the help of a
programmable, rubber band-powered throwing arm...
In watching my daughter and her friends program and play with the Kibo kit, the biggest challenge was typically getting the scanner to work properly. Because the main Kibo unit weighs about 1.5 pounds, holding it up to scan a barcode takes a bit of effort, and the buzz of a failed scan led to a few grumbles of frustration.
But to my surprise, the kids (who, being seven, will often give up on a task the moment it becomes the tiniest bit challenging) kept at at, eventually figuring out that it was easier to scan the barcodes from the side rather than the top.
Read more...
Source: TechHive
Creating a SPARK: Tempe school employs VR, robots and other innovative techniques | Next Gen - Cronkite News
Students at the SPARK School at Kyrene de las Manitas Elementary
are reimagining classroom modules and using such technology as robots,
green screens, 3-D printers and virtual reality to learn math, science
and other traditional subjects by Mariah Gallegos.
SPARK is a special program housed on the
school’s campus.
“We are very much a blending, learning atmosphere,” said Mary Brown, the school’s Teacher Executive Designer. “In addition to 3-D printers, we have Sphero so students are practicing coding, and one of the coolest pieces of technology we have is virtual reality. So when we want to visit a place that we would never really be able to visit, such as the Amazon rainforest, students put the virtual reality on and they’re actually inside of it, they can make observations as scientists in that space.”
Brown said redesigning classroom lesson plans helps improve teacher retention and builds excitement and engagement among students...
Old school subjects, new techniques | Cronkite News
SPARK School teaches the core curriculum of math, science, language arts and social studies, but with a more personalized technique. Its teachers believe replacing books and written tests with more interactive material motivates the students to stay engaged in and out of the classroom.
Read more...
Source: Cronkite News and Cronkite News Channel (YouTube)
 |
| Photo: Cronkite News |
“We are very much a blending, learning atmosphere,” said Mary Brown, the school’s Teacher Executive Designer. “In addition to 3-D printers, we have Sphero so students are practicing coding, and one of the coolest pieces of technology we have is virtual reality. So when we want to visit a place that we would never really be able to visit, such as the Amazon rainforest, students put the virtual reality on and they’re actually inside of it, they can make observations as scientists in that space.”
Brown said redesigning classroom lesson plans helps improve teacher retention and builds excitement and engagement among students...
Old school subjects, new techniques | Cronkite News
SPARK School teaches the core curriculum of math, science, language arts and social studies, but with a more personalized technique. Its teachers believe replacing books and written tests with more interactive material motivates the students to stay engaged in and out of the classroom.
Read more...
Source: Cronkite News and Cronkite News Channel (YouTube)
MRI predict intelligence levels in children? | Technology & Engineering - EurekAlert
A group of researchers from the Skoltech Center for Computational and
Data-Intensive Science and Engineering (CDISE) took 4th place in the
international MRI-based adolescent intelligence prediction competition by Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology.
For the first time ever, the Skoltech scientists used ensemble methods
based on deep learning 3D networks to deal with this challenging
prediction task. The results of their study were published in the
journal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Neurocognitive Prediction.
In 2013, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the first grand-scale study of its kind in adolescent brain research, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD, https:/
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a common technique used to obtain images of human internal organs and tissues. Scientists wondered whether the intelligence level can be predicted from an MRI brain image. The NIH database contains a total of over 11,000 structural and functional MRI images of children aged 9-10...
"Our team develops deep learning methods for computer vision tasks in MRI data analysis, amongst other things. In this study, we applied ensembles of classifiers to 3D of super precision neural networks: with this approach, one can classify an image as it is, without first reducing its dimension and, therefore, without losing valuable information," explains CDISE PhD student, Ekaterina Kondratyeva.
Read more...
Source: EurekAlert
 |
| Photo: Skoltech |
In 2013, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the first grand-scale study of its kind in adolescent brain research, Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD, https:/
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a common technique used to obtain images of human internal organs and tissues. Scientists wondered whether the intelligence level can be predicted from an MRI brain image. The NIH database contains a total of over 11,000 structural and functional MRI images of children aged 9-10...
"Our team develops deep learning methods for computer vision tasks in MRI data analysis, amongst other things. In this study, we applied ensembles of classifiers to 3D of super precision neural networks: with this approach, one can classify an image as it is, without first reducing its dimension and, therefore, without losing valuable information," explains CDISE PhD student, Ekaterina Kondratyeva.
Read more...
Source: EurekAlert
5 Best Deep Learning Software You Must Learn In 2020 | Deep Learning - Robots.net
Back in the days, computers simply
carried out tasks from a set of instructions given to them, as Robots.net reports.
 |
| Photo: Interesting Engineering |
Now, with
the immense advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), computers can
now learn by example without human intervention with deep learning
software. Hence, this is the reason behind the rise in popularity of
deep learning applications.
Deep learning
is a promising and lucrative space that has achieved results that were
thought to be impossible. It is providing many industries with
innovative tools and valuable applications.
For those who want to understand deep learning better, there are many available resources. We’ll discuss the programming languages that all developers must know, as well as the top deep learning software and tools you can use.
Read more...
Source: Robots.net
How Training AI Models In Simulated Environments Is Helping Researchers | Analytics India Magazine
 |
| Photo: Analytics India Magazine |
So, in many instances, researchers working to train advanced AI/ML models are restricted by both the quality and the amount of data. So, on the off chance that you need to show a vehicle to drive itself, you will require a great many miles of human driving data. On the other hand, with the help of simulation just as humans do in their brains, researchers can create a great many training data sets and come up with innovative models...
Reinforcement Learning In Conjunction With Simulation
An algorithm in order to devise an intelligent policy needs to experience a multitude of experience, running in millions of parameters. In a situation where there is a lack of data, simulation is what allows it to do that. Over the past few years, we have started seeing superhuman accuracy coming out of machine learning algorithms in a wide variety of complex problems.
Read more...
Source: Analytics India Magazine
Finally, machine learning interprets gene regulation clearly | Molecular & Computational biology - Phys.org
In this age of "big data," artificial intelligence (AI) has become a
valuable ally for scientists, according to Brian Stallard, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Machine learning algorithms, for instance,
are helping biologists make sense of the dizzying number of molecular
signals that control how genes function. But as new algorithms are
developed to analyze even more data, they also become more complex and
more difficult to interpret. Quantitative biologists Justin B. Kinney
and Ammar Tareen have a strategy to design advanced machine learning
algorithms that are easier for biologists to understand.
The algorithms are a type of artificial neural network (ANN). Inspired by the way neurons connect and branch in the brain, ANNs are the computational foundations for advanced machine learning. And despite their name, ANNs are not exclusively used to study brains.
Biologists, like Tareen and Kinney, use ANNs to analyze data from an experimental method called a "massively parallel reporter assay" (MPRA) which investigates DNA. Using this data, quantitative biologists can make ANNs that predict which molecules control specific genes in a process called gene regulation...
Now, Kinney and Tareen developed a new approach that bridges the gap between computational tools and how biologists think. They created custom ANNs that mathematically reflect common concepts in biology concerning genes and the molecules that control them. In this way, the pair are essentially forcing their machine learning algorithms to process data in a way that a biologist can understand.
Read more...
Additional resources
Ammar Tareen et al. Biophysical models of cis-regulation as interpretable neural networks, bioRxiv (2019).
DOI: 10.1101/835942
Source: Phys.org
 |
| Assistant Professor Justin Kinney showcases the relatively easy-to-understand structure of a newly-designed artificial neural network. His results were officially presented at the 1st Conference on Machine Learning in Computational Biology on December 13. |
The algorithms are a type of artificial neural network (ANN). Inspired by the way neurons connect and branch in the brain, ANNs are the computational foundations for advanced machine learning. And despite their name, ANNs are not exclusively used to study brains.
Biologists, like Tareen and Kinney, use ANNs to analyze data from an experimental method called a "massively parallel reporter assay" (MPRA) which investigates DNA. Using this data, quantitative biologists can make ANNs that predict which molecules control specific genes in a process called gene regulation...
Now, Kinney and Tareen developed a new approach that bridges the gap between computational tools and how biologists think. They created custom ANNs that mathematically reflect common concepts in biology concerning genes and the molecules that control them. In this way, the pair are essentially forcing their machine learning algorithms to process data in a way that a biologist can understand.
Read more...
Additional resources
Ammar Tareen et al. Biophysical models of cis-regulation as interpretable neural networks, bioRxiv (2019).
DOI: 10.1101/835942
Source: Phys.org
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