Extracts

Friday, February 8, 2008

Virtual Brain
Understanding how a person makes a sandwich is key to comprehending how the brain functions. Computer scientist Dana Ballard and psychologist Mary Hayhoe are decrypting the distinct sets of instructions, or “micro operations,” that the brain executes when performing simple tasks, like walking on a sidewalk. Ballard tracks subjects’ eye and hand movements as they follow researchers’ instructions in virtual environments. He compares the data to computer programs he’s written to simulate thinking processes in humans. His ultimate goal is to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive psychological model of the human brain.

Tangled Turbulence
Anyone who’s been on an airplane knows what turbulence feels like. But for the first time, scientists know how it looks—and it’s pretty wild. Doctoral student Jori Ruppert-Felsot and physicist Harry Swinney collected data on water that they rapidly pumped into and out of a rotating two-foot high cylindrical tank, simulating the effects of the earth’s rotation on atmospheric and oceanic turbulence. A team from Massachusetts Institute of Technology analyzed the data and created a complex image of turbulent flow. Knowing the underlying skeleton of turbulence is integral to understanding how natural phenomena like hurricanes form, Swinney said.

The Need for Speed
Gone are the days when computer processors become faster as they are scaled to smaller sizes. The computer industry is trying to eke out more speed by adding more processors to single chips. But what’s really needed is a revolution in chip architecture, say computer scientists Doug Burger and Stephen Keckler. Together they developed a new kind of microprocessor called TRIPS, which processes blocks of instructions all at once, rather than conventional chips that process one instruction at a time. They believe the chip will achieve supercomputer speeds by 2012 and if adopted by industry would accelerate industrial, scientific and personal computing.

Tainted by Fungicide
Female rats avoid males whose ancestors were exposed to a common fruit crop fungicide, biologist David Crews and pharmacologist Andrea Gore have discovered. The chemical vinclozolin causes early onset of cancer and kidney disease in male rats and is passed down generation to generation through the male germline. Vinclozolin does not alter DNA, but causes changes in elements that regulate genes, called epigenetic changes. Crews and Gore show that environmental contamination could affect the evolution of wildlife through changes in mating behavior.

Digital Aristotle
Computer scientist Bruce Porter’s goal is to create computers that will answer all the scientific questions humans cannot. Right now, he’s up to high school chemistry. Porter and colleagues designed software that scored as well on the chemistry AP exam as the average high school student taking the test. The software was developed in response Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s “Project Halo,” part of a larger objective to create a “Digital Aristotle” that contains vast scientific knowledge and can pass on its own insights. The point, Porter says, is to create computers that not only contain knowledge, but can reason like humans as well.

Solar Twins
The best twin of our Sun to date was discovered by Peruvian astronomers Jorge Melendez of The Australian National University and graduate student Ivan Ramirez of UT Austin using a McDonald Observatory telescope. The star, HIP 56948, is 200 light-years away in the constellation Draco (the dragon) and may be a billion years older than the Sun. It’s considered a twin because its chemical composition is more like our Sun than any other star. Dissatisfied with the name HIP 56948, science reporter John Tierney started a naming contest on his New York Times blog. At press time, his readers were leaning toward “Intipa Awachan,” a Quechua name proposed by the astronomers themselves.