Volume V Issue 5
May 2009 |
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 New
Scientific Visualizations
 Science
is full of famous visualizations that helped lead to new breakthroughs
in how we understand complex concepts. In recent decades, researchers
have used computers to build complex visualizations based on large data
sets to gain a better perspective on their research. When a computer
combines a map with the data from thousands of sensors measuring ocean
currents and temperatures around the globe, for example, a collection of
numbers can become a stunning visualization that helps us understand
shifting climate patterns.
Programming a computer to
produce these visualizations is not an easy task, however. And as the
amount of data collected in our world grows, the challenge of organizing
all that information into an accurate and cohesive picture becomes even
more difficult. To simplify the process the University of Utah developed
VisTrails, an NSF-supported suite
of visualization tools that automatically manages the data, metadata and
the data exploration process necessary to create visualizations. The
result is a tool that lets researchers focus on the data sets and
visualizations themselves, rather than the work needed to bring them
together.
 Find
out more about careers in science
and computing...
The
World's Water
 "Is
there such a thing as 'peak water'? There is a vast amount of water on
the planet -- but we are facing a crisis of running out of sustainably
managed water," asks Dr. Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific
Institute, who adds that "humans already appropriate over 50% of all
renewable and accessible freshwater flows, and yet billions still lack
the most basic water services." The most recent edition of "The World's
Water," is a report release by the Pacific Institute that examining
global issues around use and misuse of our freshwater resources. The
report includes a chart on "The Water Content of Things" -- from potato
chips to microchips. It is an eye-opener in terms of our own water
footprints. The chart, with selected book chapters and data tables, is
available online at
www.worldwater.org. Key to the discussion of water today is the
concept of "peak ecological water" -- the critical point already reached
in many areas, where we overtax the planet's ability to absorb the
consequences of our water use. A prime example is the water crisis in
China, where water resources are over-allocated, inefficiently used, and
grossly polluted by human and industrial wastes, with 300 million people
lacking access to safe drinking water.
Find
out more about career paths in
science
and
healthcare...
Salaries
for College Interns Rise 5%
 Employers
expect to increase the pay they offer college students for internships,
according to a new study conducted by the National Association of
Colleges and Employers (NACE). Overall, employers taking part in the
survey say they will offer bachelor's-degree-level interns an average
hourly wage of $17.13 -- up 4.9 percent from the average they offered
last year's interns. Interestingly, the increase in intern salaries is
paired with a 21 percent decrease in the number of internship
opportunities available. "The increase in intern salaries may reflect a
long-term strategy on the part of employers to ensure their internship
programs continue to attract top students," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE
executive director. Intern salaries are affected by the student's major
and year of study as well as the location of the internship. Students in
engineering and computer sciences earn the highest salaries on average.
The average hourly wage for
engineering students is $18.26, while those studying computer sciences
earn an average hourly wage of $17.20 as an intern. wage earned by
2007-08 interns. Internships are just one way of gaining experience in a
field. Volunteering, or participating in university coop programs, are
other examples. Coops are frequently mandatory for engineering and
some health programs and also provide excellent opportunities to work in
a field while continuing studies.
Find
out more about internships and coops...
Degree
Profile: Medical Assistant
 Medical
assistants perform administrative and clinical tasks to keep the offices
of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health
practitioners running smoothly. They should not be confused with
Physician assistants, who examine, diagnose, and treat patients under
the direct supervision of a physician. The duties of medical assistants
vary from office to office, depending on the location and size of the
practice and the practitioner's specialty. In small practices, medical
assistants usually do many different kinds of tasks, handling both
administrative and clinical duties and reporting directly to an office
manager, physician, or other health practitioner. Those in large
practices tend to specialize in a particular area, under the supervision
of department administrators. Some medical assistants are trained on the
job, but many complete 1-year or 2-year programs. Postsecondary medical
assisting programs usually last either 1 year and result in a
certificate or diploma, or 2 years and result in an associate degree.
Courses cover anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology, as well as
typing, transcription, recordkeeping, accounting, and insurance
processing.
Employment of medical
assistants is expected to grow 35 percent from 2006 to 2016, much faster
than the average for all occupations. As the health care industry
expands because of technological advances in medicine and the growth and
aging of the population, there will be an increased need for all health
care workers. Increasing use of medical assistants in the rapidly
growing health care industry will further stimulate job growth.
Find
out more about a career as a
Medical
Assistant and other
Allied Health careers...
Precollege
Computer Gaming at Cornell University
 Computer games are fun and extremely cool. So, Cornell University
computer science students are using games to attract public school
students to computer science. Last fall, 25 nearby middle and high
school students learned how to make their own games, picking up some new
computer skills in the bargain, in a free after-school program on the
Cornell campus. Students met every Tuesday afternoon in a computer lab
and often combined programming and pizza! A new session will be held in
fall 2009, and there may be an advanced section for students from the
first group. The course was designed and taught by Cornell student
members of the Game Design
Initiative at Cornell (GDIAC). "We had several sixth-graders and up
to a 12th-grader," said Chelsea Howe '09, who helped design the
curriculum and became lead teacher. "The sixth-graders were some of our
best programmers, and at the end had some of the best games." In one of
those games, called "Bob's Adventure," the protagonist is chased through
Antarctica while fending off enemies by throwing fish at them.
In the after-school
program, as in Cornell undergraduate courses in game design, games are
developed by teams to pool skills in programming, music and art.
Students in the program began with simple graphics programming, learned
how to storyboard and moved on to working with a free program called
Game Maker, chosen because it is "very visual and doesn't require
programming experience," Howe said. At the end of the semester, students
took home CDs with all the games created by the class. The project is
funded as an offshoot of a three-year National Science Foundation grant
to Cornell computer science researchers to develop new databasing
methods for -- among other applications -- computer games. The
software used by the project, "Game
Maker" is available in a limited form for free.
Find
out more about careers in
computer science, computer
engineering, and software
engineering...
New
Rice Could Impact World Hunger
 A
new strain of flood-resistant rice currently being developed has the
potential for making a huge impact on hunger for half of the world's
population, which relies on rice as a food staple. With rising sea
levels and more severe world weather patterns, flooding has become a
major cause of crop failure for rice, which, although grown in flooded
fields, can only stand complete submersion for an average of three days.
In a very short matter of time, an entire crop could be completely
destroyed. To combat the threat that floods hold over crop viability,
researchers have introduced a gene for flood resistance from a
low-yield, noncommercial rice species into a popular and flavorful but
flood-intolerant variety of rice, to create a plant that can withstand
submergence for up to 17 days. Farmers who tested the new variety in
flood-prone areas of India and Bangladesh were able to increase their
crop yields threefold to fivefold, without sacrificing sought-after
characteristics like taste.
The technique used -- precision breeding -- uses genomics and molecular
biology to pinpoint desirable genetic traits before crossbreeding
plants. In 1998 the National Plant Genome Initiative (NPGI) was
established to study the genomes of plants to provide a foundation for
rapid, fundamental, and novel insights into the means by which plants
grow, reproduce, adapt to different and sometimes stressful
environments, and help stabilize ecosystems.
Through NPGI-funded research and similar efforts, breakthroughs in
precision breeding techniques like flood-resistant rice have been made
possible.
the National Research Council released "Achievements
of the National Plant Genome Initiative and New Horizons in Plant
Biology," which examined the significant impact this initiative has
made on plant sciences.
Find
out more about careers in science
and engineering...
Worldwide
Telescope on Your Computer!
 To
skim the surface of Mars, fly through the Andromeda galaxy, or peer down
at a dark earth jeweled with the lights of its cities -- all of that
seems impossibly out of reach to the average person, not to mention
scientists. But now it is possible, free, and easy with Microsoft's "WorldWide
Telescope," a powerful piece of downloadable desktop software that
allows people to quit simply staring at the night sky and instead zoom
through it, visiting planets, constellations, even nearby galaxies.
Since its release, nearly 2 million people around the world have
downloaded the free desktop observatory. Worldwide Telescope also got a
boost recently with the news that National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA) and Microsoft are developing technology that will
make the most interesting NASA content -- including high-resolution
scientific images and data from Mars and the moon -- explorable on
WorldWide Telescope.
Find
out about careers in
aerospace engineering and
aerospace engineering
technology...
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