science wire

Researchers to receive high-performance computing grants
Projects will advance both basic science and applications, and accelerate development of exascale computing systems Seven Harvard-affiliated researchers will receive grants to support collaborative projects in high-performance computing.

Canadian police agencies suppressing data on race, says criminology study
While only 20 per cent of Canada's police forces have an explicit policy against reporting the race of victims and accused persons, criminologists from the University of Toronto and Nipissing show that the majority of police departments do not report race in practice.

Penn Mathematicians Win 2012 Chauvenet Prize

New center developing computational bioresearch tool
The HIV virion is the virus particle that spreads the deadly AIDS infection from cell to cell. “On the molecular scale it's a huge object that probably involves a billion total atoms.

New model shows how often to review material for flashcard programs
A challenge for students and teachers - and today, for designers of educational software: How often should material be reviewed for best learning? Wait too long to review and it fades away; review too soon and the effort is wasted.

UCLA professors Andrea Ghez, Terence Tao honored by Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences
Two internationally renowned UCLA professors — Andrea Ghez, a professor of physics and astronomy, and Terence Tao, a professor of mathematics — have been awarded the Crafoord Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. The prize, which recognizes extraordinary achievements in mathematics, astronomy and other fields, is among the most prestigious honors in science.

The faster-than-fast Fourier transform
For a large range of practically useful cases, MIT researchers find a way to increase the speed of one of the most important algorithms in the information sciences. The Fourier transform is one of the most fundamental concepts in the information sciences. It's a method for representing an irregular signal - such as the voltage fluctuations in the wire that connects an MP3 player to a loudspeaker - as a combination of pure frequencies.

Hongyu Zhao is appointed to the Hiscock Professorship
Hongyu Zhao , who was designated as the Ira V. Hiscock Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health, develops in his laboratory mathematical, statistical, computational, and visualization tools needed to address scientific problems in molecular biology and genetics.

Heping Zhang named the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Biostatistics
Heping Zhang, recently appointed as the Susan Dwight Bliss Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Public Health, specializes in research on substance use, statistical methods in genetic studies of substance use, and research training in mental health epidemiology. Zhang, who received his Ph.D. from Stanford University, has developed statistical methods and software to analyze data related to a broad range of health outcomes including pregnancy outcome, mental health, and substance use.

Center for Advanced Computing receives national award for hepatitis research
The Cornell Center for Advanced Computing (CAC) has received a High-Performance Computing Innovation Excellence Award from the International Data Corp.

Leading entrepreneurs will share their stories

Robert Osserman, noted Stanford mathematician, dies at 84
In addition to his important research, Bob Osserman brought math to a broad audience through public conversations with comedian Steve Martin, among others.

A new home for Santa Claus?
After the many years of commuting on Christmas Eve, jolly old St. Nicholas is reconsidering his home at the North Pole.

Less knowledge, more power: Uninformed can be vital to democracy, study finds
by Morgan Kelly Contrary to the ideal of a completely engaged electorate, individuals who have the least interest in a specific outcome can actually be vital to achieving a democratic consensus. These individuals dilute the influence of powerful minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone else, according to new research published .

Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos donate $15 million to create center in Princeton Neuroscience Institute
  Jeff Bezos, shown speaking at the University's 2010 Baccalaureate ceremony, and his wife, MacKenzie Bezos, both alumni, are donating $15 million to establish the Bezos Center for Neural Circuit Dynamics in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.   Photo by Denise Applewhite   by Ruth Stevens Princeton University alumnus Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon.com, and alumna MacKenzie Bezos, are donating $15 million to the University to create a center in the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Study debunks myths about gender and math performance
A major study of recent international data on school mathematics performance casts doubt on some common assumptions about gender and math achievement — in particular, the idea that girls and women have less ability due to a difference in biology. "We tested some recently proposed hypotheses that try to explain a supposed gender gap in math performance and found they were not supported by the data," says Janet Mertz , senior author of the study and a professor of oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Sinking ice and hovering foams

Researcher improves needle-tip geometry For better biopsies
Student government leaders to host forum for students, administrators Penn State faculty offer teachable moments from difficult events Three forums planned for students who wish to discuss recent events University prepares for Clery Act review President gives thanks for Penn State community's support UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

Probing Question: Why are statistics important in modern life?
By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State Quick! Think of professions that will be the jobs of the next decade. Statistician probably didn't leap to mind - but odds are it soon will. Number nerds, take heed: statistical skills are in increasingly high demand and being applied to an incredibly diverse set of exciting problems, said Penn State Professor of Statistics Naomi Altman.

Potential for odd outcomes in election with ranked-choice voting system, says Stanford mathematician
Ranked choice voting – in which voters rank candidates in order of preference – is an increasingly popular alternative to voting for only one candidate in each race.

Nonterrestrial artifacts hard to find
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Two Pioneer probes left our solar system carrying plaques about humankind, and two Voyager probes will soon join them to gather information about places far out in our galaxy. We can and will send more autonomous probes into outer space, but why have we never found evidence of other civilizations doing the same? A pair of postdoctoral researchers at Penn State, approaching the problem mathematically, shows that we have not looked in enough places to ensure that no extraterrestrial artifacts exist in our solar system.

Fighting violent gang crime with math
UCLA mathematicians working with the Los Angeles Police Department to analyze crime patterns have designed a mathematical algorithm to identify street gangs involved in unsolved violent crimes. Their research is based on patterns of known criminal activity between gangs, and represents the first scholarly study of gang violence of its kind.

Computer Models of "Brilliant" Engineering Professor Drive Animated Films and New Research
In September, Popular Science named Eitan Grinspun to its “Brilliant 10” list of top researchers in the U.S. Calling him a “computational contortionist,” the magazine

Gamoran testifies before House subcommittee Oct. 12
Adam Gamoran , director of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will testify before the House Subcommittee on Research and Science Education on Wednesday, Oct.

Stanford summer course yields touchscreen Braille writer
In a two-month summer course on high-performance computing, promising undergrads compete to create innovative applications.

New Labor Dynamics Institute to shed light on labor market
The new Labor Dynamics Institute at the ILR School will create and make accessible new data on the dynamics of labor markets.

Public lecture examines how collective motion in nature inspires robotic design
Oct. 11 lecture kicks off University of Minnesota Institute for Mathematics and its Applications lecture series From bird flocks to fish schools, animals move together and respond to their environment in remarkable ways.

Campus crime report shows rise in sexual assaults, burglaries, and drop in bike thefts, alcohol arrests in 2010
Most of Stanford's 2011 Safety, Security & Fire Report is devoted to promoting personal safety, protecting personal property and preventing crime.

Krakauer chosen to lead Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
David Krakauer may have lofty plans for the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, but he believes that is exactly why he was chosen to be its first director.

Garcia, Singer receive presidential science awards
      Benjamin Garcia Photo by Frank Wojciechowski   Amit Singer Photo by Mike Barone   by Morgan Kelly Two Princeton University professors have received the 2010 Presi

UM Collaborates on Study of Safer Diabetes Drugs
— Coral Gables — Researchers from the Miller School's Center for Computational Science (CCS) and investigators from Harvard University safer drugs to combat type 2 diabetes. The study, "Anti-diabetic actions of non-agonist PPARy ligand blocking Cdk5-mediated phosphorylation," appears in the international science weekly's September 4 online edition.

Two Renowned Cardiovascular Experts Join University’s Computational Institute
Aug.

New physics Researchers see uptick in rare particle decay
An incredibly rare sub-atomic particle decay might not be quite as rare as previously predicted, say Cornell researchers. This discovery, culled from a vast data set at the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF), is a clue for physicists trying to catch glimpses of how the universe began. The work, which is generating buzz because of its possible implications for the existence of new physics, has been submitted to Physical Review Letters by an international team of scientists, among them Julia Thom-Levy, Cornell assistant professor of physics, and graduate student Walter Hopkins.

Simple security for wireless
Researchers demonstrate the first wireless security scheme that can protect against ‘man-in-the-middle' attacks ' but doesn't require a password.

In the early life of an embryo, a monster lurks
by Morgan Kelly Research based at Princeton University has revealed that newly fertilized cells only narrowly avoid degenerating into fatal chaos. At the same time, scientists have discovered that embryos have acquired a mechanism to contain this dangerous instability, a finding that could help biologists unravel other mysteries about the first hours of life.

Researchers are redefining how the brain plans movement
New neurological measurement technologies and algorithms are allowing researchers a more complete look into how the brain functions. Engineers at Stanford are using these tools to better understand how the brain prepares to instruct the body to make a motion and why sometimes we react more quickly than others.