reflections on the technium

Greetings!

For this installment of Brown Bag at the Movies we will be viewing (abstract below):

• NASA Satellite Falls to Earth 1:53
• Computing a theory of everything 19:59
• Smart Grid or Smart Hype? 26:36
• Your health depends on where you live 9:26

11-01-2011 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-

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CEP COMMENT: Also see <http://www.genetic-programming.com/GPEM2010article.pdf>

Stephen Wolfram: Computing a theory of everything
<http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/stephen_wolfram_computing_a_theory_of_everything.html>
19:59
ABSTRACT

Stephen Wolfram, creator of Mathematica, talks about his quest to make all knowledge computational — able to be searched, processed and manipulated. His new search engine, Wolfram Alpha, has no lesser goal than to model and explain the physics underlying the universe.

BIO

Stephen Wolfram: Scientist, inventor <http://www.stephenwolfram.com/> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram>
Stephen Wolfram is the creator of Mathematica and Wolfram|Alpha, the author of A New Kind of Science, and the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research.

Why you should listen to him: Stephen Wolfram published his first scientific paper at the age of 15, and received his PhD in theoretical physics from Caltech by the age of 20. Having started to use computers in 1973, Wolfram rapidly became a leader in the emerging field of scientific computing.

In 1981 Wolfram became the youngest recipient of a MacArthur Prize Fellowship. He then set out on an ambitious new direction in science aimed at understanding the origins of complexity in nature. Wolfram’s first key idea was to use computer experiments to study the behavior of simple computer programs known as cellular automata. This allowed him to make a series of startling discoveries about the origins of complexity.

Wolfram founded the first research center and the first journal in the field, Complex Systems, and began the development of Mathematica. Wolfram Research soon became a world leader in the software industry — widely recognized for excellence in both technology and business.

Following the release of Mathematica Version 2 in 1991, Wolfram began to divide his time between Mathematica development and scientific research. Building on his work from the mid-1980s, and now with Mathematica as a tool, Wolfram made a rapid succession of major new discoveries, which he described in his book, A New Kind of Science.

Building on Mathematica, A New Kind of Science, and the success of Wolfram Research, Wolfram recently launched Wolfram|Alpha <http://www.wolframalpha.com/> — an ambitious, long-term project to make as much of the world’s knowledge as possible computable, and accessible to everyone.

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CEP COMMENT:

Vinod Khosla: Smart Grid or Smart Hype?
<http://fora.tv/2010/11/03/Vinod_Khosla_Smart_Grid_or_Smart_Hype>
26:36
ABSTRACT

An analytical perspective from a ‘grid’ neophyte, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla.

BIO

Vinod Khosla <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vinod_Khosla> <http://www.khoslaventures.com/khosla/people_vk.html>
Vinod Khosla is the president and CEO of Khosla Ventures. In 1986, he became a general partner Kleiner Perkins, where he took on Intel’s monopoly with Nexgen/AMD.

In 2004, Khosla started Khoslaventures in order to create technologies that can have a beneficial effect and economic impact on society. Khosla assists or serves on the boards of a number of technology based companies.

He is also a charter member of TIE, a non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, and a founding board member for the Indian School of Business.

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CEP COMMENT: <http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/09/21/what-you-eat-affects-your-genes-rna-from-rice-can-survive-digestion-and-alter-gene-expression/> <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-davenhall/geomedicine-the-missing-l_b_451148.html>

Bill Davenhall: Your health depends on where you live
<http://www.ted.com/talks/bill_davenhall_your_health_depends_on_where_you_live.html>
9:26
ABSTRACT

“Where you live: It impacts your health as much as diet and genes do, but it’s not part of your medical records. At TEDMED, Bill Davenhall shows how overlooked government geo-data (from local heart-attack rates to toxic dumpsite info) can mesh with mobile GPS apps to keep doctors in the loop. Call it “geo-medicine.””

BIO

Speakers Bill Davenhall: Health and human services expert
“Bill Davenhall wants to improve physicians’ diagnostic techniques by collecting each patient’s geographic and environmental data, and merging it with their medical records.

“Why you should listen to him: Bill Davenhall has spent three decades creating useful intelligence out of what seems ordinary demographic and geographic data. In the ’70s he built the first geo-demographic models that helped some of America’s most well-known franchises expand across the nation; in the ’80s he founded a start-up market research company that developed the first national database of estimates for the demand of healthcare services.

“Davenhall leads the health and human services marketing team at ESRI, the largest geographic information system (GIS) software developer in the world.
“Geography is destiny in medicine.” Jack Lord, MD

<http://www.esri.com/news/arcuser/0110/geomedicine.html>

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