April
From April 1-30, Carnegie Mellon Media Relations counted more than 2,148 references to the university in worldwide publications. Here is a sample.No shuttle launch but still a big day | The Washington Post
April 29
Shuttle delays have been caused by everything from inclement weather to woodpeckers pounding holes in fuel-tank insulation. Only about 40 percent of shuttle missions launch on schedule, said Paul Fischbeck, a professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, who analyzed NASA data. The odds improve only slightly to 50 percent on second attempts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shuttle-launched-scrapped-but-still-a-big-day/2011/04/29/AFsQnwGF_story.html
Shuttle delays have been caused by everything from inclement weather to woodpeckers pounding holes in fuel-tank insulation. Only about 40 percent of shuttle missions launch on schedule, said Paul Fischbeck, a professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, who analyzed NASA data. The odds improve only slightly to 50 percent on second attempts.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/shuttle-launched-scrapped-but-still-a-big-day/2011/04/29/AFsQnwGF_story.html
How secure is the data you put online? No one really knows | Marketplace Public Radio
April 28
We talk to Alessandro Acquisti, a professor of information technology and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University about this. He says there are places you can go to inspect the track record of a given site, but there's no guarantee that the information is up to date or that it will cover fresh attacks coming in the future. Security expert Anup Ghosh joins us as well. He says that a lot of companies don't realize that their networks are vulnerable at every possible computer they have. All it takes is one employee to click on the link and a hacker can get in and start sucking up data. He recommends you make some common sense adjustments like using different user names and passwords on different sites so that any problem can be isolated before it spreads all over your digital life.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/28/tech-report-how-secure-is-the-data-you-put-online/?refid=0
We talk to Alessandro Acquisti, a professor of information technology and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University about this. He says there are places you can go to inspect the track record of a given site, but there's no guarantee that the information is up to date or that it will cover fresh attacks coming in the future. Security expert Anup Ghosh joins us as well. He says that a lot of companies don't realize that their networks are vulnerable at every possible computer they have. All it takes is one employee to click on the link and a hacker can get in and start sucking up data. He recommends you make some common sense adjustments like using different user names and passwords on different sites so that any problem can be isolated before it spreads all over your digital life.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/28/tech-report-how-secure-is-the-data-you-put-online/?refid=0
The science of science | The Economist
April 28
He starts with defining topics as sets of words that tend to crop up in the same document. For example, "Big Bang" and "black hole" often will co-occur, but not as often as each does with "galaxy". Neither, however, would be expected to pop up next to "genome". This captures the intuition that the first three terms, but not the fourth, are part of a single topic. Of course, much depends on how narrow you want a topic to be. But Dr Blei's model, which he developed with John Lafferty, of Carnegie Mellon University, allows for that.
http://www.economist.com/node/18618025?story_id=18618025&fsrc=rss
He starts with defining topics as sets of words that tend to crop up in the same document. For example, "Big Bang" and "black hole" often will co-occur, but not as often as each does with "galaxy". Neither, however, would be expected to pop up next to "genome". This captures the intuition that the first three terms, but not the fourth, are part of a single topic. Of course, much depends on how narrow you want a topic to be. But Dr Blei's model, which he developed with John Lafferty, of Carnegie Mellon University, allows for that.
http://www.economist.com/node/18618025?story_id=18618025&fsrc=rss
For free food on their campus, hungry students consult 'Food-Bot' | The Chronicle of Higher Education — Wired Campus Blog
April 28
As a senior at Carnegie Mellon University last year, Greg Woloschyn went five months without paying for food. His secret: Foot-Bot, software he created that now helps students on campuses across the country. The computer-science student and his friends, during their earlier college careers, had-like many students on tight budgets-scoured the campus for events offering free food. Mr. Woloschyn decided to use his programming skills to aid in the effort.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/for-free-food-on-their-campus-hungry-students-consult-food-bot/31135
As a senior at Carnegie Mellon University last year, Greg Woloschyn went five months without paying for food. His secret: Foot-Bot, software he created that now helps students on campuses across the country. The computer-science student and his friends, during their earlier college careers, had-like many students on tight budgets-scoured the campus for events offering free food. Mr. Woloschyn decided to use his programming skills to aid in the effort.
http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/for-free-food-on-their-campus-hungry-students-consult-food-bot/31135
PlayStation data breach deemed in 'top 5 ever' | CBC.ca
April 27
Nicolas Christin, associate director of the information networking institute at Carnegie Mellon University, suggested that PlayStation Network users contact their credit card companies because they would do that if they left their credit card in a public place. At least one question in Sony's FAQ about the breach suggests that some of the data may be used to extract more personal information: "I got an email from you asking for my PSN/Qriocity sign-in ID and password. Is it really you asking for this information?"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/04/27/technology-playstation-data-breach.html
Nicolas Christin, associate director of the information networking institute at Carnegie Mellon University, suggested that PlayStation Network users contact their credit card companies because they would do that if they left their credit card in a public place. At least one question in Sony's FAQ about the breach suggests that some of the data may be used to extract more personal information: "I got an email from you asking for my PSN/Qriocity sign-in ID and password. Is it really you asking for this information?"
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2011/04/27/technology-playstation-data-breach.html
Waiting lists have plenty of company | The New York Times - The Choice Blog
April 27
For those families running the college admissions gantlet for the first time, the use of waiting lists can be among the most bewildering aspects of a process that offers no shortage of bewilderment. How can a college (or a college admissions blog) possibly explain to an applicant that Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh has offered 5,025 students places on its waiting list this year, for a freshman class that will likely be less than a third that size, or that the number of applicants extended similar invitations at Cornell (2,988) is nearly equal to the number of students in the current freshman class (3,179)?
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/waiting-list-2011/?scp=2&sq=%22Carnegie%20Mellon%22&st=cse
For those families running the college admissions gantlet for the first time, the use of waiting lists can be among the most bewildering aspects of a process that offers no shortage of bewilderment. How can a college (or a college admissions blog) possibly explain to an applicant that Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh has offered 5,025 students places on its waiting list this year, for a freshman class that will likely be less than a third that size, or that the number of applicants extended similar invitations at Cornell (2,988) is nearly equal to the number of students in the current freshman class (3,179)?
http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/27/waiting-list-2011/?scp=2&sq=%22Carnegie%20Mellon%22&st=cse
Go back in time with Google's time machine! | ANI/Hindustan Times
April 26
Google has created a time machine with which one can simultaneously explore space and time at extremely high resolutions. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have leveraged the latest browser technology to create GigaPan Time Machine, a system that enables viewers to explore gigapixel-scale, high-resolution videos and image sequences by panning or zooming in and out of the images while simultaneously moving back and forth through time. Viewers, for instance, can use the system to focus in on the details of a booth within a panorama of a carnival midway, but also reverse time to see how the booth was constructed.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Go-back-in-time-with-Google-time-machine/Article1-689899.aspx
Google has created a time machine with which one can simultaneously explore space and time at extremely high resolutions. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have leveraged the latest browser technology to create GigaPan Time Machine, a system that enables viewers to explore gigapixel-scale, high-resolution videos and image sequences by panning or zooming in and out of the images while simultaneously moving back and forth through time. Viewers, for instance, can use the system to focus in on the details of a booth within a panorama of a carnival midway, but also reverse time to see how the booth was constructed.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Go-back-in-time-with-Google-time-machine/Article1-689899.aspx
More apply for CMU-Q courses | The Peninsula
April 26
The number of applicants has reached 670, an increase of 26 percent from last year. This year's diverse applicant pool included prospective students from 64 nations as well as 230 Qatari nationals, the highest number in university history. "Throughout the past year we have spent a lot of time and energy encouraging the top students in the region to apply to Carnegie Mellon Qatar," said Jarrod Mock, director of admission at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/150208-more-apply-for-cmu-q-courses.html
The number of applicants has reached 670, an increase of 26 percent from last year. This year's diverse applicant pool included prospective students from 64 nations as well as 230 Qatari nationals, the highest number in university history. "Throughout the past year we have spent a lot of time and energy encouraging the top students in the region to apply to Carnegie Mellon Qatar," said Jarrod Mock, director of admission at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/qatar/150208-more-apply-for-cmu-q-courses.html
Synthesized speech: More human by the day | CBS News
April 26
"In the past 30 or 40 years, people have been trying to make computers speak so that they are understandable," said Alan Black, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute. "Over the past 20 years, researchers have refined technology so a synthesized voice is colored by things like age, gender or tone of voice. Within the past fifteen years, we've wanted to create the voice of a particular person."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/26/scitech/main20057552.shtml
"In the past 30 or 40 years, people have been trying to make computers speak so that they are understandable," said Alan Black, associate professor at Carnegie Mellon University's Language Technologies Institute. "Over the past 20 years, researchers have refined technology so a synthesized voice is colored by things like age, gender or tone of voice. Within the past fifteen years, we've wanted to create the voice of a particular person."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/26/scitech/main20057552.shtml
Food for thought: US squanders energy on food chain | CNBC.com
April 26
"The production and distribution of food has long been known to be a major source of green house gas and other environmental emissions, and, for many reasons, it is seen by many environmental advocates as one of the major ways concerned consumers can reduce their carbon footprints," writes Christopher Weber, an environmental engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, in a 2008 paper called "Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the Unites States" that he co-authored with H. Scott Mathews.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42572375
"The production and distribution of food has long been known to be a major source of green house gas and other environmental emissions, and, for many reasons, it is seen by many environmental advocates as one of the major ways concerned consumers can reduce their carbon footprints," writes Christopher Weber, an environmental engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, in a 2008 paper called "Food-Miles and the Relative Climate Impacts of Food Choices in the Unites States" that he co-authored with H. Scott Mathews.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/42572375
Pa. official: End nears for wastewater releases | Associated Press/Boston.com
April 25
Over the past year and a half, a handful of researchers, including Jeanne VanBriesen, a professor of civil engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and Stanley States, director of water quality at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, have been collecting evidence on an increase in bromide in rivers that were being used for gas wastewater disposal. By itself, bromide is harmless, but when combined with the chlorine used to sanitize drinking water supplies, it can produce substances called trihalomethanes that have been linked in some studies to increased human cancer rates after years of exposure or consumption.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/04/25/pa_official_end_nears_for_wastewater_releases/
Over the past year and a half, a handful of researchers, including Jeanne VanBriesen, a professor of civil engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, and Stanley States, director of water quality at the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, have been collecting evidence on an increase in bromide in rivers that were being used for gas wastewater disposal. By itself, bromide is harmless, but when combined with the chlorine used to sanitize drinking water supplies, it can produce substances called trihalomethanes that have been linked in some studies to increased human cancer rates after years of exposure or consumption.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2011/04/25/pa_official_end_nears_for_wastewater_releases/
Google, a giant in mobile search, seeks new ways to make it pay | The New York Times
April 24
"We as an academic community would have figured this out, but we wouldn't have been able to set it up on this kind of scale," said Alexei A. Efros, an associate professor in computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon, referring to these kinds of technological feats. "That's really the great thing about Google, the fact that it can do it on such a humongous scale and actually make it useful to the general public."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/technology/25mobile.html?scp=4&sq=%22Carnegie%20Mellon%22&st=cse
"We as an academic community would have figured this out, but we wouldn't have been able to set it up on this kind of scale," said Alexei A. Efros, an associate professor in computer science and robotics at Carnegie Mellon, referring to these kinds of technological feats. "That's really the great thing about Google, the fact that it can do it on such a humongous scale and actually make it useful to the general public."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/25/technology/25mobile.html?scp=4&sq=%22Carnegie%20Mellon%22&st=cse
Time Warps: Cool science videos | USAToday.com
April 22
It's not really a time machine, but it does make for some cool science videos. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have used new functionality in web browsers to create a program allowing viewers to move in and out of and back and forth through time in high-resolution videos. They call the resulting shows "time warps." Their program is called the GigaPan Time Machine.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/04/time-warps-cool-science-videos/1
It's not really a time machine, but it does make for some cool science videos. Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute have used new functionality in web browsers to create a program allowing viewers to move in and out of and back and forth through time in high-resolution videos. They call the resulting shows "time warps." Their program is called the GigaPan Time Machine.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/sciencefair/post/2011/04/time-warps-cool-science-videos/1
Does the 'empathy gap' encourage torture? | Huffington Post
April 20
A team of researchers has been looking for answers. Psychological scientist Loran Nordgren of Northwestern University, working with Mary-Hunter Morris McDonnell of Harvard Law School and George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon, wanted to explore a well known psychological phenomenon called the "empathy gap" as it relates to torture. Normally, it's very difficult, perhaps even impossible, to experience someone else's visceral states. If we're warm, it's hard to shiver for someone else; if we're rested, it takes an extraordinary act of imagination to feel the exhaustion of someone who is sleep-deprived. If this is true, the researchers wondered, how can anyone hope to write an ethical and humane policy on torture without having experienced some significant pain?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wray-herbert/empathy-gap-torture_b_844996.html
A team of researchers has been looking for answers. Psychological scientist Loran Nordgren of Northwestern University, working with Mary-Hunter Morris McDonnell of Harvard Law School and George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon, wanted to explore a well known psychological phenomenon called the "empathy gap" as it relates to torture. Normally, it's very difficult, perhaps even impossible, to experience someone else's visceral states. If we're warm, it's hard to shiver for someone else; if we're rested, it takes an extraordinary act of imagination to feel the exhaustion of someone who is sleep-deprived. If this is true, the researchers wondered, how can anyone hope to write an ethical and humane policy on torture without having experienced some significant pain?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wray-herbert/empathy-gap-torture_b_844996.html
The computer rebellion that wasn't | The Economist Blogs
April 20
A symbiosis has set in between man and machine. Amazon's Mechanical Turk farms out jobs that people can do more efficiently than computers. But this would be impossible without the internet to lower the costs of co-ordination and communications. Luis von Ahn, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has made a career of cleverly capitalizing on this notion. After coming up with the idea of having people type in a few hard-to-read letters to prove they were real and not spambots, Mr von Ahn invented recaptcha, which has them do the same thing-but with actual words from scanned books that computers can't decipher.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/04/technological_prognostications
A symbiosis has set in between man and machine. Amazon's Mechanical Turk farms out jobs that people can do more efficiently than computers. But this would be impossible without the internet to lower the costs of co-ordination and communications. Luis von Ahn, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, has made a career of cleverly capitalizing on this notion. After coming up with the idea of having people type in a few hard-to-read letters to prove they were real and not spambots, Mr von Ahn invented recaptcha, which has them do the same thing-but with actual words from scanned books that computers can't decipher.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/04/technological_prognostications
Pa. sees threat to drinking water from natural gas drilling waste | Associated Press/USA Today
April 19
Kathryn Klaber, president of the industry's Marcellus Shale Coalition, said she would provide specifics in the coming days about actions that coalition members will take to try to reduce the amount of bromide that ends up in Pennsylvania rivers. Her organization came to its conclusion after seeing new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, Klaber said.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2011-04-19-natural-gas-drilling-wastewater-pollution.htm
Kathryn Klaber, president of the industry's Marcellus Shale Coalition, said she would provide specifics in the coming days about actions that coalition members will take to try to reduce the amount of bromide that ends up in Pennsylvania rivers. Her organization came to its conclusion after seeing new research from Carnegie Mellon University and the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, Klaber said.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/energy/2011-04-19-natural-gas-drilling-wastewater-pollution.htm
Reliable tally of gay population proves elusive | The Wall Street Journal
April 16
Lowell Taylor, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University who wants to see federal surveys amass sexuality data, notes that many news stories on Dr. Gates's estimate of the LGBT population put it on par with the population of New Jersey. "Here's the thing: We really do know how many people live in the state of New Jersey," Mr. Taylor says. "The number of people who are LGBT is much, much less precisely estimated."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116404576263383778476752.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22
Lowell Taylor, an economist at Carnegie Mellon University who wants to see federal surveys amass sexuality data, notes that many news stories on Dr. Gates's estimate of the LGBT population put it on par with the population of New Jersey. "Here's the thing: We really do know how many people live in the state of New Jersey," Mr. Taylor says. "The number of people who are LGBT is much, much less precisely estimated."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704116404576263383778476752.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22
Think before you speak | The Economist
April 14
The human brain has to work harder to process language and communication with somebody who is not physically present. (Conversation with passengers is much less distracting, apparently because those passengers are also aware of the traffic situation and moderate their conversation.) A study by Carnegie Mellon University using brain imaging found that merely listening to somebody speak on the phone led to a 37% decrease in activity in the parietal lobe, where spatial tasks are processed. This suggests that hands-free use of mobile phones cannot help much. Such distractions, according to one study, make drivers more collision-prone than having a blood-alcohol level of .08%, the legal limit in America. It appears to raise the risk of an accident by four times. Texting multiplies the risk by several times again.
http://www.economist.com/node/18561075?story_id=18561075&fsrc=rss
The human brain has to work harder to process language and communication with somebody who is not physically present. (Conversation with passengers is much less distracting, apparently because those passengers are also aware of the traffic situation and moderate their conversation.) A study by Carnegie Mellon University using brain imaging found that merely listening to somebody speak on the phone led to a 37% decrease in activity in the parietal lobe, where spatial tasks are processed. This suggests that hands-free use of mobile phones cannot help much. Such distractions, according to one study, make drivers more collision-prone than having a blood-alcohol level of .08%, the legal limit in America. It appears to raise the risk of an accident by four times. Texting multiplies the risk by several times again.
http://www.economist.com/node/18561075?story_id=18561075&fsrc=rss
Empathy and torture | The Economist
April 14
A recent study (published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science) by Loran Nordgren of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Mary-Hunter Morris of Harvard Law School, and George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University, examined the empathy gap with regard to torture policy. Man's propensity to turn monster has long been of interest to behaviourists and psychologists. Witness Philip Zimbardo's prison experiment, or Stanley Milgram's shock experiment. Both of those studies, along with many others, support the idea that our actions depend as much on context as on any inherent disposition. (Or, as others would say, that evil is banal.) This new study moves in a similar direction, but examines how a person's decisions are affected by his ability to relate to the consequences.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/04/interrogation_techniques
A recent study (published in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science) by Loran Nordgren of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Mary-Hunter Morris of Harvard Law School, and George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University, examined the empathy gap with regard to torture policy. Man's propensity to turn monster has long been of interest to behaviourists and psychologists. Witness Philip Zimbardo's prison experiment, or Stanley Milgram's shock experiment. Both of those studies, along with many others, support the idea that our actions depend as much on context as on any inherent disposition. (Or, as others would say, that evil is banal.) This new study moves in a similar direction, but examines how a person's decisions are affected by his ability to relate to the consequences.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2011/04/interrogation_techniques
Something for the weekend | Financial Times
April 13
Research by Linda Babcock, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University has revealed that in making an amiable and sometimes apologetic request for a larger salary - which is usually turned down - women reap "only social benefits." This approach she adds, over the duration of their careers cost women as much as $2m because they failed to negotiate that initial salary successfully. However, Prof Babcock says that by altering their negotiation technique, such as highlighting relevant skills which demonstrate the legitimacy of their claim for a higher salary, women are more likely to be successful in their negotiations.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/75250f86-61cd-11e0-88f7-00144feab49a.html#axzz1IvkvW2U1
Research by Linda Babcock, a professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University has revealed that in making an amiable and sometimes apologetic request for a larger salary - which is usually turned down - women reap "only social benefits." This approach she adds, over the duration of their careers cost women as much as $2m because they failed to negotiate that initial salary successfully. However, Prof Babcock says that by altering their negotiation technique, such as highlighting relevant skills which demonstrate the legitimacy of their claim for a higher salary, women are more likely to be successful in their negotiations.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/75250f86-61cd-11e0-88f7-00144feab49a.html#axzz1IvkvW2U1
7 'non-gym' weight loss tips | Times of India
April 13
According to Carnegie Mellon University researchers, picturing yourself eating a meal you crave in complete detail helps avoid binge eating. Simply put, if you are repeatedly thinking about eating a certain kind of food, visualising the meal might actually lessen, and perhaps end your desire of eating it in reality. This visualisation exercise will also reveal if you are truly hungry or if you just crave a distraction, and not another meal.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/7-non-gym-weight-loss-tips/articleshow/7970269.cms
According to Carnegie Mellon University researchers, picturing yourself eating a meal you crave in complete detail helps avoid binge eating. Simply put, if you are repeatedly thinking about eating a certain kind of food, visualising the meal might actually lessen, and perhaps end your desire of eating it in reality. This visualisation exercise will also reveal if you are truly hungry or if you just crave a distraction, and not another meal.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/7-non-gym-weight-loss-tips/articleshow/7970269.cms
Poker bots invade the virtual casino | Marketplace Public Radio
April 13
Tuomas Sandholm: Oh very much so. It used to be that poker bots were actually rather weak compared to the best human players. Tuomas Sandholm is a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon. Sandholm: There has been tremendous progress and actually in heads up, limit, Texas hold 'em, the best bots have actually surpassed the best professional human players.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/13/pm-poker-bots-invade-the-virtual-casino/
Tuomas Sandholm: Oh very much so. It used to be that poker bots were actually rather weak compared to the best human players. Tuomas Sandholm is a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon. Sandholm: There has been tremendous progress and actually in heads up, limit, Texas hold 'em, the best bots have actually surpassed the best professional human players.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/13/pm-poker-bots-invade-the-virtual-casino/
Crowdsourcing: Using language students to translate the internet | Discover Magazine Blog
April 13
Nothing...yet! But word is that Luis von Ahn-the Carnegie Mellon professor behind the clever projects reCAPTCHA and ESP Game-is bringing his crowdsourcing know-how to bear on the problem of web translation. With Duolingo, a project his lab has been working on for the last year and a half, people learning new languages will serve as translators. How well will that work? It remains to be seen, but according to von Ahn, a private beta version should be launching in several weeks.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/04/13/crowd-sourcing-using-language-students-to-translate-the-internet/
Nothing...yet! But word is that Luis von Ahn-the Carnegie Mellon professor behind the clever projects reCAPTCHA and ESP Game-is bringing his crowdsourcing know-how to bear on the problem of web translation. With Duolingo, a project his lab has been working on for the last year and a half, people learning new languages will serve as translators. How well will that work? It remains to be seen, but according to von Ahn, a private beta version should be launching in several weeks.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2011/04/13/crowd-sourcing-using-language-students-to-translate-the-internet/
As Congress slashes EPA budget, research least harmed | Science
April 12
"If the agency doesn't make adequate research investments, it just won't be in the position to deal with new and emerging environmental problems," says M. Granger Morgan of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Deborah Swackhamer, chair of EPA's Science Advisory Board, says EPA may be able to gain some efficiencies by accelerating a reorganization of its research, in which 16 categories in its national program are being realigned into six. But the cut will certainly still cause pain, she says. "It will slow down the agency in terms of science progress," says Swackhamer.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/04/as-congress-slashes-epa-budget.html
"If the agency doesn't make adequate research investments, it just won't be in the position to deal with new and emerging environmental problems," says M. Granger Morgan of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Deborah Swackhamer, chair of EPA's Science Advisory Board, says EPA may be able to gain some efficiencies by accelerating a reorganization of its research, in which 16 categories in its national program are being realigned into six. But the cut will certainly still cause pain, she says. "It will slow down the agency in terms of science progress," says Swackhamer.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/04/as-congress-slashes-epa-budget.html
Is it torture if you have not felt it? | Reuters/TVNZ
April 12
If those who had felt the pain of these mild procedures were questioned about them 10 minutes after the pain stopped, they also failed to rate the technique as severely painful. To correct for this tendency to underestimate pain that others suffer, one study author, George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University, suggested overcompensation. "Knowing that we tend to be biased toward not counting torture as torture, we should define torture very liberally, very inclusively," Loewenstein said in a statement.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/torture-if-you-have-not-felt-4117792
If those who had felt the pain of these mild procedures were questioned about them 10 minutes after the pain stopped, they also failed to rate the technique as severely painful. To correct for this tendency to underestimate pain that others suffer, one study author, George Loewenstein of Carnegie Mellon University, suggested overcompensation. "Knowing that we tend to be biased toward not counting torture as torture, we should define torture very liberally, very inclusively," Loewenstein said in a statement.
http://tvnz.co.nz/world-news/torture-if-you-have-not-felt-4117792
Fukushima set for epic clean-up | Nature.com
April 11
Cleaning up the reactors themselves presents an even greater challenge. Debris and high radiation levels are making it impossible to conduct proper surveys of the damage. In the near term, robots will need to explore the reactor buildings and map the radiation inside, says Red Whittaker, a robotics expert at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who has developed systems for other nuclear accidents.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110411/full/472146a.html
Cleaning up the reactors themselves presents an even greater challenge. Debris and high radiation levels are making it impossible to conduct proper surveys of the damage. In the near term, robots will need to explore the reactor buildings and map the radiation inside, says Red Whittaker, a robotics expert at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who has developed systems for other nuclear accidents.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110411/full/472146a.html
How to think yourself into a happy place | TIME - Healthland
April 7
A new study suggests that, yes, win or lose, people tend to be happy - but for "losers," it takes some extra mental effort to get there. To examine this phenomenon, researchers from Carnegie Mellon, Harvard University and the University of Virginia conducted a series of experiments. In the first, 297 people randomly selected on the streets of Boston were given two-sided scratch-off lottery tickets, valued at $1, $3, $5 or $7. The volunteers scratched off one side to reveal their prize; then they were asked to scratch off the other side - just to see what they'd missed.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/07/how-to-think-yourself-into-a-happy-place/#ixzz1Iw5BPts5
A new study suggests that, yes, win or lose, people tend to be happy - but for "losers," it takes some extra mental effort to get there. To examine this phenomenon, researchers from Carnegie Mellon, Harvard University and the University of Virginia conducted a series of experiments. In the first, 297 people randomly selected on the streets of Boston were given two-sided scratch-off lottery tickets, valued at $1, $3, $5 or $7. The volunteers scratched off one side to reveal their prize; then they were asked to scratch off the other side - just to see what they'd missed.
http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/07/how-to-think-yourself-into-a-happy-place/#ixzz1Iw5BPts5
Gates goes open | Inside Higher Ed
April 7
Ira Fuchs, the executive director of NGLC, told Inside Higher Ed that the distinctions were sometimes arbitrary, given how many of the winning projects could fall in more than one category. Some — such as Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative — fit the criteria of all four. But projects heavy on the development of open courses got more money than the others because building quality courses costs a lot, Fuchs said.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/07/gates_foundation_announces_higher_education_technology_grant_winners
Ira Fuchs, the executive director of NGLC, told Inside Higher Ed that the distinctions were sometimes arbitrary, given how many of the winning projects could fall in more than one category. Some — such as Carnegie Mellon's Open Learning Initiative — fit the criteria of all four. But projects heavy on the development of open courses got more money than the others because building quality courses costs a lot, Fuchs said.
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/04/07/gates_foundation_announces_higher_education_technology_grant_winners
Developing world: Educating India | Nature
April 6
But if India cannot meet this challenge, it could miss out on becoming one of the world's great innovation hubs, says Rao. "There is a very large population out there that is extremely qualified and they end up in second or third-rate institutions," agrees Pradeep Khosla, dean of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of IIT Kharagpur. "A lot of talent gets wasted." On the surface, India seems to be in the middle of an educational renaissance, thanks largely to its booming economy. After decades of economic stagnation under the socialist policies that followed the country's independence in 1947, Indians enthusiastically embraced a series of business-friendly reforms that began in the early 1990s. The result has been economic growth that currently averages more than 8% a year, with only a slight and temporary slowdown during the global financial crisis that began in 2008.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110406/full/472024a.html
But if India cannot meet this challenge, it could miss out on becoming one of the world's great innovation hubs, says Rao. "There is a very large population out there that is extremely qualified and they end up in second or third-rate institutions," agrees Pradeep Khosla, dean of engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a graduate of IIT Kharagpur. "A lot of talent gets wasted." On the surface, India seems to be in the middle of an educational renaissance, thanks largely to its booming economy. After decades of economic stagnation under the socialist policies that followed the country's independence in 1947, Indians enthusiastically embraced a series of business-friendly reforms that began in the early 1990s. The result has been economic growth that currently averages more than 8% a year, with only a slight and temporary slowdown during the global financial crisis that began in 2008.
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110406/full/472024a.html
In pictures: Express yourself with 3-D printing | BBC News
April 6
It still feels the stuff of Sci-Fi, but 3-D printing is edging ever closer to our daily lives. Karl Willis, a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, has been experimenting with using Microsoft Kinect to model real people in 3-D.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12921607
It still feels the stuff of Sci-Fi, but 3-D printing is edging ever closer to our daily lives. Karl Willis, a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, has been experimenting with using Microsoft Kinect to model real people in 3-D.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-12921607
The kitchen of the conflict | BBC World/La Tercera
April 4
"Many people do not know at all about the culture (Afghan culture), but when they come here we get into a conversation," said John Rubin, a Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, to BBC World. Together with artist Dawn Weleski, he is the co-creator of the project. But the effort is not done solely through the food and the dialogue that starts around the window of "Conflict Kitchen." In the adjacent room, another artistic-culinary company of Rubin, where the meals are prepared in the kitchen, the creators organize meetings and events.
http://www.latercera.com/noticia/mundo/bbc-mundo/cultura-y-sociedad/2011/04/1437-356024-9-bbc-la-cocina-del-conflicto.shtml
"Many people do not know at all about the culture (Afghan culture), but when they come here we get into a conversation," said John Rubin, a Professor of Art at Carnegie Mellon University, to BBC World. Together with artist Dawn Weleski, he is the co-creator of the project. But the effort is not done solely through the food and the dialogue that starts around the window of "Conflict Kitchen." In the adjacent room, another artistic-culinary company of Rubin, where the meals are prepared in the kitchen, the creators organize meetings and events.
http://www.latercera.com/noticia/mundo/bbc-mundo/cultura-y-sociedad/2011/04/1437-356024-9-bbc-la-cocina-del-conflicto.shtml
Experts: Ocean life can handle radioactive leaks | Associated Press/The Wall Street Journal
April 4
Igor Linkov, an adjunct professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, also said he did not expect any major impact on ocean wildlife or people who eat seafood. He agreed that animals near the plant may be affected. It's not clear in what way, because the level of radiation isn't well known, he said. In any case, fish would probably escape such an effect because unlike immobile species such as oysters, they move around and so would not get a continuous exposure, he said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/APeff4e3aa1ed047aebd02e9fc687e3148.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22
Igor Linkov, an adjunct professor of engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University, also said he did not expect any major impact on ocean wildlife or people who eat seafood. He agreed that animals near the plant may be affected. It's not clear in what way, because the level of radiation isn't well known, he said. In any case, fish would probably escape such an effect because unlike immobile species such as oysters, they move around and so would not get a continuous exposure, he said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/APeff4e3aa1ed047aebd02e9fc687e3148.html?KEYWORDS=%22Carnegie+Mellon%22
Child identity theft is on the rise | Marketplace - American Public Media
April 4
Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab studied over 40,000 kids and found that over 10 percent of them had social security numbers that were being used by someone else. Richard Power, who authored the study (PDF), says that social security numbers were the number one point of entry to this kind of theft. Most parents don't go around posting their kids social security numbers on lampposts but might not even think twice about jotting it down on a registration for soccer, where the data might not be so secure. But even data stored with medical providers or insurance companies is susceptible to hacks. Once an ID thief has that social security number, they have a lot of power. Power talks about the numbers taken off kids as young as five years old being used to purchase handguns. Other stolen numbers have been used to get mortgages and register vehicles. In some of these cases, the lack of history associated with that particular number is attractive to the thief.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/04/tech-report-child-id-theft/
Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab studied over 40,000 kids and found that over 10 percent of them had social security numbers that were being used by someone else. Richard Power, who authored the study (PDF), says that social security numbers were the number one point of entry to this kind of theft. Most parents don't go around posting their kids social security numbers on lampposts but might not even think twice about jotting it down on a registration for soccer, where the data might not be so secure. But even data stored with medical providers or insurance companies is susceptible to hacks. Once an ID thief has that social security number, they have a lot of power. Power talks about the numbers taken off kids as young as five years old being used to purchase handguns. Other stolen numbers have been used to get mortgages and register vehicles. In some of these cases, the lack of history associated with that particular number is attractive to the thief.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/04/04/tech-report-child-id-theft/