June 16, 2006
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Johns Hopkins University News Releases (05/04/06) De Nike, Lisa
Scientists have collected more data in the past year than in all the previous years that science has been practiced, amassing mountains of data requiring sophisticated new analytical tools that will help researchers extract meaningful discoveries, according to Alexander Szalay, professor of astronomy and computer science at Johns Hopkins University. "Computer science has the potential to drastically change the way we do science and the science that we do," Szalay said. "It will play a critical role in tackling the largest challenges facing our world, from medicine and health to energy and the environment." Petabyte-scale datasets will require major advances in computing that will have a transformative impact on scientific practices over the next 15 years. Szalay is a member of the 2020 Science Group, and has been working with Microsoft's Jim Gray for almost 10 years on projects related to the impact of computing on scientific conduct. Szalay has worked on numerous collaborations, including projects at Johns Hopkins to simulate turbulence, develop wireless sensors to monitor the environment, and create the multi-terabyte archive for the Sloan Digital Sky Project. Szalay and the 2020 group note that while the data explosion has been mostly confined to the physical sciences, it will soon have a major impact on the life sciences. Scientists can develop far more accurate models of complex systems that will enable them to map epidemics such as avian influenza and malaria and improve response time in the event of an outbreak. With scientists increasingly looking to databases to make connections between different sets of information, computer science could soon become as integral to their job as mathematics. A report issued by the 2020 group calls for elevating scientific innovation as a national priority and improving public awareness about the value of research.
For the complete article, see http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/home06/may06/szalay.html
Posted by rab5 at 09:19 PM
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