Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Domains

Domain: wvu.edu

Stories and comments across the archive that link to wvu.edu.

Stories · 5

  1. 'BlackHoles@Home' Will Use Your PC For DIY Gravitational Wave Analysis (phys.org)

    Science · Space · · posted by EditorDavid · from the doing-the-waves dept. · 50 comments
    West Virginia University assistant professor Zachariah Etienne is launching "a global volunteer computing effort" analyzing gravitational waves from colliding black holes, reports Phys.org: "As our gravitational wave detectors become more sensitive, we're going to need to greatly expand our efforts to understand all of the information encoded in gravitational waves from colliding binary black holes," Etienne said. "We are turning to the general public to help with these efforts, which involve generating unprecedented numbers of self-consistent simulations of these extremely energetic collisions. This will truly be an inclusive effort, and we especially hope to inspire the next generation of scientists in this growing field of gravitational wave astrophysics."

    His team -- and the scientific community in general -- needs computing capacity to run the simulations required to cover all possibilities related to the properties and other information contained in gravitational waves. "Each desktop computer will be able to perform a single simulation of colliding black holes," said Etienne. By seeking public involvement through use of vast numbers of personal desktop computers, Etienne and others hope to dramatically increase the throughput of the theoretical gravitational wave predictions needed to extract information from observations of the collisions.

    Etienne and his team are building a website with downloadable software based on the same Berkeley Open Infrastructure for Network Computing, or BOINC, system used for the SETI@Home project and other scientific applications. The free middleware system is designed to help harness the processing power of thousands of personal computers across the globe. The West Virginia team has named their project BlackHoles@Home and expects to have it up and running later this year.

    They have already established a website where the public can begin learning more about the effort.

  2. Patents vs. Secrecy

    Yro · Patents · · posted by CowboyNeal · from the need-to-know-basis dept. · 219 comments
    giampy writes "New Scientist is reporting that the NSA appears to be having its patent applications increasingly blocked by the Pentagon. From the article: 'the fact that the Pentagon is classifying things that the NSA believes should be public is an indication of how much secrecy has crept into government over the past few years.'"

  3. Smart Bullets Phone Home

    Mobile · Wireless · · posted by CowboyNeal · from the jumping-the-gun dept. · 158 comments
    giampy writes "New Scientist reports the creation of a 'smart bullet' that can be fired at a target and then transmit back informations via wireless connection. The range is 70m. The project is funded by Lockeed Martin and its official goal is the detection of hidden TNT."

  4. Explaining The Windows/UNIX Cultural Divide

    Tech · Windows · · posted by timothy · from the it's-a-long-long-way dept. · 673 comments
    giampy writes "Joel Spolsky writes a review-like article on the last book of Eric S. Raymond (The Art of Unix Programming). His views on the cultural differences among Windows and Unix programmers are well explained. Overall, an interesting read." Also on the topic of Windows, badriram writes "Microsoft is reorganizing the windows team, it seems the are separating the OS core development. Seems like things heading in the right direction in creating a more secure OS, and making it more business oriented. Read the article here."

  5. Ask Slashdot: Palmtop Computing And Linux

    Linux · Linux · · posted by Cliff · from the interoperability-is-good dept. · 67 comments
    A couple of folks have submitted questions about Palmtops (not PalmPilots) and getting them to work with Linux. Now I'm not exactly sure how well Linux works with the variety of these units, but I would be interested to know which ones you all think work the best. If a specific model isn't supported under Linux, what would be involved in getting it supported? Click below for the actual questions.

    Uart asks: "I am really interested in buying a Psion palmtop, however, I spend almost 90% of my time using Linux and I would want to be able to transfer files to and from the palmtop and desktop computers, as well as syncronizing it with a calendar/address book application. Is this possible under Linux, or is the Psion windows only?"

    And Alternate Personality submitted this one: "Being one of them busy college students I carry a Philips Velo1 w/ Windows CE(v. 1.1) machine around with me so i can type up papers or jott down some quick code between classes. But, using Linux I'm at a loss. I have to keep the cradle on my girlfriend's windows box then transfer my paper to disk, because there is no support for such a device under linux, at least as far as i know. Can someone point me in the write direction on how to get this working. Either with existing software OR how to communicate with the device so i can write my own? "