Posts tagged science
Coming to CU: High-tech hallucinogenic "Swarm Wall"
Jun 4th
A monthlong summer exhibit at the University of Colorado Boulder Art Museum will feature a dynamic new media composition based on innovative robotics technology.
Called “Swarm Wall,” the large-scale interactive piece displays changing fields of color, light and sound that are driven by a distributed form of artificial intelligence.
As many as 70 intelligent “nodes” behind the piece create a swarming effect when they detect movement and communicate it with one another. The nodes exhibit swarm behavior because each performs actions solely based on its own plan and the actions of its immediate neighbors.
The 42-by-12-foot installation is the first product from a new art and technology research group on campus. The group was launched by faculty members Michael Theodore of the College of Music, who received a $44,000 grant from CU’s Innovative Seed Grant Program last year to support the collaboration, and Nikolaus Correll of the computer science department.
Also involved in the Swarm Wall is Ken Sugawara, a visiting computer science professor from Tohuku Gakuin University in Japan who is an expert in animal flocking behavior, the inspiration behind the patterns the wall displays.
The seed grant, which Correll and Theodore say already has helped them attract additional funding, was the first step toward establishing an active lab where students, faculty and professional researchers from various disciplines collaborate on cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence.
“We’re now calling it the ‘if’ lab because we want to see what happens if artists put engineers in front of tough problems,” said Correll, who is providing space for the growing group within his own robotics laboratory in the Engineering Center at CU-Boulder.
“We want to assemble some basic, inexpensive tools that students can use to explore and to develop new applications of robotics,” Correll said.
Scattered around the lab last week were a collection of small custom circuit boards, electronic panels, items resembling ping pong balls and various other components that are being used to assemble robotic devices.
An assembly of circuit boards connected with bright orange cables also was mounted on a partition in the lab in preparation for the installation of Swarm Wall. Small mechanical arms or flippers waved back and forth as the “brains” behind the Swarm Wall were tested. Sometimes the movement was synchronized, while other times a ripple effect would occur in response to some stimuli.
“Artistic exploration can help computer scientists and engineers to ask questions they wouldn’t have otherwise asked,” said Theodore, who also serves as director of the ATLAS Center for Media, Arts and Performance.
“The difference between arts and science is very diffuse; both want to discover new things,” Theodore said. “The cool thing about art is that we can explore systems that are not of interest to classical funding agencies, but might be so after maturing in a lab like the ‘if’ lab.”
Swarm Wall is one of four pieces in “Michael Theodore: Field Theory,” an exhibition of kinetic sculpture, sound, lighting and works on paper, running June 15 through July 14 at the CU Art Museum. The exhibition is free and open to the public. An opening reception will be held on June 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. For additional information, visitors may call the CU Art Museum at 303-492-8300 or go to http://cuartmuseum.colorado.edu.
Boulder water festival for students to be held on Wednesday
May 14th
20th annual Boulder Water Festival teaches students how to conserve and protect water
More than 1,100 4th and 5th grade students from 45 classrooms in 17 Boulder area schools will participate in the 20th annual Boulder Water Festival from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 16, at the University Memorial Center (UMC) on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus, 1669 Euclid Ave.
The nationally recognized water festival engages local students in hands-on activities about where Boulder’s drinking water comes from and how to protect and conserve this valuable natural resource. Students attend a series of classes to discover the geography, history, and science of water; explore the Boulder Creek watershed and its geology; and study the animals and plants that rely on water for survival.
Participating classes also complete the “Operation: Water Festival” program, a standards-based series of pre-festival classroom learning activities. The program provides a complete teacher’s packet featuring lesson guides, student worksheets and trivia questions for each water topic. Topics include fundamental water awareness, conservation, pollution prevention and flooding. Student “Water Agents” receive a certificate upon completion of the classroom activities.
A key benefit of the “Operation: Water Festival” materials is a take-home book for families. The book encourages students to work with family members to complete activities related to local water resources, conservation and protection.
“Students really have a complete learning experience,” said Samantha Messier, science director for the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). “This provides a great learning tool to help students learn about one of our most important natural resources in Colorado.”
The Boulder Water Festival will commemorate its 20th anniversary as part of the statewide celebration of 2012, The Year of Water in Colorado. Nearly 19,000 BVSD and Boulder area students have participated in the festival since its inception in 1992.
Festival sponsors include the City of Boulder, the Keep it Clean Partnership, Northern Water, the UMC, CU Boulder’s Office of Community Relations and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
For more information, contact Curry Rosato, City of Boulder watershed outreach coordinator, at 303-829-9316.
Not your mother’s math prof to speak at #CU
Mar 8th
Burger, who is on the record as saying “no one in their right mind would ever go to a math talk,” is not your run-of-the mill math educator. He has worked as a stand-up comedian, wrote jokes for Jay Leno in the late 1980s, starred in an episode of NBC’s “Science of the Winter Olympics” in 2010 that won him a prestigious Telly Award, and most recently is being featured in “The Science of NHL Hockey” on NBC News. “The talk is intended as whirlwind tour of the history of numbers and watch them grow from practical tools used by ancient shepherds to practical tools used to drive the digital age,” said Burger, who was named was named Vice-Provost of Strategic Educational Initiatives at Baylor University in 2011. “If you love the humanities, sciences, social sciences, medical science, business, engineering or anything involving human thought, this talk is for you.” Burger is considered by many to be the nation’s leader in math education. In 2006 Reader’s Digest named him “America’s Best Math Teacher.” In 2010 he was named the winner of the Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching by Baylor University, an award that carried a $250,000 prize and is believed to be the largest and most prestigious award in higher education teaching in the nation across all disciplines. In 2010 the Huffington Post named Burger as one of the world’s 100 “Game-Changers,” a list that included “innovators, visionaries, mavericks and leaders who are re-shaping their fields and changing the world.” He also is an associate editor of the American Mathematical Monthly and of Math Horizons Magazine. In a 2005 Boston Public Library lecture on topology — the study of the properties of geometric figures or solids that remain unchanged during stretching or bending — he demonstrated that it was possible to tie a six-foot rope snugly around his right ankle and then his left ankle, take off his pants, turn them inside out and put them back on without ever cutting the rope. He once had 600 beach balls poured from the balcony of a packed auditorium at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. onto the heads of audience members to demonstrate a math principle. Burger’s deep passion for math is founded on the premise that it should be made lively, fun and educational. “The idea is to entertain and enlighten,” he said. “My goal is get people to have fun thinking, have a better feeling about math, and to look at things in a slightly different way.” Burger is the author of more than 35 research articles, 12 books and 15 video series. He has delivered more than 400 lectures and appeared on more than 40 radio and TV programs, including ABC News Now and National Public Radio. He has been a visiting mathematics professor at CU-Boulder three times. His upcoming book, “The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking,” offers students, teachers, business people and life-long learners ways of being more creative and innovative. It is being published this summer by Princeton University Press.