Interaction is often defined in terms of empirical observation about outcomes and relationships -- reactants move toward some equilibrium, momentum and energy are conserved, elements of an organism ``signal'' each other chemically, mechanically and electrically. These observations are mathematically framed and the resulting equations often have great predictive power -- which is the whole point of science. However, any interaction is a communication and communication implies some sort of information exchange, in essence a quantification or even digitization of what is knowable about systems and their elements. So, to any communication theorist trained in the physical sciences, a basic question comes immediately to mind -- what are all these interacting elements saying to one another, how are they saying it and can I join the conversation? |
Cool Presidential Lecture Series at
Brown
|
Cosmic Communications Caroline Angelo's cartoonNational Science Foundation DiscoveriesBreakthrough Discuss'16 (my talk) Lunar Library '19 (my sidebar) Project OZMA at 50 Workshop WHERE IS EVERYBODY? b We clock in as reason #35 in this latest edition of the book! Science Fiction Michael Crichton weighs in via The Andromeda Strain (pp. 222-225, courtesy, Rich Howard) Radio Astronomy National Radio Astronomy Observatory (facebook link) NRAO Ozma at 50 Workshop The SETI Institute Undergraduate Projects Mount a cheap directional
antenna to a mobile platform, add ultrasonic sensors
and student ingenuity and what to you get? Pure
design delight! Here's the project
report. Check
it out in action on YouTube!
USEFUL FOR SESSION CHAIRS!!! |
Administrativia:Protocol for Student Paper Draft Submissions |
Spectrum Policy Outreach:FCC Technological Advisory Council Meeting Talk (09/18/2002) (PDF) (PS)FCC TAC Meeting Archival SummaryAchieving
Innovative and Reliable Services in Unlicensed
Spectrum. A National Science Foundation
collaboration with the Quello
Center at Michigan State
|
Special Treat A must-read memoir by WINLAB's own Dick Frenkiel, "Father of Cellular and Cordless" National Medal of Technology (1994 Winner) Cellular Dreams and Cordless Nightmares: life at Bell Laboratories in interesting times |
My Son,
Evan Rose, tried to become "The
Future of Night Life" with his startup
Nite-Fly. He found that nightlife providers are a scary
bunch -- most such businesses fail within a year or so, so
they're not exactly forward looking. He (and we -- looking to
retire early ) are much more hopeful
about Evan's current business. He's essentially seeking to
become a hitech headhunter who provides various companies with
what they need -- smart employees. In the process he's become
a rather good web developer! Check out e-cruit and this recent
Huffington
Post profile on entrepreneurs (he's #15 ).
Former student, Randal Pinkett,
founder of BCT Partners
and the Donald Trump Season 4
Apprentice (Google
Search) was absolutely spectacular as an undergraduate
in our department -- I remember him most for never letting us
see him sweat -- even when I made up an exam just for him
(though I gave the exam to the whole class ).
So, he's always been preternaturally graceful under pressure.
Randal went on to an even more spectacular academic career
(Rhodes Scholar, MBA and Ph.D. from M.I.T.) and was clearly
the best candidate The Apprentice had ever seen. In fact, I
found it puzzling how much hand wringing was done over which
of the two final candidates to hire -- there really was no
other choice. Perhaps they manufactured a bit of theater? Here's Randal's
wikipedia page.
My "Big
Brother" S. James Gates, Jr.,
the Ford Foundation Professor of Physics and Affiliate
Professor of Mathematics at Brown University, sat on President
Obama's Council of
Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST for short). In
December 2012 he was named
as a National Medal of Science winner. Jim
was actually a "big brother" (and a legend) for close to a
generation of students who came through MIT in the '70s and
early '80s. (Shirley
Jackson -- current president of RPI -- is another MIT
legend who's been appointed to the PCAST as well). Jim
is an amateur Einstein historian who focuses on Einstein's
stance on human rights. Jim also has ideas on diversity
in the STEM fields, espoused in a talk
given
at Rutgers in February 2011. Want more
information? Both Jim
and Shirley
have Wikipedia pages.
My "Brother" Emery Brown is a big deal professor in the Harvard/MIT program in Cambridge. We were antipodal undergrads (Emery was a Harvard brat while I was an MIT gnerd) and graduate students together. We also vied for lifer status (Emery won that one ). His area is anesthesiology as this delightful New York Times Profile shows. However, what many do not realize is that Emery's main research passion is something that knocks directly on the door of one of the biggest Big Questions there is: what is consciousness? Emery's experimental work considers how mental state relates to measurable electrical phenomena in the brain -- of rats, so there's no need to go out and buy helmets and tin foil hats ... yet. And as you might have already guessed, Em has a wikipedia page.
My "Little
Brother" Todd
Coleman is a Professor at UCSD in Bioengineering after
successfully luring him from the corn (UIUC). He is a
true academic star and not only scary smart, but scary driven
and scary savvy. Here's a nice
profile of Todd. His area is information theory
applied to biological (mostly electrical) signals.
Whether he wins a Nobel or creates a business empire only time
will tell. Here's a recent Science paper of his
that caused somewhat of a rage in non-invasive bioelectrical
signal sensing. I'm delightedly proud (and
somewhat in awe) of Todd.
My other "Little Brother" John Asher Johnson is pretty fantastic too. He's one of those planet hunting astrophysicists and was recently plucked from Cal Tech as a 3-year-in assistant professor into a tenured full professorship at Harvard. In addition, Harvard is supporting his push to develop an astrophysics institute, aimed at developing a pipeline of URM astrophysicists. And yeah, he has a wikipedia page too, even at his tender young age.
by Nick Romanenko of Rutgers