2008: Jan Feb Mar Apr May Summer Sep Oct Nov Dec
NIH Biomedical
Computing Interest Group (BCIG)
May 2008 News Letter
Jim
DeLeo, editor jdeleo@nih.gov,
301-496-3848
Carl
Leonard, associate editor cleonard@lired.com,
301-496-0191
---------------------------
BCIG May 2008
In May 2008 BCIG is featuring the following two events in the
(1) May 8, 3:30 to 5:00 p.m. : A lecture entitled “Irresponsible Practices in
Technical Professions: Heuristics for Leading the Change,” by Dev Raheja.
(2) May 22,
(1) (2)
Click the
above images for more information as well as www.nih-bcig,
the BCIG web site.
Title: User-Friendly
Cyberinfrastructures and
Their Utility for Scholarly Knowledge Management
Dr. Katy Borner
Where:
NIH Clinical Center, Hatfield 4-3330
When:
“The Forgotten
Revolution: The
NIH Biomedical Computing”
The DeWitt Stetten Jr. Annual Lecture by: Joseph A. November,
Ph.D.
Where:
NIH Clinical Center, Hatfield 2-3750
When:
At NIH today, digital electronic computers are a vital,
necessary component of almost all aspects of research and administration.
However, there was nothing inevitable about NIH’s adoption of computers or the
ways the machines came to be used. As late as 1956, the majority of NIH’s
leadership was firmly against dedicating resources to computing in research. It
took a hard-fought campaign throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, led by
Drs. Frederick Brackett and Arnold “Scotty” Pratt, and supported by Director
James Shannon, to overcome NIH’s reluctance to adopt the new technology. The campaign to bring computers to NIH may be
long forgotten, but its consequences profoundly altered not only biomedical
coputing beyond the NIH campus but also computing in general. This lecture will
cover three interconnected stories. First, it will examine how the Division of
Computer Research and Technology (now CIT) grew out of Brackett and Pratt’s
long struggle to computerize research at NIH. Second, it surveys the
far-reaching activities of the Advisory Committee on Computers in Research
(NIH-ACCR), which was established in 1960 and generously funded by the
BCIG will record and archive this event
for post session playback.
Frontiers of Statistical, Mathematical & Computational
Sciences (SMCS)
Where:
The
Room 652, Duques Hall
When:
More Information: http://www.altum.com/bcig/news/minisymposium1.htm
Questioning Artificial
Intelligence
At
the May 27, 2008 BCIG Book Club meeting, we reviewed the book “Introducing
Artificial Intelligence” by Henry Brighton & Howard Selina.
What
does “knowing” mean? How complex must a machine be in order to be an AI? Why is
it taking so long for progress in AI? Why can’t we be more patient? How can we
build AI’s and robots that are more robust, more generally intelligent? Will AI
lead to improved intelligent agent communication? Is human knowledge
limiting what we can accomplish with AI in medical applications? Will people trust AI provided medical
advice? Are AI principles applicable to chemical logic?
For
the full text of the questions submitted, click on the cartoon above. If you would like to send in answers to any
of the questions please send them to Jim DeLeo jdeleo@nih.gov. He
will compile all answers received and post them in a future BCIG news
letter.
Josh
Storrs Hall author of “Beyond AI: Creating the Consequence of the Machine” came
to the NIH on
NOV 1 BCIG Book Club Event: *Beyond AI: Creating the
Conscience of the Machine” (Author Josh Hall will be present.) by Josh Storrs
Hall
5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
- view the seminar archive
Josh has
kindly written and sent us great answers to our AI questions. To see his answers click on the picture of
Josh and his friend at the top of this article.
Thanks Josh!
Professor
Lotfi Zadeh, inventor of fuzzy logic, gave an NIH BCIG lecture entitled “ “ on
March xx, 2—8. Here is the link for
information and a rerun of that event:
APR 10
LECTURE “Human Intelligence and Machine Intelligence: The Interface” Lotfi
Zadeh, speaker
Professor
Zadeh also kindly provided us some excellent answers to the AI questions. To see Prof. Zadeh’s answers click on his
picture above. Thank you Prof. Zadeh for
your great answers!
Questioning Invented
Reality
At
the
Questions Invented by Presenters: The book is about constructivism, which is also
known as “reality research.” It claims
we don’t discover reality but that we invent or construct it. So the basic questions are how do we know
what’s real and are our lives constructed realities just like fiction? Our resident cynic asks if constructivism is
an obsolete philosophy that just promotes scorn of modern science and
rationality? Practical questions that
emerged were: (1) How do you know that what you find when you mine data is
truly meaningful and useful?” (2) Can knowledge of the ‘imperfection’ of the
human mind help us build more intelligent machines? (3) What guides our
thinking and facilitates our survival?
Other interesting and humorous questions include: (1) Does
anybody take Aristotle seriously anymore? (2) What’s the reality of an
ideologist? (3) Is mathematics an invention? (4) What is the relationship of
constructivism to comedy, magic and shamanism? (5) Does anyone in the audience
have a question? (6) What’s a ‘question’?” (7) Does the apple really posses
perceived and even unperceived properties? (8) How do you tell the difference
between a red traffic light and a brothel? (9) Why were we in
Here’s
a link to the full text questions: http://www.altum.com/bcig/news/TIRQ.htm
The NIH Clinical Center
Department of Clinical
Research Informatics
Scientific Computing Section
(Click here or on the picture above
for more information.)
Scientific Computing Section Mission
Statement: “To support and promote the goals of DCRI by seeking and
engaging in active research and collaborative work within the NIH community as
well as with academia and industry - work in which knowledge in the biomedical
and computing sciences is advanced, and from which practical results that
directly lead to better health for everyone are realized.”
To discuss possible collaborations please
contact:
Jim DeLeo,
E-mail: jdeleo@nih.gov,
Telephone: 301-496-3848
BCIG Member Selected TE D Talks
Craig Venter: On the
verge of creating synthetic life
About this talk: Can we create new life out of our digital
universe?" asks Craig Venter. And his answer is, yes, and pretty soon. He
walks the T
About Craig Venter: In 2001, Craig Venter made headlines for
sequencing the human genome. In 2003, he starting mapping the... Read full bio
(Thanks for calling our attention to the
above Pete!)
Your Genes are not your
fate, Dean Ornish, M.D
Anne Ornish and her husband Dr. Dean Ornish
.My Stroke of Insight,
Jill Bolte Taylor
Jill Bolte Taylor
Neuroanatomist Jill Bolte Taylor had an
opportunity few brain scientists would wish for: One morning, she realized she
was having a massive stroke. As it happened -- as she felt her brain functions
slip away one by one, speech, movement, understanding -- she studied and
remembered every moment. This is a powerful story about how our brains define
us and connect us to the world and to one another.
(Thanks for calling our attention to the
above Praveen!)
Smart-Marts TM
We (Scientific Computing Section) have coined and trademarked
“Smart-Mart TM.” A “Smart-Mart TM” is a data mart (mini
data warehouse) with built in intelligence (application programs). In the
NIH Clinical Center Department of Clinical Research Informatics Scientific
Computing Section where Carl Leonard and I work, we are building Smart-Marts TM
to data mine individual principle investigators’ data to find new knowledge,
suggest interesting new hypotheses and reorganize data in such a way that it
makes not so obvious embedded knowledge more apparent. Carl and I are
open to inquiries about this work.
The Virtual University
Last November’s BCIG speaker Professor Francesco Masulli, a
computer scientist at the
BCIG Member Suggested
Books
A Life Decoded: My
Genome: My Life (Hardcover)
by J.
Craig Venter
In case you did not see this book, a very interesting
read. Goes into how science works/doesn't work/politics of science/large
organization/his days in the medical corp in
[It is in the
Beautiful Pictures
On the Lighter Side
Demetri Martin – a very
funny guy!
Swiss
Spaghetti Harvest 1957
Personals
(Send your personals to Jim DeLeo, jdeleo@nih.gov for posting in future BCIG newsletters.)
Position Sought
Vladimir Goodkovsky, Ph.D., Computer Scientist
I Need Help with Italian
I
would like to have lunch/coffee with native speakers of the Italian language
for the purpose of improving my speaking and understanding of the Italian
language. Jim DeLeo, 301-496-3848, jdeleo@nih.gov.
Do You Have Something to
Say?
Please send
short and to-the-point relevant articles like the ones above to me for posting
in upcoming BCIG news letters.
Jim DeLeo
301-496-3848