Category: Policy (page 2 of 2)

driving like bugs

Traffic

Could insects hold the key to traffic management in the future. Some seem to think so considering the efficiency that bugs like ants manage to move in large numbers with few traffic jams. The newest idea is to have a sensor that communicates with the cars around you and manages traffic flow. From Mashable:

It’s called a “virtual” traffic lights because instead of the lights being at intersections, they’re located in each car, on windshield. The algorithm uses information collected from GPS devices, short-range communicators and other sensors to manage whether a driver sees a green, yellow or red light on her windshield.

In simulations, the algorithm managed the flow of cars in a way similar to how insects manage themselves. In ant and terminte colonies, the large group always gets to go first.

“In such self-organizing biological systems, the colony can perform all the vital functions it needs (such as foraging, moving, adjusting to changing environmental conditions, protecting itself from predators, etc.) through the cooperation of the members of its colony,” Tonguz explained in an email to DNews.

As soon as the biggest group cleared out, the next group was allowed to go.

Through the simulations, the scientists found that traffic drive time was reduced for urban commuters by 40-60%. The newest set of algorithms being tested will also take into account pedestrians and cyclists in the flow of traffic.

massachusetts eighth graders score well in science & math

071116_standardizedtests_wi-horizontal

We are often told that American students aren’t excelling at science and math. What we never hear is that some school systems are in fact doing an excellent job in education our future generations. Massachusetts happens to be on state that excels. The new results from the Trends in Mathematics & Science Study, or TIMSS, reveal that Massachusetts students score highly in math and science. Only Singapore scored higher than Massachusetts in Science. And five countries scored higher than Massachusetts in math. The state performance was higher than any other in the U.S. It should be noted that not all countries participate this assesment.  See the excerpt from WBUR for links to the test results:

Massachusetts eighth-graders are among the smartest in the world when it comes to math and science, according to a new study of academic performance.

The state’s eighth-graders ranked second in science and sixth in math, respectively, in theTrends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). More than half a million students from 63 countries participated in the test.

Only Singapore outscored the state’s eighth-graders on the science (PDF) part of the exam.

In the math section (PDF), Massachusetts students were outscored by test-takers from South Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Hong Kong and Japan.

good news for foreign science grads in america, maybe

Republicans in the House of Representatives are introducing a bill that would set aside 55,000 visas for students who’ve completed graduate studies in science, engineeing, math or technology majors. The bill won’t increase the total number of visas however and faces some Democratic opposition because of this fact. From the New York Times:

The largely partisan bill was introduced on Tuesday by Representative Lamar Smith of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. It would allocate up to 55,000 visas, known as green cards, each year to graduates with master’s or doctoral degrees from American universities, by means of a trade-off. The bill would abolish a lottery run each year that distributes the same number of green cards randomly to applicants from countries that do not have large immigrant populations in the United States.

The nearly 50 other sponsors of Mr. Smith’s bill include only one Democrat — Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas. Mr. Smith and Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the majority leader, have said the House will vote on Thursday.

A partisan fight broke out over Mr. Smith’s approach, which would not increase the overall number of green cards issued annually. On Friday Representative Zoe Lofgren of California, a Democrat whose district is home to many technology companies, introduced a measure that would create 50,000 new green cards for advanced graduates in the so-called STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics. That bill would not reduce the visas available to the lottery.

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