National Digital Learning Day

On Wednesday, February 6, 2013, we celebrated the second annual National Digital Learning Day in our Globaloria classroom. Digital learning refers to any instructional practice that is effectively using technology to strengthen the student learning experience (personalized learning and blended-learning). Digital Learning Day is a celebration of these practices. We had 13 outside visitors, 9 students, and the principal visit our room. One of the visitors was Jenna Jeffrey, Senator Jay Rockefeller's assistant. Below are some of the great pictures from that event.

Mountaineers and Buckeyes Team Up for Shale Research

                                                                             

Mountaineer researchers from West Virginia University are joining Buckeye students from Ohio State University to determine how both states can receive maximum benefit from shale exploration. With billions of dollars’ worth of economic growth at stake for both states over the next several years, the universities are teaming up to study how to maximize the value of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations underlying West Virginia and Ohio. They have signed a memorandum of understanding creating a shale energy partnership between the two schools. "This singular partnership demonstrates the wisdom of universities collaborating with one another," said Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee. "West Virginia University and Ohio State have complementary research strengths in this area. Working together, our faculty will take a unique leadership role that will advance our shared, scientific understanding of the complex environmental and economic issues in shale energy." The MOU acknowledges that research and education related to shale energy development must be of high value to students, faculty and the public. The two schools will exchange information while jointly exploring funding of shale energy and related environmental studies before, during and after the development of the Utica and Marcellus shale plays. This could include the development of field laboratories. "I am very excited about this partnership between two land-grant, flagship, research universities on an issue that is of great importance," WVU President Jim Clements said. "By working together we will enhance our capacity to do cutting-edge research, high-quality teaching and effective outreach on shale energy. This partnership will also enhance our ability to serve the energy needs of our states, nation and world." WVU and OSU will address the complex issues related to shale development, including the economic implications of natural gas and other hydrocarbons, as well as the possible impacts of such development efforts on the environment, local communities and public health. In Ohio, gas and oil producers like XTO Energy, Gulfport Energy, Hess Corp. and Antero Resources continue fracking wells, while processing companies like MarkWest Energy, Caiman Energy and M3 Midstream build plants across the countryside. In West Virginia, drillers such as Chesapeake Energy, Chevron, Stone Energy, Gastar Exploration, EQT Corp. and others continue developing assets in West Virginia, while processing companies including MarkWest, Williams Partners and Dominion Resources construct increasingly more infrastructure across the northern portion of the state. In Ohio, during a single week last year, one Marcellus and Utica Shale leasing company paid about $60 million in signing bonuses to Belmont County mineral owners. As an example for how the industry is impacting West Virginia, Marshall County property values increased by $577.2 million for the 2013 tax year, largely because of oil and gas drilling. This means the county and its board of education will collect more tax dollars this year. The Gulfport Stuntzman well south of Barnesville is one of the reasons drillers are so active in Belmont County. Based on initial production numbers and the going rates for oil and natural gas, WVU Marshall Miller Professor of Energy Tim Carr said this well could be producing as much as $100,000 worth of revenue per day. Much of the high value for the gas underlying parts of Belmont County can be attributed to the fact that it is wet gas containing ethane, propane, butane, pentane and oil in addition to the dry methane gas. This valuable wet gas is also found in northern West Virginia, particularly in Marshall and Ohio counties.

By CASEY JUNKINS Staff Writer , The Intelligencer / Wheeling News-Register

University Of Michigan Engineer Says Radar Technology Could Detect Concealed Weapons At School.

A radar-based concept originally developed to detect suicide bombs abroad could be used to find people carrying concealed weapons in a crowd here at home, University of Michigan researcher Kamal Sarabandi says. The Defense Department funded Sarabandi's research for years, because his technology can detect bombs under clothes. But now, after the Newtown school shooting, Sarabandi wants to see if his research could be used to find concealed guns in crowded places, including malls, airports, stadiums, and schools. Sarabandi's technology is a fresh take on existing radar technology, such as the radar police use to trap speeders. Sarabandi's version works by bouncing radar waves off people. Radar signals bounce differently off of skin and metallic objects, so you can identify a gun--or something like a gun--by focusing the radar on a person's torso and comparing the reading to a baseline reflection generated in the lab. A torso with a large concealed metal object reflects the radar back differently, and looks slightly off when compared with a regular torso, as illustrated by the image above. While still not tested on people in crowds, the method was able to distinguish between a mannequin torso wearing a leather jacket, and a mannequin torso concealing a dummy bomb under its leather jacket. In the future, Sarabandi says radar guns based on his method could scan crowds for people concealing bombs or guns under their clothes, and those people could be quickly pulled aside and scanned more rigorously. Right now, he is working on designing a smaller system for an army robot. The most promising peacetime application? Promising a faster alternative to metal detectors. No idea how accurate it is, though.

US engineers unveil transformer-style robotic chimp

Engineers at Carnegie Mellon University’s (CMU) National Robotics Engineering Center (NERC) have developed CHIMP, a highly dexterous robot capable of tackling rough terrain. CHIMP (CMU Highly Intelligent Mobile Platform) has simian resemblance but rubberised tracks on the extremities of its four limbs give it the locomotion of a tracked vehicle. According to CMU, this configuration offers an advantage when moving over debris. CHIMP can, however, move on the treads of two limbs when needed, such as when tasked to use one or more limbs to open a valve, or to operate power tools.

CHIMP will have to perform these and other tasks during the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Robotics Challenge (DRC), in which robots will have human-like capabilities to respond to events such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Climbing ladders and driving vehicles are said to be among the obstacles robots will face in environments engineered for people. The NREC entry, Tartan Rescue Team, is one of seven selected by DARPA for DRC Track A, in which each team will develop its own hardware and software. In operation CHIMP will be able to perform complex, physically challenging tasks through supervised autonomy. On-board sensors build a texture-mapped, 3D model of the environment that CHIMP uses to maintain stability and prevent collisions. The same 3D model is said to enable an operator to visualise the location and orientation of CHIMP and evaluate possible actions. The robot will also be pre-programmed to execute tasks such as grasping a tool, stepping on a ladder rung or turning a steering wheel without step-by-step direction from the human controller, circumventing the lag between command and execution. ‘Humans provide high-level control, while the robot provides low-level reflexes and self-protective behaviours,’ said Tony Stentz, NREC director and Tartan Rescue Team leader. ‘This enables CHIMP to be highly capable without the complexity associated with a fully autonomous robot.’ The final DRC event will be held in 2014, with the winner receiving $2m. CHIMP will have to perform these and other tasks during the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Robotics Challenge (DRC), in which robots will have human-like capabilities to respond to events such as the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster. Climbing ladders and driving vehicles are said to be among the obstacles robots will face in environments engineered for people. The NREC entry, Tartan Rescue Team, is one of seven selected by DARPA for DRC Track A, in which each team will develop its own hardware and software. In operation CHIMP will be able to perform complex, physically challenging tasks through supervised autonomy. On-board sensors build a texture-mapped, 3D model of the environment that CHIMP uses to maintain stability and prevent collisions. The same 3D model is said to enable an operator to visualise the location and orientation of CHIMP and evaluate possible actions. The robot will also be pre-programmed to execute tasks such as grasping a tool, stepping on a ladder rung or turning a steering wheel without step-by-step direction from the human controller, circumventing the lag between command and execution. ‘Humans provide high-level control, while the robot provides low-level reflexes and self-protective behaviours,’ said Tony Stentz, NREC director and Tartan Rescue Team leader. ‘This enables CHIMP to be highly capable without the complexity associated with a fully autonomous robot.’

New self-driving car system tested on UK roads

 The self-driving car halts for pedestrians and could

 take over tedious parts of driving. Photograph:

 Oxford University Department of Engineering Science

 Move over into the slow lane, Google. Scientists at Oxford University have developed a self-driving car that can cope with snow, rain and other weather conditions not found in the search giant's home in California. The system can be fitted to existing cars and could one day cost just £100. Developed by a team led by professor Paul Newman at Oxford University, the new system has been installed in a Nissan Leaf electric car and tested on private roads around the university, will halt for pedestrians, and could take over the tedious parts of driving such as negotiating traffic jams or regular commutes. The car alerts the driver when it is ready to take over - and by pressing a button on a screen, the driver can let the computer take the strain. The search giant Google has been working on self-driving cars for years, and has now won approval for their use in the US states of Nevada and California. But so far it hasn't shown them off in the UK. By contrast, the Oxford system has been demonstrated on public roads – and as long as there is a licensed driver in the driver's seat, "there's no obvious legal barrier to using it on roads now," Professor Newman told the Guardian. "It's essentially an advanced driver assistance system." Dr. Martin Spring from Lancaster University, who co-authored a paper on the potential of driverless cars, said that in time they could radically transform how we think of road transport: "As with many technologies, the early implementation will try to mimic what has gone before. But once you shake off the constraint of it having to look like a car, you can envisage a very different vehicle: it could look like a small room where people do what they want while the car is moving. And if you don't need lights to navigate, you don't need streetlights. Or headlights." Newman thinks that it could be only 15 years before self-driving systems become commonplace in cities as the price of installing the systems drops: "At present it costs about £5,000, but we're working to reduce that to £100," he said. The car has been tested running at up to 40mph, said Newman. Rather than using the GPS navigation system, which can be unreliable in cities where "urban canyons" caused by buildings block signals, and only accurate to a few metres, the British-developed system uses 3D laser scanning allied to computer storage to build up a map of its surroundings – which is accurate to a few centimeters. The auto-drive system works by recognizing where it is, based on a laser scanner on the front of the car, comparing its surroundings to its stored data. That's different from Google's system, which uses a combination of GPS, laser guidance – from a roof-mounted laser – and mapping to determine its location and route. The Oxford system, developed through funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, could be extended so that each car downloads data from passing cars, or over the internet via 3G and 4G connections to a central system. That would mean that the car wouldn't have to store data for the entire country at any time: "You don't go from London to Glasgow in a single hop. So as you're driving along, the car could download the new maps from the internet for the journey ahead." Larry Page, Google's chief executive, believes self-driving cars have enormous economic and health implications: they should cut the number of road deaths, either through drivers' attention wandering, or through driving too close to other cars and being unable to react. Traffic would flow with fewer interruptions – people might even prefer to send their car to drive around for a while rather than trying to find a parking place. The technology giant already uses a self-driving car to impress guests: last year when Martin Sorrell of WPP Group was visiting the company, he was picked up from his hotel and delivered to Google's Mountain View headquarters 20 miles away by one of the cars. "It was pretty incredible," Sorrell told Fortune. By contrast Newman's team has only been working on the scheme for two years, and only received the Nissan Leaf car in September. Yet it has been able to connect the computer control systems to its steering wheel, brakes and other systems. "Cars these days are pretty much fly-by-wire – the computer controls it all," Newman said. The computational power required to navigate is already cheaply available, as is the storage for the 3D maps that the car would use to figure out its location. "Our cities don't change very much, so robotic vehicles will see familiar structures and say 'I know this route - want me to drive?'" But he emphasises that "it's not total autonomy for the car. It knows when things are good, and when the risks are reasonable, and then it will offer to take over." If the car can't make a match, it won't offer to drive – and the decision is always the driver's, Newman emphasised. "What I'm really proud of is that this is British technology and British intellectual property," he said. "It shows what a British university group can do when we put our minds to it." Self-driving cars could save thousands of lives per year: in the UK, more than 2,000 people and in the US more than 30,000 people died in vehicle accidents last year.

Charles Arthur from The Guardian