Parting Thoughts

OFFICIAL MARINE PARTS EXPRESS BLOG

 
  • About Marine Parts Express
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • About Marine Parts Express
  • Contact Us
  • What Hath God Wrought?

    By J.D. Neeson, President

    “The Week” (a great magazine by the way) mentioned, almost in passing, that the University of Washington had mapped the molecular structure of an enzyme from an AIDS-like virus. The hope is that the enzyme could be used to stop the disease from spreading.

    That fact alone is good news, but what fascinated me the most was how the scientists managed to do the mapping. The mapping was done using 60,0000 volunteer video gamers who were using a software program that allowed them to manipulate the enzyme and receive points for how efficiently they did it. Apparently, scientists have been working on this mapping for ten years. The gamers did it in ten days.

    The link below sort of explains how they did it:

    http://www.techflash.com/seattle/2011/09/how-online-gamers-solved-aids-mystery.html

    Fascinating, and a little scary. I think this and the IBM Watson (the Jeopardy-playing computer) may be the biggest jumps in decades. Not quite artificial intelligence, but finding a way to use the collective abstract reasoning of 60,000 people or developing algorithms that allowed Watson to access 1,000 gigabytes of information in less than a second, is getting pretty close. I believe 20 years from now we will all talk about these two events the way we now talk about the Univac or the Web or the theory of relativity.

    And now they think that some subatomic particles go faster than the speed of light! It not only throws out all the expanding universe and missing mass issues, it means that perhaps the universe isn’t all that old and maybe there are no other dimensions and maybe quantum physics and tunneling is all wrong.

    J.D. Neeson


    Comments? Questions? Suggestions for topics for our blog or newsletter? Send them to
    info@marinepartsexpress.com.

    Marine Parts Express is a division of Water Resources, Inc., a privately held Maine Corporation.

    For all your marine engine parts needs, call us toll free at 877.621.2628, or outside the U.S. at 207.882.6165.

    Share this:

    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

    Related

    October 3, 2011 / JD Neeson / 0

    Categories: JD Neeson

    Tags: gamers, IBM, Jeopardy, Marine Parts Express, problem solving

    An ant’s about to die—get the magnifying glass “Give Away $5 Billion”

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Recent Posts

  • Things I Found While Looking For Something Else – Part VI
  • Re-Introducing the OneList
  • Winterization Guide
  • Labor Day Sale 2016
  • Memorial Day Sale 2016
  • Turbocharger Damage Prevention Bulletin
  • The Art of Quilling
  • Winter – Maine Style
  • XDP Upgrade Promotion – Extended!!! (through 12/31/14
  • Lubricants, Oils, Sealants, and Adhesives – Discussion and Cross-Reference

Pages

  • About Marine Parts Express
  • Contact Us

Tag Cloud

    american goldfinch bird feet configuration Birds blue jay brown creeper cardinals China debt Downy Woodpecker Economy ethanol flame arrester flame arrestor gear ratios hermit thrush hummingbirds low flow lubricants Lytro magnetic alignment magnifying glass magnolia Maine maine authors maine golf maine hunting camp maine winter manufacturing Margaret Graham Neeeson Margaret Graham Neeson Marine Parts Express mercruiser oriole osprey overheating propeller prop sizes Ruby-Throated Hummingbird sail drive service bulletin The Skipper volvo volvo penta wild turkey Winter

Categories

  • Boating and Fishing
  • Books
  • Economy
  • Musings
  • Nature
    • Birds
  • Technology
  • The Express
  • The MPE Crew
    • JD Neeson
    • Noreen O'Brien
    • Stacy Lash
  • Uncategorized
  • Volvo Penta Service Bulletins
 

Recent Posts

  • Things I Found While Looking For Something Else – Part VI
  • Re-Introducing the OneList
  • Winterization Guide
  • Labor Day Sale 2016
  • Memorial Day Sale 2016
  • Turbocharger Damage Prevention Bulletin
  • The Art of Quilling
  • Winter – Maine Style
  • XDP Upgrade Promotion – Extended!!! (through 12/31/14
  • Lubricants, Oils, Sealants, and Adhesives – Discussion and Cross-Reference

Tag Cloud

    american goldfinch bird feet configuration Birds blue jay brown creeper cardinals China debt Downy Woodpecker Economy ethanol flame arrester flame arrestor gear ratios hermit thrush hummingbirds low flow lubricants Lytro magnetic alignment magnifying glass magnolia Maine maine authors maine golf maine hunting camp maine winter manufacturing Margaret Graham Neeeson Margaret Graham Neeson Marine Parts Express mercruiser oriole osprey overheating propeller prop sizes Ruby-Throated Hummingbird sail drive service bulletin The Skipper volvo volvo penta wild turkey Winter

Pages

  • About Marine Parts Express
  • Contact Us

Categories

  • Boating and Fishing
  • Books
  • Economy
  • Musings
  • Nature
    • Birds
  • Technology
  • The Express
  • The MPE Crew
    • JD Neeson
    • Noreen O'Brien
    • Stacy Lash
  • Uncategorized
  • Volvo Penta Service Bulletins

Copyright © 2016 Parting ThoughtsTheme created by PWT. Powered by WordPress.org