Bill Cannon

Optimistic about optimization

Cynthia Phillips looks at mundane things like packing a bag or driving across town differently than most people. To her,… Read More

August 13, 2007

Small scale, big deal

Susan Kurien believes small things can make a big difference. Kurien, a researcher at the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos… Read More

August 13, 2007

Overture to success

Nobody would use a buzz saw to carve a toothpick.  Nor would a sensible person use a crowbar to open… Read More

July 31, 2007

Plotting plasmas

What University of California at Los Angeles mathematician Russel Caflisch does is like trying to grab a handful of fire. Caflisch… Read More

July 31, 2007

Star material

How, from the primordial Big Bang eons ago, were the building blocks of life created? Over the past several centuries… Read More

July 2, 2007

Ganging up

The day when setting up a supercomputer is as easy as programming a VCR may never arrive, but Clustermatic has… Read More

July 2, 2007

Testing tradition

A tooth left overnight in a glass of cola will dissolve. If you receive an e-mail with the subject “An Internet… Read More

June 18, 2007

Building tiny detectors

For Darryl Holm, it’s about the geometry. Holm, an applied mathematics professor at London’s Imperial College, studies how shape affects… Read More

June 18, 2007

Computing climate

It’s impossible, of course, to bring the outdoors into a laboratory for experiments. That’s why scientists rely on computer models… Read More

June 18, 2007

Food poisoning and computing

Just call him the “Glue Guy.” No, Chris Oehmen doesn’t have an Elmer’s fixation. He’s the glue that helps hold… Read More

June 4, 2007