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In its raw form, the radar data of the asteroid is a seemingly endless stream of numeric information. Fed into a computer application called "Shape," that data becomes a three dimensional model. But to do the job efficiently, the computer application requires processing power and lots of it. Details.
A graduate of BU and former running back for the Huskies is volunteering with the American Red Cross in New Orleans for three weeks. Tyson Hale, an August '05 graduate, left for New Orleans Saturday, Sept. 16. Details.
BU sophomore Alicia Bercher officially began her first season as the Maroon and Gold Marching Band drum major in August, but her responsibilities as drum major began nearly a year ago. Details.
Traci Yoder '02, an anthropology graduate student at the University of Florida, Gainesville, recently completed seven weeks of study in Arusha, Tanzania, under Group Projects Abroad, a Fulbright-paid scholarship. Details.
The Founding Fathers were a diverse group with differing opinions who might be astonished to see that their document has survived more than 200 years, agreed panelists taking part in BU's Constitution Day Sept. 15. Details.
President Jessica Kozloff outlined BU's enrollment success, the strength of the university's finances and construction at the opening of school meeting Wednesday afternoon. Details.
Provost James Mackin, who joined the BU this summer, outlined his goals for the university at the faculty/staff opening of school meeting Wednesday. Mackin stressed the need for institutions to keep improving and emphasized three areas, diversity, assessment and technology. Details.
Deans announce their retirements Details
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New personnel, retirees, and emeritus status reported to trustees Details
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In its raw form, the radar data of the asteroid is a seemingly endless stream of numeric information.
Fed into a computer application called "Shape," that data becomes a three dimensional model for geosciences professor Michael Shepard to analyze.
The catch? To do the job efficiently, the computer application requires processing power and lots of it. Far more power than a single desktop computer offers.
Multiple views of an asteriod created by the program Shape
The solution to the problem came in the form of 14 castoff computers. Student Ben Estes, a senior health physics major, and Jim Taylor, a May graduate in computer information systems, networked the computers together last winter in what is referred to as a "Beowulf Cluster" in tech circles.
Robert Montante, associate professor of mathematics, computer science and statistics, helped the students round up the computers along with the equipment to link them together and a place to keep the finished machine.
Ben Estes
With processors ranging from 450 to 840 megahertz, the desktop computers, individually, were far from state-of-the-art. They were down right pokey compared to new machines that operate four times as quickly. However, the students were able to network the computers together and combine their power, creating a "poor man's super computer."
Using the Linux operating system, the two students configured one of the castoff desktop computers as a file server. The file server breaks the task it's given into pieces and distributes the computation work for the other computers to complete. The server then reassembles the results to produce the visual model.
On a single computer, converting the radar data to a visual image would take weeks. Though Shepard's task still takes much longer than most home computing tasks, now he goes from radar data to 3D image in a just a couple of days.