Magazine: Summer 2021 | Volume 27, No. 4
In the information age, pursuing speed and efficiency seems to become the default setting of humankind and our technology development. People constantly ask how to be better, faster, and stronger, but the question of sustainability is often left neglected. If the original goal of technology development was to create a better future, then have we already diverged from the planned route? Can we leverage the abundant knowledge and creativity that we have today to develop new greener technology? And how can we upgrade the existing ones to be more sustainable?
In this issue, we curated a collection of articles ranging from the work of renowned academic researchers to interviews with innovators, showcasing the unlimited possibilities where computing and technology can contribute to a better future.
Our goal is to raise awareness of sustainability in technology development, by presenting research works that aim at making positive impacts on our earth, and by sharing insights into where more efforts are needed from the most creative brains. Sustainability has become a global issue to which each one of us can contribute. We firmly believe that, in the near future, we will not only ask the question of speed and accuracy, but the questions of sustainability; we will not ask the question of if, but how, technology can lead us to a better future.
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SECTION: Features
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Scaling biodiversity monitoring for the data age
Technological advances have made it possible to collect massive amounts of biodiversity data. How can analysis efforts keep up?
By Sara Beery
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An upcycled IoT
An upcycled approach uses everyday objects as design material for IoT systems by enabling users to make their "dumb" objects "smart." Adopting this approach, IoT Codex realizes a new socially informed, context-aware computing and end-user programming.
By Kristin Williams, Jessica Hammer, Scott E. Hudson
AI for conservation
How deep neural networks can process millions of weather radar data points to help researchers monitor continental-scale bird migration.
By Zezhou Cheng, Subhransu Maji, Daniel Sheldon
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Flexible computing for intermittent energy
How flexible computing can help speed the adoption of inflexible renewables.
By Jennifer Switzer
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Envisioning alternative relationships with the environment through computational design
Climate change is one symptom reflecting a larger problem of how we humans view ourselves as separate from the environment. How can computation and design help us expand our perception so we can better attend to the natural world?
By Malika Khurana
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Making with a sustainable purpose
This interview presents insights into Dr. Mauriello's research projects in user-centered design to promote energy literacy within residential households.
By Jiayi Li, Karan Ahuja
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An interview with Owen McCall from TREECYCLE
Is cryptocurrency necessarily energy-consuming? Can we use blockchain to facilitate sustainable development? This interview presents insights into an investment project rooted in sustainability, bridging finance and ecology.
By Jiayi Li, Yingfei Wang
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The environmental impact of research communities
As sustainability chairs for key computing conferences, we explore the environmental impact of research conferences, reflect on the complexities of making physical and virtual conferences sustainable, and discuss the environmental consequences of computing research itself.
By Kristin Williams, Bridget Kane, Chris Clarke, Kelly Widdicks
DEPARTMENT: Hello world
Creating hash functions using intrinsic functions
By Jayati Dev, Ishu Jaiswal