What is the “beauty of programming”? In our eyes, it is the act of creating a program that is in itself beautiful—a program that uses sophisticated algorithms to solve real problems, meeting the user’s needs while ensuring the best experience in the least amount of…
Scientists around the world are striving tirelessly to monitor and model the environment—to understand the intricate workings of our ecosystem—so that policymakers can make informed decisions that lead to a sustainable future for “spaceship Earth.” This research involves using the thousands of available environmental datasets,…
Tweet Posted by Curtis Wong, principal researcher It’s been an amazing journey for the past 30 months, developing the ideas and prototypes that made the case to start up Project “GeoFlow,” now called Power Map, with the help of the Startup Business Group (SBG) within…
https://youtu.be/MSWQ_E0S9ys In the late 1800s, the guanaco, a close relative of the llama, was hunted to near extinction. As we mark this year’s Earth Day (April 22), I want to share my excitement about a new tool that looks to make the future a little…
Powerful Research Tools Shared at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting We love our jobs at Microsoft Research, and a big part of that is about how much we love physics and technology. And chocolate. Consider: if you place helium in a (well-made) bag and…
When wildfires strike, all eyes turn to the clouds, hoping for a downpour that will quench the flames. Now, wildfire prevention teams on the Greek island of Lesvos are looking to a different kind of cloud for help, thanks to the VENUS-C Fire application and…
What do the California condor, the snow leopard, and the Wollemi pine have in common? They’ve all made the least desirable position on one of the nature’s most important lists: the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Now, what do Microsoft and the Zoological Society…
By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research In an era of rising temperatures, shrinking ice caps, and widespread drought, the world’s attention is focused on environmental concerns. It seems like every business, every organization, every government has plans to “go green,” and information-technology firms are no…
As I was preparing to travel to Washington, D.C., for the 2012 exhibition of the AIDS Quilt and the International AIDS Conference, it occurred to me that this journey began a little less than a year ago, in nearly the same spot. I first learned…
By Janie Chang, Writer, Microsoft Research In August 2010, Bing Maps rolled out the first images from its Global Ortho program, a multiyear mapping project launched that spring to provide the Bing Maps platform and consumer website with consistently high-quality aerial-photo images of the continental…
Posted by Peter Lee, managing director of Microsoft Research Redmond The last in a series of posts from the directors of Microsoft Research’s labs worldwide, this one from Peter Lee of Microsoft Research Redmond. Given that this was my first full calendar year at the…
Posted by Roy Levin, managing director of Microsoft Research Silicon Valley The latest in a series of posts from the directors of Microsoft Research’s labs worldwide, this one from Roy Levin of Microsoft Research Silicon Valley. Microsoft Research (MSR) recently celebrated its 20th anniversary,…
