Ecology and environment

Developing and adopting technologies for scientific visualization and data management that accelerate insight in the environmental and earth sciences

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Microsoft Research Blog

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Project Trident: Navigating a Sea of Data

By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research How deep is the ocean? Geologically, the answer is straightforward: almost seven miles. This we know from a series of surveys, beginning in the 19th century, of the depth of the Mariana Trench, near Guam in the North Pacific, a boundary between two tectonic plates that is understood to be the deepest point in the world’s oceans. When it comes to understanding what transpires in the ocean, however,…

July 2009

Microsoft Research Blog

Understanding the Rainforest Ecosystem

By Janie Chang, Writer, Microsoft Research The Brazilian rainforests are of immense importance to the world. They help regulate climate temperatures, create rainfall, and provide habitat for biodiversity. On the southeast coast of Brazil, the Atlantic Rainforest Sensor Networking Project is attempting to monitor how a small section of the forest is behaving on a minute-by-minute basis. Micrometeorology—the study of atmosphere just above the ground on small time and spatial scales—is critical to understanding how…

May 2010

Microsoft Research Blog

Buckled up and ready to go? Untangling airports using open source tools on Microsoft Azure

Nobody likes a delay at the airport.  Many of us have spent time buckled up, ready for takeoff, wondering why our plane is stuck on its way between the gate and the runway. Scientists in the United Kingdom are working hard to help untangle these airport operations, to help save fuel, money, and impact on the environment. Cloud computing is empowering the research team to parse the anatomy of these snarls and create a model…

February 2016

Microsoft Research Blog

Projects

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Growables

People Erin Smith Biofabricationist Erin Smith is an artist whose work focuses on themes of sustainability, waste, and the future of fabrication. Her most recent work has involved bacteria, yeast, and fungi as raw materials, and her recent position as an Artist-in-Residence at Microsoft Research enabled continued experimentation with biomaterial fabrication, and further exploration of the aesthetics and possibilities of sustainable biomaterials in our modern world.

SecondLight

Established: July 26, 2010

 SecondLight is a rear projection, optical touch-sensing technology that augments the typical interactions afforded by multi-touch and tangible tabletops with the ability to project and sense both through and beyond the display.    

EarthTones: Chemical Sensing Powders to Detect and Display Environmental Hazards through Color Variation

Established: June 7, 2016

How much harmful exposure do we risk every day from invisible environmental pollutants? Whether we are in our homes, out commuting, or simply enjoying an afternoon stroll, these unseen hazards can often go undetected by humans leading to minor symptoms such as nausea, and even fatal diseases such as cancer under prolonged exposure. For instance, long term exposure to CO can result in respiratory problems, and UV is linked to increased rates of skin cancer.…

Products & Downloads

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Project Florence

November 2015

Nature has its own language; specifically, plants use electro-chemical signals to communicate their needs. Project Florence is a speculative glimpse into our Future where both our Natural and Digital worlds could co-exist in harmony through enhanced communication. Combining Natural Language Research, Biology, Design, and Engineering… we have created the first instantiation of a plant to…

Videos

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People

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Groups

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Science Computing

Making critical connections between computing and research to help solve data-intensive scientific challenges Earth and environment research Our Earth, Energy, and Environment collaboration projects focus on the development and adoption of technologies for scientific visualization and data management—especially technologies that accelerate insight in the environmental and earth sciences. Researching and developing technologies for scientific visualization and data management to help accelerate insight and advancements in the environmental and earth sciences. Highlights Layerscape WorldWide Telescope Health…

Artist in Residence

Since its inception in 2012, the Microsoft Research Artist in Residence Program has hosted a number of artists in residence, including James George, Jason Salavon, Cristina Sirbu, Erin Smith, Aduen Darriba Frederiks, Helene Steiner, and Maja Petrić. The AIR program seeks to build collaborations between researchers/engineers and artists/designers to create beautiful and innovative experiences that inspire new ways of thinking about existing and future scientific challenges.

Urban Innovation Initiative

Established: November 29, 2018

Researchers working within the Urban Innovation Initiative study and build technology to help shape the future of urban environments. Expertise in design, hardware and software prototyping and deployment, and data analytics, is combined to target three application areas: climate change and related environmental effects on society; productivity and the economic health of cities; social equity and the health of people and their communities. With more than 2 billion additional urban residents projected by 2050, humanity is rapidly…

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