Ecology and environment
Microsoft Research Blog
Predicting ocean chemistry using Microsoft Azure
By Daron Green, Deputy Director, Microsoft Research Shellfish farmer Bill Dewey remembers the first year he heard of ocean acidification, a phrase that means a change in chemistry for ocean water. It was around 2008, and…
Microsoft Research Blog
Announcing the USDA-Microsoft Innovation Challenge awardees
By Daron Green, Deputy Managing Director, Microsoft Research Today, the USDA and Microsoft announced the winners of the Innovation Challenge. The Innovation Challenge was created in July 2015 to support President Obama’s Climate Data Initiative,…
Video
Saving shellfish harvest by predicting ocean chemistry
Scientists from the University of Washington were asked by the Washington state legislature to create predictions about ocean acidification for Pacific Northwest waters. Infant oysters were being killed in record numbers, and the cause appeared…
Video
A Greater Light to Rule the Day: The Sun, the Stars, and Climate Change
Our seemingly steady Sun is a variable and violent place, with its activity rising and falling roughly every 11 years, most notably manifested as the sunspot cycle. However, solar activity is not just about spots:…
Project
Growables
Growables is a speculative design study, by Erin Smith, into the future of bio-integrated wearable devices. The ultimate goal is to provoke conversation around this speculative future in terms of design, use, and possible implications.
Tool
WorldWide Telescope OSS
AAS WorldWide Telescope is a tool for showcasing astronomical data and knowledge. Launch the Web Client! It’s not a physical telescope — it’s a suite of free and open source software and data sets that…
Microsoft Research Blog
Coping with floods—of water and data
Halloween 2013 brought real terror to an Austin, Texas, neighborhood, when a flash flood killed four residents and damaged roughly 1,200 homes. Following torrential rains, Onion Creek swept over its banks and inundated the surrounding…
Microsoft Research Blog
Cloud computing helps make sense of cloud forests
The forests that surround Campos do Jordao are among the foggiest places on Earth. With a canopy shrouded in mist much of time, these are the renowned cloud forests of the Brazilian state of São…