One sure way to get a job these days is to be a "Big Data" specialist. These are the people who can interpret massive amounts of information and tell businesses how to use it to make money. It's a very specialized set of skills involving computer science, business and statistics. The Harvard Business Review says the dominant trait among data scientists is an intense curiosity. WVXU's Ann Thompson, in Focus on Technology, reports what it takes to be one and about NKU's efforts to begin a new Bachelor's Degree in Data Science this fall.
Alternative fuel is playing an even bigger role in the U.S. government’s aviation plan. Within the next year the latest National Aeronautics Research and Development Plan will be released and a large portion of it focuses on alternative fuels. Wright Patterson Air Force Base is playing a leading role, in part because it can moderately scale up lab production for commercial companies. WVXU's Ann Thompson took a tour to see how it's made, where it's tested and what unusual samples the Air Force is storing. She reports in "Focus on Technology."
Gyeongui Highway on the way to the Kaesong Industrial Region in North Korea. WVXU's Ann Thompson took this picture during a journalism trip last summer.
The threat of nuclear weapons is of big concern to the U.S. and other countries around the world, as evidenced by North Korea’s announcement that it will expand its arsenal. In “Focus on Technology,” Ann Thompson reports even before tension in the Korean peninsula, scientists were trying to identify and protect plutonium and uranium all over the globe.
Baseball fans expect a lot from their electronic devices both at the Major League and youth level. How is it possible to get nearly real-time information every game for things like landing speed and the nastiness of the pitch? Even coaches of kids teams are using software to keep parents and grandparents up to date remotely. Ann Thompson reports in "Focus on Technology," on how programs like Gameday and iScorecast work.
This is what actor Christopher Reeve dreamed of... a bionic machine that helps paralyzed people walk. Drake Center is one of 20 facilities in the world to have an Exoskeleton. It is kind of like a backpack with leg and foot support.
Therapists program the parameters and paraplegics can walk slowly. For 29 year old Kevin Moeller, who's been in a wheelchair ten years, it gives him new freedom and the ability to have his natural height of six foot.
