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Scientists can now do the ‘impossible’ with supercomputers

By JIM HOLLAND, regional director at Lenovo

Published

2 months ago

July 12, 2019

Scientific discovery has long been a function of the tools developed and utilised by the pioneers of innovation. While Lippershey was busy patenting his telescope, Galileo pointed his to the heavens, detected craters on the moon, rings around Saturn and moons orbiting Jupiter. In the field of astronomy, observations made with the naked eye became obsolete, and the telescope became the indispensable tool of the trade. Multiple other instruments such as barometers for weather, microscopes for bacteria and cell study, and others, attained similar “vital” status. But in the last 25 or so years, they have all become secondary to the penultimate scientific tool of the 21^st century, the supercomputer.

Ever since the mid-1990s, when the use of supercomputers to map the human genome was first proposed, then executed, technology has been the “man behind the curtain” of discovery. Recently the world was captivated by the first ever image of a black hole. To create the image, radio telescopes around the world were linked together to create a virtual single telescope “the size of the earth.” Fascinating science from gifted astrophysicists. However, the data collected took nearly two years to compile, using multiple supercomputers across a number of sites. Such an endeavor could not have been considered without supercomputers.

Today, the ability to connect thousands of inexpensive yet powerful Intel x86 systems together to solve pieces of a problem, then reassemble those pieces into an answer, has introduced High Performance Computing (HPC) to an even greater spectrum of research. Indeed, across the world, Lenovo HPC customers all over the globe are working on solving many of humanity’s greatest challenges in areas such as seismology (Harvard University, US and LRZ, Germany), Lunar surface identification (SciNet, Canada), childhood cancer treatments (LRZ) and continental species distribution modelling (University of Adelaide, Australia). These are but a few of the thousands of projects that rely on the computational muscle of a supercomputer.

Tomorrow, the advent of sensor technology, and its ability to replace multiple scientific instruments, to provide a constant stream of actionable data, and 5G cellular networks that will transmit that data in near-real-time, creates a dilemma not of “how do I get the data?” but of “where do I start?” Data is no longer a boundary, or an obstacle, but a plentiful asset, which presents its own set of challenges.

To deal with this data deluge, scientists will need to adapt. One can easily envision an augmented research environment emerging where Artificial Intelligence (AI) assists in sifting through the data to identify the most compelling pieces upon which researchers focus. HPC systems themselves will evolve. Today, we stand on the doorstep of the exascale era, where systems will be achieve a quintillion (10¹⁸) floating point operations per second (FLOPs). That will require some serious technological heft. Compute, storage and networking will all get faster, with greater capacity, but significant advances in cooling technologies, packaging and management are also required. Making those technologies available to HPC customers of all sizes is what Lenovo’s “Exascale to Everyscale” initiative is all about.

Microscopes, telescopes and seismographs will not go away any time soon. There will always be a place in science for tools that have allowed us to “think big.” But now, because of supercomputers, scientists can “think unlimited.” One wonders what Galileo would be able find with a radio telescope and supercomputer.

Featured

Seedstars seeks tech to reverse land degradation in Africa

A new partnership is offering prizes to young entrepreneurs for coming up with innovations that tackle the loss of arable land in Africa.

Published

13 hours ago

September 17, 2019

The DOEN Foundation has joined forces with Seedstars, an emerging market startup community, to launch the DOEN Land Restoration Prize, which showcases solutions to environmental, social and financial challenges that focus on land restoration activities in Africa. Stichting DOEN is a Dutch fund that supports green, socially-inclusive and creative initiatives that contribute to a better and cleaner world.

While land degradation and deforestation date back millennia, industrialization and a rising population have dramatically accelerated the process. Today we are seeing unprecedented land degradation, and the loss of arable land at 30 to 35 times the historical rate.

Currently, nearly two-thirds of Africa’s land is degraded, which hinders sustainable economic development and resilience to climate change. As a result, Africa has the largest restoration opportunity of any continent: more than 700 million hectares (1.7 billion acres) of degraded forest landscapes that can be restored. The potential benefits include improved food and water security, biodiversity protection, climate change resilience, and economic growth. Recognizing this opportunity, the African Union set an ambitious target to restore 100 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.

Land restoration is an urgent response to the poor management of land. Forest and landscape restoration is the process of reversing the degradation of soils, agricultural areas, forests, and watersheds thereby regaining their ecological functionality. According to the World Resources Institute, for every $1 invested in land restoration it can yield $7-$30 in benefits, and now is the time to prove it.

The winner of the challenge will be awarded 9 months access to the Seedstars Investment Readiness Program, the hybrid program challenging traditional acceleration models by creating a unique mix to improve startup performance and get them ready to secure investment. They will also access a 10K USD grant.

“Our current economic system does not meet the growing need to improve our society ecologically and socially,” says Saskia Werther, Program Manager at the DOEN Foundation. “The problems arising from this can be tackled only if a different economic system is considered. DOEN sees opportunities to contribute to this necessary change. After all, the world is changing rapidly and the outlines of a new economy are becoming increasingly clear. This new economy is circular and regenerative. Landscape restoration is a vital part of this regenerative economy and social entrepreneurs play an important role to establish innovative business models to counter land degradation and deforestation. Through this challenge, DOEN wants to highlight the work of early-stage restoration enterprises and inspire other frontrunners to follow suit.”

Applications are open now and will be accepted until October 15th. Startups can apply here: http://seedsta.rs/doen

To enter the competition, startups should meet the following criteria:

Existing startups/young companies with less than 4 years of existence
Startups that can adapt their current solution to the land restoration space
The startup must have a demonstrable product or service (Minimum Viable Product, MVP)
The startup needs to be scalable or have the potential to reach scalability in low resource areas.
The startup can show clear environmental impact (either by reducing a negative impact or creating a positive one)
The startup can show a clear social impact
Technology startups, tech-enabled startups and/or businesses that can show a clear innovation component (e.g. in their business model)

Also, a specific emphasis is laid, but not limited to: Finance the restoration of degraded land for production and/or conservation purposes; big data and technology to reverse land degradation; resource efficiency optimization technologies, ecosystems impacts reduction and lower carbon emissions; water-saving soil technologies; technologies focused on improving livelihoods and communities ; planning, management and education tools for land restoration; agriculture (with a focus on precision conservation) and agroforestry; clean Energy solutions that aid in the combat of land degradation; and responsible ecotourism that aids in the support of land restoration.

Featured

The dark side of apps

Published

13 hours ago

September 17, 2019

Mobile device security threats are on the rise and it’s not hard to see why. In 2019 the number of worldwide mobile phone users is forecast to reach 4.68 billion of which 2.7 billion are smartphone users. So, if you are looking for a target, it certainly makes sense to go where the numbers are. Think about it, unsecured Wi-Fi connections, network spoofing, phishing attacks, ransomware, spyware and improper session handling – mobile devices make for the perfect easy target. In fact, according to Kaspersky, mobile apps are often the cause of unintentional data leakage.

“Apps pose a real problem for mobile users, who give them sweeping permissions, but don’t always check security,” says Riaan Badenhorst, General Manager for Kaspersky in Africa. “These are typically free apps found in official app stores that perform as advertised, but also send personal – and potentially corporate – data to a remote server, where it is mined by advertisers or even cybercriminals. Data leakage can also happen through hostile enterprise-signed mobile apps. Here, mobile malware uses distribution code native to popular mobile operating systems like iOS and Android to spread valuable data across corporate networks without raising red flags.”

In fact, according to recent reports, 6 Android apps that were downloaded a staggering 90 million times from the Google Play Store were found to have been loaded with the PreAMo malware, while another recent threat saw 50 malware-filled apps on the Google Play Store infect over 30 million Android devices. Surveillance malware was also loaded onto fake versions of Android apps such as Evernote, Google Play and Skype.

Considering that as of 2019, Android users were able to choose between 2.46 million apps, while Apple users have almost 1.96 million app options to select from, and that the average person has 60-90 apps installed on their phone, using around 30 of them each month and launching 9 per day – it’s easy to see how viral apps take several social media channels by storm.

“In this age where users jump onto a bandwagon because it’s fun or trendy, the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) can overshadow basic security habits – like being vigilant on granting app permissions,” says Bethwel Opil, Enterprise Sales Manager at Kaspersky in Africa. “In fact, accordingly to a previous Kaspersky study, the majority (63%) of consumers do not read license agreements and 43% just tick all privacy permissions when they are installing new apps on their phone. And this is exactly where the danger lies – as there is certainly ‘no harm’ in joining online challenges or installing new apps.”

However, it is dangerous when users just grant these apps limitless permissions into their contacts, photos, private messages, and more. “Doing so allows the app makers possible, and even legal, access to what should remain confidential data. When this sensitive data is hacked or misused, a viral app can turn a source into a loophole which hackers can exploit to spread malicious viruses or ransomware,” adds Badenhorst.

As such, online users should always have their thinking caps on and be more careful when it comes to the internet and their app habits including:

Only download apps from trusted sources. Read the reviews and ratings of the apps as well
Select apps you wish to install on your devices wisely
Read the license agreement carefully
Pay attention to the list of permissions your apps are requesting. Only give apps permissions they absolutely insist on, and forgo any programme that asks for more than necessary
Avoid simply clicking “next” during an app installation
For an additional security layer, be sure to have a security solution installed on your device

“While the app market shows no signs of slowing down, it is changing,” says Opil. “Consumers download the apps they love on their devices which in turn gives them access to content that is relevant and useful. The future of apps will be in real-world attribution, influenced by local content and this type of tailored in-app experience will lead consumers to share their data more willing in a trusted, premium app environment in exchange for more personalised experiences. But until then, proceed with caution.”