NYU Data Science newsletter – November 30, 2015

NYU Data Science Newsletter features journalism, research papers, events, tools/software, and jobs for November 30, 2015

GROUP CURATION: N/A

 
Data Science News



8 Ways You’re Failing At Data Science

InformationWeek, Lisa Morgan


from November 26, 2015

Data scientists and the Wizard of Oz have something in common: Few people really know what they do behind the curtain, which makes it hard to tell good from bad data science. These tips can help you discern the difference.

 

The Latest Breakthrough In Understanding Diabetes Was Made By An Algorithm

Fast Company, Co.Exist


from November 24, 2015

Researchers now believe there are three different kinds of type 2 diabetes—a result discovered with help from machines combing through reams of medical data.

 

Researchers wrestle with co-authorship

Nature News & Comment


from November 26, 2015

The prickly topic of how to assign credit to scientists flares up on social media.

 

Illumina, iHART Launch Genomic Database for Autism

GEN News Highlights


from November 18, 2015

Illumina said today it is partnering with the Hartwell Autism Research and Technology Initiative (iHART) to establish a genomic database for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The effort is part of iHART’s mission to establish the largest shared, open-access repository of bioinformatic data on autism.

 

Smartphones enlisted in the battle versus crop disease

Penn State News


from November 24, 2015

Crop diseases, a major cause of famine, have always been diagnosed by visual inspection, though scientists today also use microscopes and DNA sequencing. But the first line of defense is still the keen eyes of farmers around the world, many of whom do not have access to advanced diagnostics and treatment advice.

To address this problem, scientists from Penn State and EPFL, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, are releasing 50,000 open-access images of infected and healthy crops.

 

A Controversial Rewrite For Rules To Protect Humans In Experiments

NPR, Shots blog


from November 25, 2015

… One change that some object to would require scientists to obtain explicit consent from patients before using their blood or tissue for research. The requirement aims to prevent a repeat of what happened to Henrietta Lacks. She was an African-American woman who died of cervical cancer in 1951. Cells taken from her cervix were used without her consent to produce a research cell line that has been kept alive in labs around the world ever since.

Researchers and companies use these cells in a wide range of research, including the development of new drugs. Neither Lacks nor her family consented to this use. [audio, 4:24]

 

The next war will be an information war, and we’re not ready for it

Quillette


from November 27, 2015

In the 21st century the familiar form of warfare in which physical damage is meted out against the opponent’s military forces and infrastructure has become only one form of attack. Instead, states are increasingly launching non-lethal attacks against an enemy’s information systems – this is the rise of information warfare.

Dan Kuehl of the National Defence University defined information warfare as the “conflict or struggle between two or more groups in the information environment”. You might say that just sounds like a fancier way of describing hacking. In fact it’s a lot more sinister and a lot more dangerous than its somewhat tame name implies.

 
Events



Talk by Matt Hoffman, Adobe Research



Title: When and why doesn’t variational inference work? (And what can
we do about it?)

Abstract:
Stochastic variational inference allows for fast fitting of complex
Bayesian models. However, the algorithm is prone to local optima which
can make the quality of the posterior approximation sensitive to the
choice of hyperparameters and initialization. I will talk about two
approaches to dealing with these local optima problems: structured
stochastic variational inference and trust-region variational
inference.

Thursday, December 3, at 11 a.m., 715 Broadway (corner with Washington Place), 12th floor, room 1221

 

Evening Talks: Levi Garraway



Title: New Directions in Cancer Precision Medicine

Dr. Levi Garraway is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute. … Dr. Garraway has made seminal research contributions in cancer genomics, drug resistance, and precision (or “personalized”) cancer medicine. He published the first whole genome sequencing studies of prostate cancer, and has led major cancer genomics initiatives in both melanoma and prostate cancer.

Thursday, December 3, at 6:30 p.m., New York Genome Center, 101 6th Ave

 

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