Latest From Science, Technology And Medicine [11.17.14]

Google /
Prizes, Awards, Honors

• Google to Quadruple Computer Science Prize Winnings to $1 Million (New York Times)

"The A.M. Turing Award is often called the Nobel Prize of computer science. Now, thanks to Google’s largess, it will be a Nobel-level prize financially: $1 million.
Computing is increasingly an ingredient in every field, from biology to business. College students, encouraged by their parents, are rushing to take computer science courses. It’s not just a skill but a mind-set. Computational thinking is the future, where the excitement and money is. Quants rule.
The Turing Award had carried prize money of $250,000 and was jointly underwritten by Google and Intel since 2007. But Intel decided to step away as a funder, and Google stepped up and upped the ante.
Google founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, were both Ph.D. candidates in computer science at Stanford when they created the concepts behind Google search technology."

Bioengineering /
Translational Medicine

• A Heart Simulator, Meant to Help the Real Thing (New York Times)

Internet Regulation

• Obama and Scalia, United on Broadband as a Utility (New York Times)

Privacy

• Facebook Tries to Explain Its Privacy Settings but Advertising Still Rules (New York Times)

Digital Media

• Vice Hires Alyssa Mastromonaco, Former Official in Obama White House, as a Top Executive (New York Times)

Facebook

• Facebook Wants to Run Your Office Life, Too (WSJ)
• Facebook will reportedly challenge Google and Microsoft in the office (Verge)