PhET Interactive Simulations at the University of Colorado creates free, open-source educational simulations. After developing several simulations in Scala, we identified several advantageous techniques and patterns in Scala which we were able to transfer to subsequent Java development projects. Specifically, our experience with Scala helped us attain the following advantages in our Java develo...

Understanding the thermodynamic function of life may shed light on its origin. Life, as are all irreversible processes, is contingent on entropy production. Entropy production is a measure of the rate of the tendency of Nature to explore available microstates. The most important irreversible process generating entropy in the biosphere and, thus, facilitating this exploration, is the absorption ...

Current Mixed Reality experiences focus primarily on training, design and entertainment. This paper presents a very different application, scientific virtualization and its use in informal education. Specifically, we describe a case study that extends an existing museum dinosaur exhibit to include an encounter with ancient sea life. The real world assets and environment are augmented and, in so...

An increasing focus on monitoring the coastal environment and the need to do so without leaving any surface expression to hinder vessel traffic or attract unintended recovery or collateral damage from other marine activities has led to a several developments in building bottom-mounted observation platforms that release to the surface on command or after a fixed delay. Typically these consist of...

In November 1998 the CSC SEAS Center achieved the rating of CMM Level 5 and became the sixth organization in the world to have ever attained that goal. The Capability Maturity Model (CMM) (Reference 1) is a worldwide recognized benchmark of process maturity for software organizations and is used to assess the quality of an organization’s software process. During the period covered by this study...

Two recent algorithms for estimating zero-upcross wave periods from altimeter data are investigated using data from a buoy in the North East Pacific with a relatively high occurence of swell. Both algorithms performed well in wind seas, with low wave age, but only one – developed using a neural network – was satisfactory when the wave age was high.

The 17-year (1982-1998) trend in surface temperature shows a general cooling over the Antarctic continent, warming of the sea ice zone, with moderate changes over the oceans. Warming of the peripheral seas is associated with negative trends in the regional sea ice extent. Effects of the Southern Hemisphere Annular Mode (SAM) and the extrapolar Southern Oscillation (SO) on surface temperature ar...

Contents 1. Introduction 2. Microbial ecology of the seas and oceans 2.1. Functional groups of marine microorganisms 2.2. Important biogeochemical cycles in marine environments 3. Microbial ecology of freshwater 3.1 Biodiversity of microorganisms in freshwater environments 3.2 Food webs in freshwater environments 4. Microbial ecology of lakes 5. Microbial ecology of running waters 6. Microbial ...