NOVA scienceNOW: Luis von Ahn

Airs Tuesday, June 30, 2009 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV

Luis von Ahn, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, creates his own “Games with a Purpose” by uniting the best skills of both humans and computers, capitalizing on the countless hours that humans waste at computers, furthering the intelligence of computers and possibly benefiting mankind.

Credit: Joshua Franzos

Above: Luis von Ahn, a professor of computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, creates his own “Games with a Purpose” by uniting the best skills of both humans and computers, capitalizing on the countless hours that humans waste at computers, furthering the intelligence of computers and possibly benefiting mankind.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Breakthroughs in the engineering of artificial diamonds; the science that went into solving the deadly post - 9/11 anthrax attacks and the ingenious technique researchers developed to pinpoint the source; "AutoTune," the controversial computer pitch-correction software that turns sour notes into sweet ones; and a profile of computer scientist Luis von Ahn.

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