Scientific Computing: An Intro

Scientific Computing is nothing but mathematical and informatical basis of numerical simulation. It can be used for reconstruction or prediction of phenomena and processes, esp. from science and engineering, on supercomputers

It is often known as the third-way to obtain knowledge apart from theory and experiment. It is 

transdisciplinary: mathematics + informatics + field of application.

Objectives may include,

• Reconstruct and understand known scenarios (natural disasters)
• Optimize known scenarios (technical processes)
• Predict unknown scenarios (like the weather)

One would wonder why would we need Numerical Analysis ? Well, there can be many possible reasons for it,

1. Since experiments are sometimes impossible like,

      - Predicting the life cycle of galaxies

galaxy

      - Weather forecast

      - Predicting stock market, or predicting           economic effects

2. Since experiments can be unwelcome sometimes, these would include

      - Tests of nuclear weapons

      - Stability of buildings

stability test

      - propagation of harmful substances

3. Sometimes experiments can be costly

      - Car crash

Crash test

      - Aerodynamics

      - Analysis & study of proteins

What's interesting is that you have people master one particular tool, and then work on that to solve some complex problem  of their discipline. Let's look at some particularly famous tools that most of the researchers use for this.

Mathematica logo.

Mathematica is a computational software used in many disciplines such as scientific, engineering etc, developed by Wolfram Research. It has all the features that MATLAB includes but can also be extends to 2D, 3D processing, parallel           programming.

Matlab logo.

MATLAB short for MATrix LABoratory is a numerical computing environmnt, sometimes also called fourth-generation programming language. It is allows plotting of functions and data, implementation of

algorithm, creation of UI, and interfacing with other languages, including C, C++, Java and Fortran.

With all of the technological innovation happening today, this field of computation will only be more  helpful as complex problems become much more complex to solve. It will be great to see what all problems can be solved with the ongoing technological advancement.

Computer Graphics: It can do Miracles!

Ever wondered how is it, that we still get the same graphics as we used to get a few years back on the gaming console, now on our mobile devices. Apple keeps increasing its display resolution every year and gives these stunning display quality.

In this blog I will be giving a brief intro about computer graphics and its applications. Will not be getting in too detail about anything but I encourage you to read the links provided. So coming back to how Apple manages to do that, well it's all about pixels and making it shine without drinking a lot of power. There are many way to do that and I will leave that for you to understand if you are interested in knowing the different techniques.

This link sums up pretty much everything neatly giving you a brief history into the past as well.

Some different types of images that we have seen in our day-to-day life which are the core essential of computer graphics are

Pixel-art

2D images are use in applications that were originally developed from traditional drawing and printing technologies.

Pixel-art

A large form of digital art being pixel art is crated through the use of raster graphics software which images are edited on pixel level

vector graphics

Vector graphics are complementary to raster graphics. It consists in encoding information about shapes & colors that comprise the image, which can allow for flexible rendering.

3D graphics compared with 2D are graphics that use 3 dimensional representation of data. Despite many differences they still use the same algorithms. 3D graphics are the same as 3D models.

Animated pic

Computer animation is the art of creating and moving images via the use of computers. To create the illusion of animation, an image is displayed then quickly replaced by a new image that is similar to the previous, but slightly shifted. This is somewhat similar to the illusion of movement in television and motion pictures. 

A list of the different styling techniques can be found at the following link along with their brief intro. A very good example to understand a few things about graphic designing we see in games and other animations is to see this video which shows how real-time planet rendering and lighting is done in OpenGL

One would always feel why do we need computer graphics ?

   The importance lies in its applications. In engineering applications like automotive and aerospace, the ability to quickly visualize newly developed shapes. Before the advent of computer graphics, designers built expensive prototypes and time-consuming clay models. Now, they do it interactively with the help of computers.

Medical imaging is another application where computer graphics has proven to be very valuable. Examples include 3D Xrays

Computer graphics has also expanded the boundaries for art and entertainment. Movies such as Jurassic Park, Avatar are good examples which make use of computer graphics to test the bounds of imagination.

Virtual reality which is fast becoming an indispensable tool in education. Flight simulators are used to train the pilot for extreme conditions and also used to train novice surgeons without endangering patients. These wouldn't have been possible without computer graphics.

 And as the industry develops today, one's imagination is the limit to things that can be developed.