Biography:Alexander Wissner-Gross
Alexander D. Wissner-Gross | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physics |
| Institutions | CO2Stats |
Alexander D. Wissner-Gross is an American research scientist and entrepreneur.[1] He is a fellow at the Institute for Applied Computational Science at Harvard University.[2]
Education
At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he researched nanotechnology, Wissner-Gross triple-majored in physics, electrical engineering and mathematics. He was awarded the Marshall Scholarship, and was the last student to triple-major at MIT before the option was discontinued.[3] Wissner-Gross also has a Ph.D in physics from Harvard University.[4]
Entrepreneurship
In 2007,[4] Wissner-Gross founded the technology company CO2Stats, which measures the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by using a website.[5] CO2Stats is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and received funding from the seed venture capital firm Y Combinator.[4] The company attracted controversy when Wissner-Gross was reported to have claimed, which he has denied[4] , that a single Google search emitted seven grams of CO2, which Google disputed.[6]
Activities
Wissner-Gross co-authored a paper with mathematician Cameron Freer describing a "biophysical model for explaining sophisticated intelligent behavior in human and nonhuman animals", published in the journal Physical Review Letters,[7] which he expected would be useful for artificial intelligence. Researcher Gary Marcus wrote an article in The New Yorker criticizing the paper, saying they were "essentially promising a television set that walks your dog".[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Marcus, Gary; Davis, Ernest (May 6, 2013). "A Grand Unified Theory of Everything". The New Yorker. http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/a-grand-unified-theory-of-everything. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "Alexander Wissner-Gross". Harvard University. http://iacs.seas.harvard.edu/people/alexander-wissner-gross. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "Three MIT students win Marshall Scholarships". MIT News. December 4, 2002. http://news.mit.edu/2002/marshalls. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Buderi, Robert (January 14, 2009). "Tempest in a Tea Kettle: CO2Stats Founder Caught in Frenzy Around Environmental Costs of a Google Search". Xconomy. http://www.xconomy.com/boston/2009/01/12/tempest-in-a-tea-kettle-co2stats-founder-caught-in-frenzy-around-environmental-costs-of-a-google-search/. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ St. John, Jeff (January 13, 2009). "Google CO2 Claim Throws CO2Stats Into Limelight". Greentech Media. https://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/google-co2-claim-throws-co2stats-into-limelight-5516. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ "'Carbon cost' of Google revealed". BBC News. January 12, 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7823387.stm. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ↑ Wissner-Gross, Alexander D.; Freer, Cameron E. (April 19, 2013). "Causal Entropic Forces". Physical Review Letters 110. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.168702. Bibcode: 2013PhRvL.110p8702W. http://www.alexwg.org/publications/PhysRevLett_110-168702.pdf. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
External links
- Personal website
- Wissner-Gross, Alex (November 2013). "A new equation for intelligence". https://www.ted.com/talks/alex_wissner_gross_a_new_equation_for_intelligence?language=en.
- Alexander Wissner-Gross on hmolpedia
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