Science & Technology

A visit from an Internet guru has the entrepreneurial crowd at Virginia Tech abuzz.  Alexis Ohanian, the founder of Reddit, which people call ‘the front page of the internet,’ will speak at the University Sunday. 
 

Alexis Ohanian graduated from The University of Virginia but he wanted to make a point of speaking at Virginia Tech on his book tour, because he knew about the community of current and future technology entrepreneurs here.  Drew Stegmeier, past president of the Entrepreneurs club at tech, is one of them.

There’s been a lot of talk about “drones,” remote controlled aircraft which fly with no pilot on board.  But drones are being used for more than military operations. 

A scientist at Virginia Tech has been named one of Popular Science’s  ‘Brilliant Ten for 2013” for using them to study micro organisms in the atmosphere, which can have a huge impact on what goes on, on the ground.

State lawmakers have been learning more about how the Virginia Information Technologies Agency protects and oversees the Commonwealth's most sensitive databases.  

They're finding out that while Medicaid expansion is supposed to help benefit those who need services, the state might not be prepared for the influx of data the expansion would bring with it.

Chief Information Officer Sam Nixon tells the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission that potential vulnerabilities always exist within the system.

Many pilots learned how to fly and surgeons how to make incisions by engaging in some type of “modeling and simulation” program developed by a group of engineers.

But while “modeling and simulation” is now becoming its own profession, in Virginia few schools provide a course of study needed to train and retain these specialized engineers.
 

Researchers at Virginia Tech have come up with a plan for a new kind of helmet for construction workers that can monitor their exposure to carbon monoxide and warn them before it becomes dangerous. 

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning kills hundreds of Americans each year and sends thousands more to the hospital.  Construction workers face an especially high risk because they often work in enclosed spaces where exhaust from gasoline-powered hand tools can build up fast.