Fridaygram: Code Jam, Titan ice, super recognizers
By +Scott Knaster, Google Developers Blog
Editor
Google Code Jam is a
time-honored tradition in
which coders around the world solve programming problems for glory and cash prizes. The
10th
annual Code Jam finals took place last week in London, and when the dust settled and
the flying fingers stopped typing, the winner of the coveted title Code Jam Champion 2013 was
Ivan Miatselski. The champion (also known as
mystic) bested 45,000 entrants
to win the competition.
Code Jam participants get to use whichever programming language they want, and they chose
dozens, including Python,
Java, C++, and even COBOL, Fortran, Smalltalk, and Mathematica. This year’s devilish final
round involved solving
five
challenges in four hours, including puzzles about driving around a traffic circle
backwards and finding a drummer for your band. If you missed it, don’t worry: Code Jam 2014 is
on the way.
As we switch from enigmatic problems to mysterious celestial bodies, there’s news that
Saturn’s moon Titan is continuing its shady ways. According to
new
research, Titan could have a thick crust of ice, very different from previous
theories. Geophysicist Doug Hemingway of
UC Santa
Cruz says “Already things on Titan were hard to explain. This makes it even worse.”
Indeed, Titan is a pretty weird place, with its methane atmosphere that comes down in rain and
forms lakes.
Finally, would you like to meet a restaurant waiter who remembers you across visits, even if
they’re years apart? That’s the story of Julian Lim, a
super recognizer who
recalls almost every face he’s ever seen. This superpower even works across many years, as
super recognizers can pick out people who have grown up and changed substantially.
Researchers
studying this phenomenon have found more than 20 super recognizers so far. Some of
them didn’t realize they had a special ability and assumed everyone else could do it
too.
On Fridaygram,
scientists are heroes, space news is amazing, nature never ceases to surprise, and fun is
important. We hope your weekend is filled with wonder and general cool stuff.
