Applied science

About: Applied science is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1178 publications have been published within this topic receiving 19920 citations. The topic is also known as: applied sciences.

Rapid indirect trajectory optimization on highly parallel computing architectures

Abstract: Antony, Thomas M.S.A.A., Purdue University, December 2014. Rapid Indirect Trajectory Optimization on Highly Parallel Computing Architectures. Major Professor: Michael J. Grant. Trajectory optimization is a field which can benefit greatly from the advantages o↵ered by parallel computing. The current state-of-the-art in trajectory optimization focuses on the use of direct optimization methods, such as the pseudo-spectral method. These methods are favored due to their ease of implementation and large convergence regions while indirect methods have largely been ignored in the literature in the past decade except for specific applications in astrodynamics. It has been shown that the shortcomings conventionally associated with indirect methods can be overcome by the use of a continuation method in which complex trajectory solutions are obtained by solving a sequence of progressively di cult optimization problems. High performance computing hardware is trending towards more parallel architectures as opposed to powerful single-core processors. Graphics Processing Units (GPU), which were originally developed for 3D graphics rendering have gained popularity in the past decade as high-performance, programmable parallel processors. The Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) framework, a parallel computing architecture and programming model developed by NVIDIA, is one of the most widely used platforms in GPU computing. GPUs have been applied to a wide range of fields that require the solution of complex, computationally demanding problems. A GPU-accelerated indirect trajectory optimization methodology which uses the multiple shooting method and continuation is developed using the CUDA platform. The various algorithmic optimizations used to exploit the parallelism inherent in the indirect shooting method are described. The resulting rapid optimal control

On the Nature of Science and Science Education

Abstract: The nature of science is an essential issue in the domain of science education. This article studied the nature of science from two aspects:definition and connotation.Science is an outcome as well as a process.The outcome and process combines together.Inquiry and thinking,attitude and spirits,knowledge and capability are three important meanings of science.Based on the nature of science, the author discussed the aim and content, the process and method of science education.

Science Development: Sino-Western Comparative Insights

Abstract: Logical and historical arguments are offered to prove that the following hypothesis is invalid: Given that in medieval China the study of magnetism had reached an advanced level, if it had had the sociohistorical condition to develop modern science, then China might have developed "field physics" (of electromagnetism) first and bypassed the Newtonian "billiard-ball physics. " The fallacy of this hypothesis serves us as the starting point of developing some profound ideas—that is, those related to the evolutionary patterns of exact sciences.