Two professors at the School of Engineering and Applied Science, Jennifer Rexford and Naomi Leonard, have been named members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Flocking starlings strike an optimal balance between the work of responding to social cues from their neighbors and the need to conserve energy. This trade-off yields a special number: seven. When starlings coordinate with their seven nearest neighbors, they form their magical-looking flocks with the least effort.
Princeton University undergraduates David Clifton and David Heinz discuss their research -- ranging from testing MATLAB code to working in the machine shop -- on a test robot called "the beluga."
Two Princeton Engineering professors, Naomi Leonard and Robert Vanderbei, have been named fellows of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics, for work that ranges from the coordination of undersea robots to the search for extrasolar planets.
Contrary to the ideal of a completely engaged electorate, individuals who have the least interest in a specific outcome can actually be vital to achieving a democratic consensus. These individuals dilute the influence of powerful minority factions who would otherwise dominate everyone else, according to new research published in the journal Science.
What happens when humans behave as if they were schooling fish or swarming insects or flocking birds? Engineering professor Naomi Ehrich Leonard and choreographer Susan Marshall conspired with a creative group of undergraduates to find out.
Dangerous water conditions, hidden shipwrecks, enemy submarines -- all manners of threats can lurk within the ocean's depths. Princeton professors Naomi Leonard '85 and Sanjeev Kulkarni are currently working on two separate projects, each funded by the Office of Naval Research, to address these concerns and enhance security at sea.
