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 Doctors in their laboratories at Detroit's
Henry Ford Hospital measure the strength of human bones --- on a super computer in Pittsburgh.
Philip Emeagwali (cover photo)
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Car designers at their work stations at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren instantly
trade their latest ideas --- with colleagues in Australia.
Welcome to Internet, a vast system of more than 3,000 linked computer networks
around the world. For the roughly 3 million researchers and educators who regularly
use it, the lightning-fast Internet makes distance irrelevant and time
malleable.
Michigan, a pioneer in long-distance networking, has become a critical link in the
Internet. The state, in a rare partnership with IBM Corp. and MCI Communications
Corp., built and operates the heart of today's Internet --- a complex of fiber optic lines and
switches that serves as the system's superhighway.
PHOTO CAPTION: NSFnet CONNECTING
THE WORLD
Internet --- including Michigan's statewide network, called MichNet --- is already
playing key role in the ability of states and nations to compete in an information
age. Networks help businesses and individuals speedily share information.
As information becomes a larger component of the economy, networks, role will
grow. Coupled with more powerful computers, they will spark "a revolution in
knowledge and learning that could exceed the impact of the original
scientific revolution," says U.S. Sen. Albert Gore Jr., D-Tenn. He is the chief
sponsor of pending legislation to build an even more robust national computer network.
"It used to be that nations with deep-water ports and good railroads, or
with abundant raw materials, had a competitive advantage," Gore says. "But since
the information revolution began to pick up speed, it's become clear that
the most important determinant of national competitive advantage is the ability to handle
information and knowledge, especially in digital form."
By the year 2015, high-speed computer lines are expected to reach into most
American homes, schools and offices, revolutionizing the way America works, learns and plays.
But in the here and now, the Internet's users consider it a mighty tool.
Consider Philip Emeagwali, a University of Michigan computer scientist, as he works at his
computer workstation, nicknamed Two Brain. "Let's try Boston," he says, typing.
PHOTO CAPTION:Emeagwali working at his
computer workstation, nicknamed Two Brain.
Super computers, the most powerful machines in the world, are helping scientists
solve tough problems. One is weather forecasting. Emeagwali wants to help forecasters
give people plenty of warning before, say, a cyclone slams into Bangladesh.
Philip Emeagwali, a University of Michigan computer scientist,
uses a workstation to link to Internet. "Without this network I absolutely
cannot do my work," he says.
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But Internet makes it all possible. Emeagwali's Apollo work station is
hooked up to a local campus network. The campus network is hooked up to MichNet, which links
universities, government offices and some businesses around the state.
MichNet, in turn, is hooked up to NSFnet, the very heart of the Internet. Funded by the
National Science Foundation and built by the Michigan-IBM-MCI partnership, the NSFnet is a hyper-fast
information pipeline that connects MichNet to other regional networks.
The Thinking Machines super computer in Massachusetts is hooked up to a network
there, which is also hooked up to the NSFnet. Through an elaborate series of connections, then,
Emeagwali can sit at his computer in Michigan and use the other, far-off machine.
"Without this network I absolutely cannot do my work," he says.
The key is capacity.
Conventional copper phone lines are relative slowpokes at transmitting computer information,
dribbling data to a small computer at several thousand bits of information --- a few dozen
words --- per second.
By contrast, networks built around fiber-optic lines --- glass fibers the thickness of a
human hair --- and modern message-switching equipment can zap data through at a rate
of tens of millions of bits per second. New equipment, now being tested, will raise the rate to
over a billion bits per second.
Pictures contain much more data than words. Transmitting digital videos takes enormous capacity.
It's worth it. Scientists use remote supercomputers to visualize things that are almost meaningless
when listed in tables of numbers.
A chemist in Detroit, for example, can run a super computer in San Diego to see a three-dimensional view of
molecule. Then she can rotate and change the molecule to her heart's content, until it has the properties
she needs.
No longer bound by the relatively slow speed of modems and regular phone lines, researchers like Emeagwali
complete tasks on Internet in a few hours that would otherwise consume days or weeks.
Another essential part of Internet is electronic mail. Internet's huge capacity lets it handle tens
of thousands of messages at a time.
"We have facilities in Australia and Europe that we can get to because of the Internet,"
says Jeff VanHoorne, senior research scientist at General Motors Tech Center.
The Internet's electronic mail and conferences, as well as their slow-speed counterparts
on other on-line services, have changed the nature of communications for the people who
use them.
In the world of electronic communications, users have formed electronic communities; their
location doesn't matter.
"People are fundamentally social creatures," says Mitchell Kapor, president of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation Inc., a nonprofit organization that is asking some basic question
about the electronic future.
A quick peek into the on-line world reveals impassioned discussions on an almost
limitless array of topics, including physics, computers, medicine, films, sex and baseball.
Some of the chatterers regard some of the chats as pornographic, prompting an even
more impassioned debate on the pros and cons of controlling it.
Networks are inherently democratic. Once you're connected, you can get all,or most,
of the same information that anyone else can get. And your ideas can be taken as seriously as
anyone else's.
Part of Internet's allure is in its decentralized, creative anarchy. But that also
has forced users to learn arcane commands and addresses, a failing that proponents agree
must be fixed in coming years.
As Internet evolved, "Michigan's role has been absolutely pivotal," says Stephen
Wolff, director of networking at the National Science Foundation.
In the age of the automobile, Michigan became known for building a first-rate, statewide
networks of highways. In computer circles Michigan is well known for its
committment to networks and has become "the best-connected state," says Douglas Van Houweling,
vice provost for information technology at the University of Michigan.
Michigan is investing $5 million of taxpayers' money directly in the NSFnet and has sunk
millions more into its campus, government and statewide networks.
"We thought it was a good opportunity to get Michigan into the networking game, into
information technology at a strategic point," says James Kenworthy, manager of research
and technology programs for the Michigan Strategic Fund, of the state's investment in its
partnership with MCI and IBM.
Information technology, he says, "will be to white collar what automation was to
manufacturing."
Until recently, the government restricted Internet to people in research and education.
Last year, the Michigan-IBM-MCI group formed a not-for-profit company, Advanced Network & Services
Inc., to promote wider use of Internet. Other companies have set up services to connect smaller
regional networks.
Last month, in a step networkers called extremely significant, Advanced Network itself spun off a
for-profit corporation designed to bring in commercial users. Profits will be used to upgrade
the network, says Allan Weis, president and CEO.
Several other companies also offer Internet connections. All hope to
attract big and little businesses onto the networks in coming years.
They say the more users there are on-line, the more useful the network
is for everyone.
Grade and high schools, too, will be joining the mix. Few have so far,
and worries have arisen that the K-12 schools won't be able to afford the
tab. This fear has led some to call for federal help in hooking up
the K-12 schools.
For students and teachers, high-speed networks will bring "access to information ... when they need it, to help to help them improve education and the
creative process," says Alan Baratz, director of high-performance computing and
communications at IBM's Multimedia and Education Division.
The educational role will extend to the home, many hope. Sen. Gore envisions
a system that enables "a schoolchild to come home, and, instead of
playing Nintendo, plug into the Library of Congress and learn at his or
her own pace."
Network growing pains may be inevitable as more and more
students, faculty, researchers, business people and others use
Internet. So far, the system has been able to handle the load.
People who use the networks can't imagine life without them.
And they're excited about the prospect that more users will join them,
though a bit alarmed at the potential for electronic clutter.
As the technology improves, networks will transmit much more information
at once. This will lead to different kinds of two-way information,
including multi-media and video and other sorts of new applications
that no one can foresee now.
"The scientific revolution began a quarter century after Gutenberg
completed the printing press," Gore says. "This network will lead to
similar, revolutionary advances."
Caption: THE THINK LINK
Caption: The computer network InterNet links data,
ideas and 3 million users around the world. Commercial use of the net is
growing.
Caption: Network links 3 million computer users worldwide
Caption: Michigan has become "the
best-connected state," says Douglas Van Houweling, vice provost for
information technology at the University of Michigan.
Caption: CONNECTING THE WORLD This depicts the major NSFnet connections
between regional networks and supercomputing centers around the country,
including a hub in Ann Arbor. The data are sent along fiber-optic routes
on the ground connecting the various hubs. The NSFnet also has connections
to networks around the world.
Caption: IN MICHIGAN... MichNet connects cities around the state. Its
principal users are schools and government offices. In the future
it is expected to attract more corporate and individual users.
Caption: IN DETROIT... Detroit is a major hub within MichNet. Many networks are
connected to the Detroit hub, including Wayne State University, government
offices and corporate offices such as GM. Individual computer
users can dial into the network by using regular phone lines."
Click on emeagwali.com for more information.
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