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Big data, the tech story of a few years ago, is now beginning to show big results. The science of using powerful computers, ubiquitous sensors and the Web to produce mountains of raw data to uncover previously invisible insights is increasingly used in businesses, universities and government agencies. It is transforming our understanding of everything from fetal development to cosmology.
Already, thanks to big data, we have learned that babies learn language not from repetition but by hearing words used in multiple contexts. We can now identify approaching sessions of depression, even suicidal tendencies, by looking at the changing lifestyle (social media usage, diminishing movement) of potential victims. And, using Google search data, epidemiologists can spot an emerging epidemic before doctors do.
One of the most extraordinary features of big data is that it signals the end of the era of statistics. For 400 years, we've been forced to sample complex systems and estimate. Now, with big data, it is possible to measure everything, from the movement of billions of stars to every beat of the human heart.
Big data is also making its way, almost silently, into everyday life. In Israel, 80% of the citizenry contribute traffic data to help each other commute via the WAZE app on smartphones, increasingly the platform of choice for big data. California is looking at using the accelerometers in smart-phones, which detect sudden motion, to create an early-warning system for earthquakes that will be much faster than government-installed devices.
Farmers in the Midwest will soon have measurements taken in their fields nearly down to individual plants—and that will combine data on soil, water and weather to come up with trillions of scenarios for insurance coverage. Victims of natural disasters are now being pinpointed and given aid through real-time analysis of twects, instant messages and phone calls. Even one of the oldest of arts, geography, is being revolutionized with maps that will change
by the second.
But it is in the commercial world where big data has seen its greatest inroads to date. A recent survey by consultants NewVantage Partners has found that the number of U.S. firms using big data in the past three years has jumped 58 percentage points to 63%—while 70% of firms now say that big data is of critical importance to their firms, an astounding jump from 21% in 2012.That's one of the fastest tech-adoption rates ever. Meanwhile, the title of chief data officer—the C-Suite manager of big data—a title that until recently didn't even exist, is now found in 54% of companies surveyed.
The commercial impact of this revolution can be found everywhere from products and
services that can predict the unique needs of individual customers, to improved credit precision,
to stores that adapt (through special discounts and deals that pop up on your smartphone) to
each customer who walks through the door.
To date, much of this activity has remained hidden from sight. But soon it will burst forth much more publicly—and the experiences of daily life will be profoundly transformed into a
new set of personalized, predictive and empowered experiences we can barely imagine today.
41.Big data is different from past statistics in that
A.it uses sample systems to analyze and estimate
B. it can measure and calculate everything
C.it affects every aspect of life
D.it uses computers, sensors and the Web
42. Big data has not been used in
A.identifying potential depression B.choosing suitable routes
C.insuring farmers' plants D.meeting customers' special needs
43.It can be inferred from the passage that
A. babies used to learn language from repetition
B. government-installed devices are not used in detect earthquakes any more
C. C-suite mangers have long existed in most companies
D.the public has not been aware of the impacts of big data on life
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