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Big Data - Tim Smith

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There is a mind-boggling amount of data floating around our society. Physicists at CERN have been pondering how to store and share their ever more massive data for decades - stimulating globalization of the internet along the way, whilst 'solving' their big data problem. Tim Smith plots CERN's involvement with big data from fifty years ago to today.

Additional Resources for you to Explore

Learn more about CERN here.
The World Wide Web, invented at CERN in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, has grown to revolutionize communications worldwide.
The Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) is a global collaboration of computer centres. It was launched in 2002 to provide a resource to store, distribute and analyse the 15 petabytes (15 million gigabytes) of data generated every year by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
Take a look at this booklet (written in 2010) titled The Future of Cloud Computing.
This article serves as an introduction to cloud computing.
“Our goal is to help people better understand, visualize and navigate the wild and uncharted territory of Big Data,” said Rick Smolan. “Big Data is just that - BIG. But, it’s a term that is largely misunderstood and difficult to explain." See Rick's book here.

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TED-Ed Animations feature the words and ideas of educators brought to life by professional animators. Are you an educator or animator interested in creating a TED-Ed Animation? Nominate yourself here »

Meet The Creators

  • Director Biljana Labović
  • Animation Artist Celeste Lai, Lisa LaBracio
  • Composer Corey Allen Jackson
  • Sound Designer Jennifer Lewis
  • Educator Tim Smith
  • Narrator Tim Smith

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