I’ve been a little mesmerised by the wonder that is Wolfram Alpha. The extravagantly titled “Computational Knowledge Engine (CKE)”.
By calling it the CKE, for short, they’ve probably scared away a lot of people. That is until you give it a shot.
For example, as a paramedic, you visit a 30 year old fella who says he weighs 110kg and is 5′8″. That looks overweight, but with the Wolfram CKE you can see how bad this really is. Just type into the box: 30yr male 5′8″ 110kg and hit enter. Soon you’ll be informed that:
Captain Tubby’s specs are:
- BMI of 36.9 = obese.
- His ideal weight is 68.5kg (he’s 41.5kg too heavy).
- He’s got 6.1 litres of whole blood pumping around.
- His lung capacity is 3.9L.
Click the more button and you’ll get:
- His basal metabolic rate – 2138 calories/day.
- Other stuff.
How amazing is that? Type in your own details and be prepared to be scared.
Need help with that crossword on a cold lonely night shift? Type in _a_a_edic and voila out pops “paramedic”.
Need to know how much that apple and carrot just cost you in calories and how much protein you just gobbled up? Type in 1 apple + 1 carrot and you’ll see that you just had 104 calories and 761mg of protein. I wonder how much that cheeseburger just cost me? 550 calories apparently.
Type in drug names, places, formulas, electrical calculations, words, peoples names, blah, blah, blah. You will learn something new.
The best thing for paramedics? Next time you have someone in the back of your truck you’ll have some new tidbit to chat about. No more painful silences and pretending to do paperwork. Bonus.
Anyway, I’m just scraping the sides of what this thing can do. And by the sounds of things Wolfram Alpha is just getting started as well.
Wolfram Alpha. The new google or just a plaything. Could be both. I reckon there may just be a synergy that could work out nicely.
Enjoy. Let us know what you can find.
