01/10/2022

Researcher discusses data science in everyday life.

Nei Rocha, pesquisador da UFRJ, em mesa-redonda no Festival da Matemática

"Data science and artificial intelligence are to the 21st century what electricity is to the 20th century." It was with this comparison that Professor Nei Rocha, from UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), began the last round table of the National Mathematics Festival that ended this Saturday (30), in Rio de Janeiro.

The chat "What is data science and how is it present in our daily lives," moderated by the coordinator of technological projects at IMPA, Jorge Lopes, showed the audience how life has been increasingly impacted by data science. It is present in consumer recognition on the internet and even contributes to judicial decisions, currently in the USA.

Rocha also highlighted the projected implementation of chips in the human body "to detect possible diseases and reduce the cost of health insurance premiums," he told participants at the event.

Also participating in the roundtable were Asla Medeiros, a professor at FGV, and Flávia Landim, from UFRJ, who reminded the audience that, in the 2000s, Germany was already working with biobanks to study the progression of diseases in society.

“People included blood tests and information about their lifestyle habits in biobanks. Today, these people are already 70 years old, and this information is analyzed to understand how lifestyle can delay the onset of certain diseases,” explained Landim.

Chat about inclusion

At the roundtable discussion, "Teaching and Learning Mathematics for People with Disabilities," professors Cláudia Segadas Vianna, from UFRJ, and Leo Akio, from the UFRJ Application School, presented the methods used to develop mathematics skills with students with disabilities.

Vianna highlighted the importance of using materials of varying sizes, shapes, colors, and cuts in teaching.

"We produce clothing in different shapes, pants and shorts, and we can even work with combinatorial analysis problems."

Mesa-redonda debateu inclusão de pessoas com deficiência no ensino

The tools are used to teach the subject to students who are visually impaired or deaf and mute.

Akio spoke about the work he does with special needs students at APAE, who have Down syndrome. To help them overcome difficulties in adding and subtracting, the teacher used pins on the students' fingertips.

"Neuroscience shows that it's impossible to separate the fingers from mathematical calculations, and the work I've been doing shows that feeling objects is more meaningful than seeing them," the professor explained.