Wolfram|Alpha made a splash on the internet when it was released this past year. In fact, some claimed it would be a “Google-killer.” But the creators of Wolfram|Alpha disagreed. They have other plans for their website than just being a search engine:

Wolfram|Alpha’s long-term goal is to make all systematic knowledge immediately computable and accessible to everyone. We aim to collect and curate all objective data; implement every known model, method, and algorithm; and make it possible to compute whatever can be computed about anything. Our goal is to build on the achievements of science and other systematizations of knowledge to provide a single source that can be relied on by everyone for definitive answers to factual queries.

Wolfram|Alpha aims to bring expert-level knowledge and capabilities to the broadest possible range of people—spanning all professions and education levels. Our goal is to accept completely free-form input, and to serve as a knowledge engine that generates powerful results and presents them with maximum clarity.

Wolfram|Alpha is an ambitious, long-term intellectual endeavor that we intend will deliver increasing capabilities over the years and decades to come. With a world-class team and participation from top outside experts in countless fields, our goal is to create something that will stand as a major milestone of 21st century intellectual achievement.

Grand plans, yes, but as they work at their long-term goal, there are some immediate benefits to what Wolfram|Alpha can offer its users – specifically students. They highlighted this on their blog the other day, “highlighting examples of how Wolfram|Alpha can make subjects and concepts a bit easier to learn.”

Check out how Wolfram|Alpha can help you with in your Chemistry class:
chemistry

They also list ways to help you with Engineering, Calculus, and even Spring Break plans and battling the Freshman 15. I’d encourage you to check out Wolfram|Alpha and see for yourself what kind of computational power it has. Feel free to post any cool examples in the comments.