Welcome to the September 11, 2023, edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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3D Printing with Coffee Turns Used Grounds into Caffeinated Creations
CU Boulder Today
Daniel Strain; Nicholas Goda
September 8, 2023
Researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder (CU Boulder) and Carnegie Mellon University have developed a technique for three-dimensionally (3D) printing objects from used coffee grounds. CU Boulder's Michael Rivera and colleagues combine the grounds with food additives cellulose gum and xanthan gum, which form a paste when mixed with water. Rivera modified a 3D printer with plastic tubes and a syringe filled with the paste. The researchers have printed jewelry, small planters, and espresso cups with this method. Rivera envisions more sustainable 3D printing in which "you could just pick up a few things at a supermarket and online and get going."
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Tribal Nations Face Less Accurate, More Limited 2020 Census Data Because of Privacy Methods
Associated Press
Mike Schneider; Morgan Lee
September 9, 2023
Methods deployed by the U.S. Census Bureau to protect participants' confidentiality by intentionally introducing errors has reduced the accuracy and availability of 2020 Census datasets for Native American tribes compared to the previous Census. The differential privacy process algorithmically creates errors by adding or subtracting people from the actual tally; the Census Bureau said it needs the algorithms to prevent hackers from identifying participants. New Mexico State Demographer Robert Rhatigan said the bureau never clearly communicated to tribes that this "noise" would make certain data unavailable. The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis said differential privacy affects accuracy most when breaking down population counts by race, age, and sex, complicating the understanding of demographic changes in individual tribal areas. Such demographic data is critical in guiding tribal leaders' decisions, estimating future population growth, and funding social programs, education, roads, and senior care.
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Smart Pill Tracks Key Biological Markers in Real Time
MIT News
Elizabeth A. Thomson
September 8, 2023
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Boston University, Boston’s Brigham and Women's Hospital, the University of Chicago, and semiconductor maker Analog Devices have created a smart pill for real-time detection and tracking of molecular bowel disease indicators. The ingestible device includes living bacteria, electronics, and a small battery. The bacteria emit light when detecting molecules like nitric oxide and byproducts of hydrogen sulfide, which signal and mediate bowel disease-associated inflammation. The electronics render this light as a wireless signal transmitted to a smartphone or other device as the pill moves through the body. The pill can detect different nitric oxide levels, which "will allow us to differentiate between a normal situation and disease," said MIT's Maria Eugenia Inda.
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Flaw Found in Apple Devices Led to Spyware Infection: Researchers
Reuters
Christopher Bing; Zeba Siddiqui
September 7, 2023
Researchers at Canada-based Citizen Lab found a vulnerability in Apple devices was used to spread spyware from Israeli cyber-intelligence group NSO. The digital watchdog said it determined the flaw had been exploited to infect the Apple device of an employee of a Washington-based civil society group with NSO's Pegasus spyware. Citizen Lab said the bug compromises iPhones running the latest iteration of iOS without any interaction from victims. Citizen Lab's John Scott-Railton said, "This shows that civil society is once again serving as the early warning system about really sophisticated attacks." The watchdog reported the flaw to Apple, which released updates on its devices.
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Device to Monitor Transplanted Organs Detects Signs of Rejection
Northwestern Now
Amanda Morris
September 7, 2023
Northwestern University and the University of Chicago researchers have engineered a bioelectronic device that can continuously monitor transplanted organs in real time and can detect the abnormal temperatures that signal rejection. The soft implant sits directly on a kidney just beneath the renal capsule, and is equipped with a thermometer that can detect extremely small temperature variations and wirelessly stream data to a smartphone or tablet to alert the patient or doctor of irregularities. In tests with a small animal model with transplanted kidneys, the researchers found the sensor detected possible rejection indications up to three weeks sooner than current monitoring techniques.
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What Do Neurons, Fireflies, and Dancing the Nutbush Have in Common?
University of Sydney (Australia)
September 8, 2023
Computer scientists and mathematicians at Australia's University of Sydney (USYD) and Germany's Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences have designed a framework for evaluating synchronized phenomena. The researchers outlined the mathematics of how a network linking a series of individual elements governs their synchronicity. They analyzed "walks" through a network in a complex system, sequences of linked hops between individual elements or nodes. USYD's Joseph Lizier said, "Our results open new opportunities for designing network structures or interventions in networks."
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AI Rezones School Districts
Education Week
Sarah D. Sparks
September 7, 2023
Education scientists from Northeastern University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used algorithms to model new attendance zones for nearly 100 of the largest U.S. school districts based on district goals and parent preferences. The zoning simulator incorporates elementary school data from more than 4,000 districts, enabling them to recalibrate attendance zones to determine how they might boost racial diversity while limiting extended travel times and student headcount at individual schools. The researchers found this approach could reduce segregation between white students and students of color across district schools by an average 14%, while shortening travel times slightly and requiring about 20% of students to move to different schools.
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FAA Clears Drones for Longer Flights
Bloomberg
Alan Levin
September 6, 2023
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has granted United Parcel Service's UPS Flight Forward division and technology consultant uAvionix permission to fly automated drones for longer-distance flights. The drones will perform tasks including aerial inspections, photography, and deliveries, as well as gathering information that will be used "to inform the FAA's ongoing policy and rulemaking activities," according to the agency. The FAA granted similar authorization to Phoenix Air Unmanned last month, while delivery drone developer Zipline International awaits the agency’s clearance. The agency is formulating ground rules for how drones can operate in the same airspace as helicopters and low-flying planes without risking collision.
*May Require Paid Registration
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AI Gives Robot Recognition Skills a Big Lift
The University of Texas at Dallas
Kim Horner
August 30, 2023
Researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and Rice University developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system that significantly enhances robotic object recognition capabilities. The system enables robots to push objects repeatedly in order to collect images that enable recognition through object segmentation; earlier methods focused on robots "learning" objects via a single push or grasp. UTD's Yu Xiang said multiple pushes enable the robot to snap more photos with its RGB-D camera to gain more knowledge about each item and reduce the potential for error. The researchers designed the technology to help robots identify objects found in environments like homes, and to generalize variants of common items.
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Mathematicians Find 12,000 Solutions for Three-Body Problem
New Scientist
Matthew Sparkes
September 8, 2023
Mathematicians in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Japan have identified 12,392 new stable orbital arrangements for three objects as allowed by Isaac Newton's laws of motion, also known as the three-body problem. The researchers ran an optimized version of an algorithm used to find 1,223 solutions in 2017 to the three-body problem on a supercomputer. The solutions start with all three bodies stationary before free-falling as they gravitate toward each other, carried past each other by momentum before decelerating, stopping, and drawing together again. The researchers found this pattern would recur endlessly in the absence of friction. Ivan Hristov at Bulgaria's Sofia University said, "Their physical and astronomical relevance will be better known after the study of stability—it's very important. But, nevertheless—stable or unstable—they are of great theoretical interest."
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Better Cybersecurity with New Material
Linkoping University (Sweden)
Anders Törneholm
September 4, 2023
Researchers at Sweden's Linköping University think their new Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) for encryption can support a new form of quantum communication. The researchers' QRNG uses perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs), potentially making their production more affordable and environmentally friendly than the production of non-perovskite LEDs. Linköping's Feng Gao said the PeLEDs consume less energy than the lasers traditionally used for QRNGs. Linköping's Guilherme B. Xavier said the new QRNG could be available for cybersecurity applications within five years.
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