Welcome to the February 9, 2024 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.
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Bangladesh is the fastest-growing hub in programming, according to data recently released by GitHub. In the third quarter of 2023, there were 945,696 developers from Bangladesh with GitHub accounts, compared to 568,145 in 2022's third quarter. This marks a year-over-year growth rate of 66.5%, the largest proportional increase for any country in the world. The U.S. led all nations in total number of developers with 20.2 million, followed by India (13.3 million), China (6.9 million), and Brazil (5.4 million).
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Dhaka Tribune (February 7, 2024)
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A microfluidic DNA processor developed by Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and University of Minnesota researchers is capable of computation and reading and writing data stored within DNA. The DNA "lab-on-chip" prototype supports artificial neural network computations on data stored within DNA, specifically microfluidic solutions of manipulated DNA molecules. It is also capable of mathematical and non-linear calculations.
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Tom's Hardware; Christopher Harper (February 6, 2024)
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 A robotics team at Hong Kong's Dioesan Boys' School was awarded the Guinness World Record for building the smallest humanoid robot. The robot is comprised of acrylic panels and 3D-printed components, runs on a 7.4V lithium-ion battery, and can be operated via a mobile app or onboard controls. To receive the designation, the robot had to achieve bipedal movement and move its arms. It also can be programmed to perform various activities, such as dance and play soccer.
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Forbes; Leslie Katz (February 6, 2024)
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 ACM A.M. Turing Award laureate Yann LeCun, a New York University professor and Meta's chief AI scientist, considers open research a moral necessity. Said LeCun, "In the future, our entire information diet is going to be mediated by [AI] systems. They will constitute basically the repository of all human knowledge. And you cannot have this kind of dependency on a proprietary, closed system." He added, "The future has to be open source, if nothing else, for reasons of cultural diversity, democracy, diversity. We need a diverse AI assistant for the same reason we need a diverse press."
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Time; Billy Perrigo (February 7, 2024)
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Meta's Oversight Board said a manipulated video of President Joe Biden can remain on Facebook due to a loophole in the company's manipulated media policy that allows it to be enforced only when a video has been altered by AI and makes it appear as if a person said something they did not. Because Biden actually did place an "I Voted" sticker on his adult granddaughter, the board ruled the video can stay on Facebook despite being edited to make it appear as though he touched her chest repeatedly and inappropriately. The board called on Meta to "reconsider this policy quickly, given the number of elections in 2024."
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CNN; Brian Fung; Donie O'Sullivan (February 5, 2024)
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Biao Huang at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and colleagues created a control mechanism for a quantum computer using a "discrete time crystal," a configuration that oscillates following a pattern in time. The qubits in the quantum computer are made from tiny circuits that can be controlled with microwaves. The qubits are placed in a Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) state, in which they are all inextricably linked through quantum entanglement.
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New Scientist; Karmela Padavic-Callaghan (February 7, 2024)
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 A smart earring developed by University of Washington researchers can track the wearer's earlobe temperature. The "Thermal Earring" features a sensor that attaches to the ear via a magnetic clip, and a second sensor that dangles about an inch lower to capture room temperatures. The battery powering the earrings has a life span of 28 days. Users can personalize the earrings with gemstones or resin designs without impacting sensor accuracy.
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GeekWire; Kurt Schlosser (February 5, 2024)
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Oregon State University (OSU) researchers found that a single person can supervise 100 or more aerial drones and adequately manage the workload. OSU's Julie A. Adams explained, "The idea is that the swarm commander can select a play to be executed and can make minor adjustments to it like a quarterback would in the NFL." In testing, although the workload frequently rose above the overload threshold for a few minutes at a time, swarm commanders were able to complete missions successfully amid temperate- and wind-related challenges.
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Interesting Engineering; Christopher McFadden (February 6, 2024)
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A study by researchers at the U.K.'s University College London and University of Kent found that extreme misogynistic content is being amplified by the algorithms used by social media platforms. The researchers created several archetypes of teenage boys potentially vulnerable to radicalization and set up TikTok accounts for each, indicating they might be looking for content on masculinity or loneliness. After viewing 1,000+ videos suggested by TikTok on the "For You" page over a seven-day period, the researchers found the share of recommended videos with misogynistic content surged from 13% of recommended content to 56% after five days.
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The Guardian (U.K.); Sally Weale (February 5, 2024)
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neuromorphic computing based on human eyesight. The hardware features a reservoir based on a combination of acoustic and spin waves in a 25x100x1 cubic micron chip, which incorporates a multimode acoustic waveguide and is covered by a magnetic film. Information transmitted via ultrashort laser pulses is pre-processed through conversion to the propagating phonon-magnon wavepacket, with short wavelengths allowing for high information density.
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Loughborough University (U.K.) (February 7, 2024)
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A dog-like robot undergoing tests by researchers at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) could be used to detect potential radiation leaks in challenging terrain. The CERNquadbot was tested in CERN’s cavernous North Area, which features loose wires and pipes on the ground that cannot be navigated easily by humans or wheeled robots. The robot could be used to monitor environmental conditions as it keeps track of the laboratory's high-value, high-risk equipment in hard-to-navigate areas of the caverns.
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The Next Web; Ioanna Lykiardopoulou (February 6, 2024)
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Researchers at Israel's Weizmann Institute of Science developed an algorithm that offers a faster, cheaper way of adapting animal antibodies for humans. The CUMAb algorithm was used to explore every possible way to ‘humanize’ a mouse antibody so it can fight disease in humans. The algorithm computed 20,000 humanized variants of a single antibody and predicted the structural stability of each, selecting the best ones for testing. Said the Institute’s Sarel Fleishman, the results of testing were “extraordinary. Without any additional adjustments to the proposed designs, the humanized antibodies functioned just as effectively as the mouse’s original.”
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Jerusalem Post; Judy Siegel-Itzkovich (February 6, 2024)
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