Welcome to the May 1, 2019 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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Girls Outscore Boys on Tech, Engineering, Even Without Class
Associated Press
Sally Ho
April 30, 2019
U.S. eighth graders in 2019 did significantly better compared to 2014, especially among students who are white, black, Asian, or low-income, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress report titled "The Nation's Report Card." In addition, the report found that while girls are less likely to study in a formal technology or engineering course, they show greater mastery of those subjects than their male classmates. The findings suggest that the decade-long effort to champion more opportunities for girls and women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields is succeeding. Yet despite the advances made by girls in STEM, just 53% of female students reported taking at least one technology or engineering class, compared with 61% of male students.
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Drone Delivers Kidney to Maryland Woman
The New York Times
Karen Zraick
April 30, 2019
University of Maryland (UMD) researchers developed a drone that recently was used to deliver a kidney for implantation into a Maryland woman. The drone was equipped with backup propellers and motors, dual batteries, and a parachute to stave off disaster should a component malfunction at high altitude. Two ground-based pilots wirelessly monitored the drone in real time, to override its automated flight plan when necessary; built-in sensors also measured temperature, barometric pressure, and vibrations. UMD's Joseph R. Scalea described the flight as a "proof of concept that this ... system can be innovated." He said current organ delivery is a "data-blind" service, where an organ's progress en route is not visible to doctors. In contrast, the UMD drone can provide updates of its progress. Scalea said, "It's like Uber for organs."
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Auto Industry Says Cybersecurity Is Significant Concern as Cars Become More Automated
The Washington Post
Fredrick Kunkle
April 30, 2019
A recent incident in which a hacker reportedly exploited accounts for global positioning system trackers to track and shut off engines in thousands of commercial-fleet vehicles highlights the growing issue of cybersecurity for the auto industry. Alliance of Automobile Makers spokesperson Gloria Bergquist said, "Automakers are collaborating in all areas possible, including hardware, software, and knowledge sharing with suppliers, government, and the research community" to address cyberthreats. The most common hacking technique, the relay hack, entails using wireless transmitters to widen the range of an electronic key fob, with most exploits targeting property within vehicles, rather than the vehicles themselves. To bolster security, engineers partition computer-based vehicle control systems from communications and navigation systems. Bergquist suggested consumers can help by engaging in good cybersecurity practices, like deleting phone data from rental vehicles if phones are paired with the vehicle, and following regular maintenance and software update schedules.
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Facial Recognition Software Meets Its Match: Barnyard Animals
The Wall Street Journal
Yifan Wang; Chuin-Wei Yap
April 30, 2019
Attempts to identify barnyard animals like cows and pigs via facial recognition are complicated by the software's difficulty in distinguishing between animals, as it was originally engineered for human faces. Also frustrating efforts is a limited database of available animal faces, compared with human-image databases, which slows the rate at which the software learns. In addition to slower differentiation time, facial recognition software for animals requires high-definition photos or more profile images from varying angles. Researchers said animal faces need far more reference points than humans to produce algorithms that can execute similar differentiation levels. Also challenging is the difficulty of photographing animals, which tend to avoid or attack the camera.
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HKUST Physicist Contributes to New Record of Quantum Memory Efficiency
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Anita Lam
April 28, 2019
Researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and South China Normal University set a new record for photonic memory efficiency. The researchers developed a method to boost the efficiency of photonic quantum memories to over 85%, with a fidelity of over 99%. The team created such a quantum memory by trapping billions of rubidium atoms in a space the size of a human hair. The atoms were cooled to near absolute zero using lasers and a magnetic field. In addition, the team found a way to distinguish a single photon from its “noisy” background. Said HKUST researcher Du Shengwang, "Although the quantum memory demonstrated in this work is only for one qubit operation, it opens the possibility for emerging quantum technology and engineering in the future."
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U.S. Navy Shrinking the Size of Its Gargantuan 70s-Era Computers
Popular Mechanics
Kyle Mizokami
April 26, 2019
A March missile test by the U.S. Navy involved a warship running its Aegis Combat System using a handful of computers far smaller than those the service has been relying on since the 1970s. These ruggedized computers form what the Navy calls a "virtual twin," emulating the Aegis computer system and software in a much smaller form factor. Such innovations mean virtualization will make upgrades to shipboard computers easier and more affordable than ever before, especially because they take up vastly less space. Submarines stand to particularly benefit from such upgrades, since the Navy prefers to avoid cutting their hulls.
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Partnership on AI: Algorithms Aren't Ready to Automate Pretrial Bail Hearings
Venture Beat
Khari Johnson
April 26, 2019
The Partnership on AI (PAI) has released a report declaring the algorithms now in use to automate the pre-trial bail process unfit to do so, as they suffer from data sampling bias and bias in statistical predictions, as well as human-computer interface issues and unclear definitions of high risk and low risk. In its first-ever report, the organization recommends policymakers avoid using algorithms entirely for decision-making surrounding incarceration, or find ways to meet minimum data collection and transparency standards.
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UW Astrophysicists Simulate Sounds of Stars to Reveal Their Secrets
UW News
Eric Hamilton
April 26, 2019
University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison) researchers have built models of various kinds of stars to visualize the subsonic reverberations, or "starquakes," they generate, to better explain a star's structure and how it will change as the star ages. UW-Madison's Jacqueline Goldstein and colleagues enhanced software called GYRE, which interfaces with the MESA star-simulating program. From this, stellar simulations were constructed to determine how starquakes might appear to astronomers. Goldstein said she is working on a new version of GYRE to leverage data from the orbiting TESS telescope, "So we're going to be able to say for all the stars we can see in our neighborhood whether or not they're pulsating. If they are, we'll be able to study their pulsations to learn about what's happening beneath the surface."
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Researchers Use Augmented Reality, GIS Data to Enhance Trail Management
The Roanoke Times
Robby Korth
April 26, 2019
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) researchers have used augmented reality (AR), global information system (GIS) data, and three-dimensional (3D) printing to demonstrate how managers of the Appalachian Trail can improve their operations. Virginia Tech's Peter Sforza said the project aims to better protect trail resources, to help both tourism and the footpath's long-term maintenance. The team showcased a viewshed model within its Viscube construct, using a digital simulation of the path and surrounding landmarks generated via LiDAR data and 3D prints. Sforza said a study of the AR product's utility is the next step, with the hope it will prove useful in fieldwork.
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An Algorithm Wipes Clean the Criminal Pasts of Thousands
BBC News
David Lee
April 29, 2019
San Francisco judge Samuel K. Feng purged thousands of criminal records of cannabis-related convictions, thanks to an algorithm that identified more than 8,000 such records eligible for expungement. As mandated by California’s Proposition 64, which legalized marijuana, free "expungement clinics" let Californians with prior cannabis convictions apply to have their felony records deleted. Clear My Record, a tool developed by the nonprofit Code For America, analyzes text in court files using character recognition to translate scanned documents. The tool’s algorithm rejected any record involving a violent crime as non-qualifying, then automatically filled out the required documentation for the remaining records, which dated back to 1975. Said Code for America’s Evonne Silva, “It isn’t an algorithm doing something in isolation; it is actually very much a partnership with the government—the policy, the technology, and the process combined.”
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Could TypeScript Replace JavaScript? Use of Programming Language Spin-Off Soars
ZDNet
Liam Tung
April 29, 2019
In a recent survey of 33,000 developers from 156 countries who use npm, a popular Node.js JavaScript package manager traditionally used to build website features, 62% of respondents said they used Microsoft's TypeScript to build native mobile and desktop apps, up from 46% in last year's survey. The growing number of projects using TypeScript help explain why the language's trajectory is sustainable, according to analyst firm RedMonk. JavaScript and npm are increasingly being used to build native apps, as 97% of respondents are building apps that live in the browser, while 77% of developers are using it for server-side code. JavaScript developers also worry about the state of open-source code security after multiple incidents in which malicious code was discovered in popular software libraries.
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Europe Playing Catch-up With U.S. on Cloud Adoption, Research Suggests
ComputerWeekly.com
Caroline Donnelly
April 29, 2019
A report from O'Reilly Media found European companies are adopting cloud computing at a slower rate than businesses in other parts of the world, which the study attributed to persistent over-dependence on legacy infrastructure. A survey of 3,200 organizations, including 900 in Western Europe, found only 24% of that cohort defined themselves as "sophisticated cloud users" because they had employed cloud-based infrastructure in production for more than four years. Worldwide, the portion of respondents making the same assessment was 26%, suggesting Europe's cloud maturity lags that of other nations. Meanwhile, 44% of the 1,400 North American respondents to the study identified themselves as early cloud adopters, the same percentage seen in Western European respondents. One implication of the study was that cloud adoption often is an organization’s first step toward greater adoption of technological innovation.
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Drones, Supercomputers and Sonar Deployed Against Floods
The Denver Post
Adrian Sainz; Jeff Martin
April 28, 2019
Emerging technologies are now being used to flight floods in the U.S. Drones, supercomputers, and sonar that scans deep under water are helping to maintain flood control projects and predict where rivers will breach their banks. Together, these tools can assemble detailed information in real time, helping emergency managers and people at risk make decisions that can save lives and property. For example, the National Water Model, which is fueled by supercomputers in Virginia and Florida, assembles data from 5 million miles of rivers and streams nationwide. Separately, DSS-WISE—a Web-based system developed by researchers at the University of Mississippi—helped forecast the flooding after Hurricane Harvey in Texas and Louisiana in 2017. In addition, flood inspectors monitoring the Mississippi River use smartphones or tablets in the field to input data on water levels and the locations of inoperable flood gates into map-driven forms.
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