Welcome to the October 29, 2021 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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Robot Taxi Boats Take to the Water in Amsterdam
ZDNet
Charlie Osborne
October 27, 2021
An autonomous boat taxi created by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in The Netherlands is set for deployment in the canals of Amsterdam. The Roboat taxi is guided by a combination of LiDAR scans, digital map creation, object and obstacle detection, sensors, and cameras. Its engine’s propellers are ordered to follow specific paths and goal points based on GPS and continual scanning of the boat's environment. An object detection system is under constant review so when the system's algorithm flags something as "unknown," operators manually identify it. Additionally, the boat's cameras are able to scan QR codes to guide it to a docking station.
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A 3D Printing Frontier: Self-Powered Wearable Devices
University of Notre Dame News
Nina Welding
October 26, 2021
A new three-dimensional (3D) printing platform integrates functional and structural materials by melding multi-material aerosol jet and extrusion printing. University of Notre Dame (UND) and Purdue University researchers have 3D-printed a self-powered wearable device with this technology. The process incorporated stretchable piezoelectric sensors featuring integrated tellurium nanowire piezoelectric materials, silver nanowire electrodes, and silicone films. UND's Yanliang Zhang said the use of piezoelectric nanostructured materials eliminates the need for poling or sintering. The devices were attached to a person's wrist to detect hand gestures, and to their neck to pick up heartbeat. Zhang said the hybrid printing method "streamlines the processes, reducing the time and energy needed to fabricate a device, while ensuring the performance of printed devices."
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How to Map a Fly Brain in 20 Million Easy Steps
The New York Times
Emily Anthes
October 26, 2021
Scientists at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Janelia Research Campus and Google have been mapping the fruit fly brain connectome since 2014. The researchers initially segmented the fly's brain and imaged the slices using focused-ion beam scanning electron microscopy, then re-stitched the millions of images into a three-dimensional volume. Google researchers used machine learning algorithms to identify each individual neuron and trace its branches, then the Janelia team pinpointed the synapses and vetted and refined the connectivity diagrams. Analysis enabled the researchers to identify many new neuron types and locate synapses that appear to help the insect navigate. The freely available online connectome includes roughly 25,000 neurons and 20 million synapses. Rockefeller University's Cori Bargmann called the project "a tremendous step toward the goal of working out the connectivity of the brain."
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Australia Considers New Privacy Rules to Protect Children on Social Media
The Wall Street Journal
Mike Cherney
October 25, 2021
The Australian government has released draft legislation that would enable the creation of a binding online privacy code for tech companies that would prohibit social media companies like Facebook from directing children to harmful content. Under such a code, social media companies would be required to ensure children's best interests are the primary consideration during the collection, use, and potential disclosure of their personal information. It also would require social media platforms to obtain parental approval to create accounts for children under 16. The legislation is expected to be introduced in Australia's parliament early next year, and if passed, Australia's privacy regulator would oversee the development of a code within 12 months, with input from the tech industry. Companies found to violate the code could be fined 10% of their annual Australian revenue.
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Chinese Scientists Develop Quantum Computer with 113 Detected Photons
China Daily
October 26, 2021
Chinese scientists have developed a quantum computer prototype with 113 detected photons to solve tasks using the classical Gaussian boson sampling (GBS) modeling algorithm. The researchers said the Jiuzhang 2.0 system can facilitate large-scale GBS septillion times faster than the fastest existing supercomputer and 10 billion times faster than its 76-photon Jiuzhang predecessor. The researchers were inspired by the Laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) concept to develop a stimulated squeezed light source with high brightness and concurrent near-unity purity and efficiency for scalable GBS. They said Jiuzhang 2.0 could potentially be applied in domains like graph theory, machine learning, and quantum chemistry.
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ML Reveals Brain Networks Involved in Child Aggression
YaleNews
October 26, 2021
Yale University researchers used machine learning (ML) to expose brain connectivity disruptions in children exhibiting aggression. The researchers compiled functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from subjects observing images of faces making calm or fearful expressions; neural connections identified using ML helped to differentiate children with and without aggressive-behavior histories. The researchers found brain-network patterns associated with social and emotional processes could anticipate aggression, as confirmed in a separate dataset. Abnormal connectivity to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex consistently predicted aggression when tested in subgroups of children demonstrating aggressive behaviors and disorders like anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and autism. Yale's Karim Ibrahim suggested this "may represent a neural marker of aggression that can be leveraged in clinical studies."
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AI Can Turn Collection of 2D Images into Explorable 3D World
New Scientist
Chris Stokel-Walker
October 25, 2021
A neural network developed by researchers at Germany's University of Erlangen-Nuremberg can convert standard two-dimensional images into explorable three-dimensional (3D) worlds. Using still images and a rough 3D model of a scene created using COLMAP, an off-the-shelf software product, the neural network can determine what the scene would look like from any angle. The smoothest examples of 3D worlds were created using 300 to 350 images of a scene taken from different angles. Said Erlangen-Nuremberg’s Darius Rückert, "The more images you have, the better the quality. The model cannot create stuff it hasn't seen." Abound Labs' Tim Field said the system is "proof that automated photorealism is possible."
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Smart Bandage Can Monitor Chronic Wounds
News-Medical Life Sciences
Emily Henderson
October 21, 2021
A wearable sensor developed by scientists at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore General Hospital can assess and remotely monitor chronic wounds wirelessly and in real time. The VeCare wound assessment platform, which includes an immunosensing bandage, an electronic processor, and a mobile application, can read temperature, pH, bacteria type, and inflammatory factors within 15 minutes. The bandage can rapidly evaluate wound microenvironment, inflammation, and infection state by detecting multiple biomarkers from wound fluid via an electrochemical system. An attached microfluidic collector boosts wound fluid delivery to the sensor by up to 180%, and the processor sends data to the app for real-time wound assessment and analysis onsite.
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Gitai Successfully Demos Autonomous Robot Inside the International Space Station
TechCrunch
Aria Alamalhodaei
October 27, 2021
Startup Gitai Japan successfully demonstrated its autonomous robotic arm inside the International Space Station by using it to operate cables and switches and assemble structures and panels. The demonstration raised what the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) calls the “technology readiness level” (TRL) of the Gitai robot to TRL 7; hitting all nine TRLs is critical for commercialization of the technology. NASA said, “The success of this investigation proves that the Gitai robot can be a solution for space agencies and commercial space companies looking for versatile, dexterous, relatively safe (less exposure to life threatening risks for humans) and inexpensive labor force."
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Using Game Technology to Help Adolescents on the Autism Spectrum
Penn State News
Kristie Auman-Bauer
October 26, 2021
Researchers at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) have come up with a targeted intervention that uses game technology to help adolescents on the autism spectrum better interpret eye gaze cues. In a study, adolescents on the autism spectrum were randomized into a standard care control group or a treatment group that played the Social Games for Autistic Adolescents (SAGA) intervention for 30 minutes, three times weekly for 10 weeks. The game has participants move through a narrative storyline and interact with animated characters using nonverbal social cues. Penn State's Jason Griffin said, "Participants who experienced a sufficient dose of gameplay showed larger treatment-related improvements, such as the ability to perceive and interpret eye gaze cues from other people."
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Behold, the Worm Blob and Its Computerized Twin
The New York Times
Sabrina Imbler
October 25, 2021
A multi-institutional team of scientists devised a computer model for the study of worm blob dynamics. Certain worms entangle themselves into blobs to collectively evade predators or stressors like heat and light. The University of Colorado Boulder (CU)'s Chantal Nguyen programmed a model of individual and blobbed California blackworms, adding an attachment force that spurred the simulated worms to cohere into a two-dimensional blob. When early prototypes proved uncooperative, Nguyen tuned the worms' stickiness and the strength of their individual propulsion until finding an optimum point where the blob could move as one. CU's Orit Peleg said the model demonstrates that "there isn't this clear-cut divide" between living and nonliving materials, adding that she and her colleagues hope it might inspire entangled robots made from flexible materials.
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How Does 'Normal' Internet Browsing Look Today? Now We Know
Carnegie Mellon University CyLab Security and Privacy Institute
October 26, 2021
A study by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) aimed to determine what constitutes "normal" Internet browsing, in an effort to understand how people are led to download malicious content. The researchers set out to build a dataset that would serve as a foundation for other researchers by studying the browsing behavior of 257 people through CMU's Security Behavior Observatory. The researchers found that study subjects spent half their browsing time on about 30 Websites. Said CMU's Kyle Crichton, "We observed a lot of people who started out at a popular streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, and they must not have found what they wanted, then they'd jump out to the periphery." Crichton added, "Now that we know what normal behavior looks like, we can start to identify anomalous behavior and begin to address any number of security challenges."
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