Welcome to the January 6, 2023, edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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Programming Languages: Why This Old Favorite Is on the Rise Again
ZDNet
Liam Tung
January 6, 2023
Software-testing firm Tiobe has selected C++ as its programming language of 2022. Reported Tiobe use rose faster than all other languages last year, up by 4.26% compared with January 2022, yet in this year's first monthly index, it was ranked at No. 3. C++ rose in popularity faster than other languages last year, a result of "its excellent performance while being a high-level object-oriented language," according to Tiobe CEO Paul Jensen. Added Jensen, "Because of this, it is possible to develop fast and vast software systems (over millions of lines of code) in C++ without necessarily ending up in a maintenance nightmare."
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Chinese Researchers Claim to Break Encryption Using Quantum Computers
Financial Times
Richard Waters
January 4, 2023
Scientists in China are claiming they have found a way for current-generation quantum computers to crack the RSA algorithm underlying the most common form of online encryption. The researchers said the encryption could be broken with a 372-quantum-bit (qubit) system using hybrid quantum-classical methods to overcome scaling limitations . They said their algorithm factored a number with 48 bits on a quantum system with 10 qubits. However, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Peter Shor pointed out that the team had "failed to address how fast the algorithm will run," as it could "still take millions of years."
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Simulating Discrimination in VR
MIT News
Alex Shipps
January 5, 2023
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have created a virtual reality role-playing game (VR RPG) that simulates in-group/out-group discrimination and allows players to take differing perspectives. The "On the Plane" VR RPG depicts xenophobia focused on a Malaysian American woman on an airplane; players can portray passengers from different backgrounds and converse with others while making in-game choices. The game's interactive narrative engine establishes options for responses to in-game interactions based on a model of people's social categorization, enabling players to change their affinity toward other characters. MIT's Caglar Yildirim said the game "engages players in critical reflection and seeks to foster empathy for the passenger who was 'othered' due to her outfit being not so 'prototypical' of what an American should look like."
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FCC Proposes Additional Spectrum for Drone Communications
Reuters
David Shepardson
January 4, 2023
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed new rules to free up licensed radio spectrum in the 5 gigahertz (GHz) band for use by aerial drones. Such drones (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs) operate presently under unlicensed and low-power wireless communications rules or experimental licenses. The FCC said because most drones are piloted remotely, they depend "critically on wireless communications between a ground-based control station and the [drone] to control the flight." The agency also noted drone operators "have a growing need for the greater reliability that interference-protected licensed spectrum provides," especially since drone flights "increasingly involve operations with a higher risk profile."
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Terahertz Wireless Link Could Bridge Digital Divide
News@Northeastern
Cody Mello-Klein
January 3, 2023
Northeastern University's Josep Jornet and colleagues at the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the U.S. Air Force (USAF), and Amazon have proved the viability of long-distance terahertz wireless communication. The researchers set up a 2-kilometer (1.24-mile) link and fed information directly into the signal source; Jornet said pre-distorting the signal before feeding it to the source ensured it would come through clean. The team established the terahertz link at a USAF base in Rome, NY, and was able to send and retrieve the information without error. Jornet said the system reached frequencies and bandwidths that overtook 5G networks by more than "two orders of magnitude."
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Self-Driving Stroller Aims to Reduce Parents' Stress, for £2,700
The Guardian (U.K.)
Samuel Gibbs
January 4, 2023
At the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2023), Canadian startup Glüxkind showcased its Ella self-driving stroller, which will retail for £2,700 ($3,300). The motorized stroller uses artificial intelligence to detect and avoid obstacles, and can drive itself when empty. The Ella's handle features sensors to guarantee it is being gripped at all times when it is carrying an infant, in compliance with safety regulations. Cameras on the stroller’s frame track moving and stationary objects in real time, alerting parents to potential collisions through sounds and flashing lights. A smartphone application can locate the stroller if it is lost, and it can automatically sway on its wheels to rock its passenger to sleep.
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'Semi-Sub' Shows Spy Potential of Sailing at Waterline
WSU Insider
Sara Zaske
January 4, 2023
An unmanned semi-submersible vehicle developed at Washington State University (WSU) showed the merits of moving at the waterline to travel efficiently and undetected. A 1.5-foot-long prototype built with off-the-shelf and three-dimensionally printed parts tested in the Snake River's Wawawai Bay in Washington state reached a top speed of 3.4 miles per hour (at higher speeds, it rises above the water, creating more of a wake and expending more energy). The researchers outfitted the semi-sub with sonar and mapped the bottom of a local reservoir to test its ability to collect and transmit data. While not completely autonomous, it can be pre-programmed to behave in certain ways, such as running a certain route by itself or responding to particular objects by pursuing them or running away.
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Hong Kong Startup Using 3D-Printed Tiles to Help Restore Coral Reefs
CBS News
Ramy Inocensio
January 2, 2023
Hong Kong eco-engineering startup Archireef aims to help restore coral reefs depleted by industrial pollution using three-dimensionally (3D)-printed terracotta tiles. The University of Hong Kong's David Baker and colleagues installed the non-toxic, biodegradable terracotta tiles on the bottom of a protected bay and seeded them with coral; 95% survived in the past two years. Archireef has expanded to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, where a new industrial 3D printer is set up. Said the startup's Vriko Yu, "We can assist migration to help these corals move in deeper waters."
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AF2Complex 'Computational Microscope' Predicts Protein Interactions, Potential Paths to Antibiotics
Georgia Tech Research
Audra Davidson
January 3, 2023
Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) researchers have developed the AlphaFold 2 Complex (AF2Complex) tool to predict the physical interactions of proteins. Based on DeepMind's AlphaFold 2 tool for predicting three-dimensional protein structures, AF2Complex can calculate which proteins are likely to form functional complexes. Georgia Tech's Jeffrey Skolnick compared it to "using a computational microscope powered by deep learning and supercomputing." The researchers used AF2Complex to examine a complex protein synthesis and transport pathway, in order to expose how proteins in the pathway interact to transport a newly synthesized protein from the inner to the outer membrane of the bacteria, identifying otherwise overlooked factors.
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New York City Schools Ban ChatGPT Amid Cheating Worries
CNet
Dan Avery
January 4, 2023
The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) said it has banned access to the ChatGPT chatbot on its online devices and networks due to concerns about "negative impacts on student learning and [the] accuracy of content." Said NYCDOE's Jenna Lyle, "While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions, it does not build critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, which are essential for academic and lifelong success." Students and faculty may link to ChatGPT on devices not connected to the school system. Lyle also said individuals interested in studying the chatbot's underlying technology can access it on request.
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Study Maps DNA Markers in Cells to Speed Up Cancer Diagnoses
The Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
January 5, 2023
Researchers at Israel's Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HU), Jerusalem's Hadassah-University Medical Center, and San Francisco-based biotechnology company GRAIL mapped out DNA markers in human cells, including genomic sites governing gene activation/deactivation. HU's Tommy Kaplan said the team "developed algorithms and computational tools for representing and analyzing huge amounts of sequenced DNA data and identified thousands of genomic regions that are uniquely methylated in specific cell types in our body.” Kaplan said those regions “allow us to identify and quantify DNA from specific cell types in an unprecedented precision, and will help determine the proportions of each cell type in composite samples."
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Epidemic Modeling Approach Could Speed Pandemic Simulations
Santa Fe Institute
January 4, 2023
A new epidemic modeling approach developed by Santa Fe Institute researchers Alexander Mercier, Samuel Scarpino and Cristopher Moore could significantly accelerate pandemic simulations. The researchers used a sparsification technique to identify the most critical network links for disease proliferation. They employed data from the U.S. Census Bureau to design a mobility network describing nationwide commuting patterns and determined the effective resistance sparsification method to be optimal for reducing network density while maintaining overall disease-spread dynamics. The resulting network contained 25 million fewer edges, or roughly 7% of the original U.S. commuting network, which reduced computation time for modeling epidemics by more than 90%.
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Arizona Citizen Scientists Improve Water Quality Data
Government Technology
Stephen Goldsmith
January 1, 2023
The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ)'s Meghan Smart launched the ADEQ AZ Water Watch program to improve access to water quality data by recruiting citizens to collect samples, information, and photos from streams and lakes across the state. A free smartphone application directly connects volunteers with the data gaps Smart needs to fill and the issues she needs to track. Volunteers upload their findings into the cloud-based Survey123 tool using the app, answering yes/no questions about a nearby body of water. Smart and colleagues assess the data's integrity and quality to determine whether further action is required. Smart said if volunteers "can notify us when these streams are flowing or not flowing, that really helps us understand the flow regime to target water quality samples in the future."
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