Welcome to the January 20, 2023, edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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ACM Names 57 Fellows for Contributions That Propel Technology
ACM
January 18, 2023
ACM has named 57 of its members Fellows for their exceptional contributions to fields as diverse as cybersecurity, human-computer interaction, mobile computing, and recommender systems, which enable modern computing technologies. The 2022 Fellows represent universities, corporations, and research facilities in Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S. Said ACM president Yannis Ioannidis, "Computing's most important advances are often the result of a collection of many individual contributions, which build upon and complement each other. but each individual contribution is an essential link in the chain." Ioannidis added, "We also hope that learning about these leaders might inspire our wider membership with insights for their own work."
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How Scientists Trained Computers to Forecast COVID-19 Outbreaks
The Los Angeles Times
Melissa Healy
January 19, 2023
A team of researchers led by Northeastern University's Mauricio Santillana has built a machine learning system that can absorb and interpret data to predict COVID-19 outbreaks weeks in advance. The researchers compiled the data from hundreds of local and global information streams, including time-stamped Internet searches for coronavirus symptoms; geolocated tweets featuring terms such as "corona," "pandemic," or "panic buying;" aggregated location data from smartphones indicating travel trends, and declining online requests for directions, indicating fewer people were going out. Checking the resulting prediction against historical data and updating it appropriately yielded the beginnings of a system for forecasting disease outbreaks. Testing against real-world data showed the system could forecast local viral surges as far as six weeks ahead.
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TAU Robot Can 'Smell' Odors Using Biological Sensor
The Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
January 17, 2023
Scientists at Israel's Tel Aviv University (TAU) have created a biological sensor to help robots detect and interpret odors. TAU's Yossi Yovel said the researchers mated the sensor to an electronic system and had it smell different odors while measuring electrical activity induced by each scent. Said Yovel, "The system allowed us to detect each odor at the level of [an] insect's primary sensory organ. Then, in the second step, we used machine learning to create a 'library' of smells." The algorithm can identify smells with 10,000 times greater sensitivity than a standard electronic device.
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Researchers Analyze Walking Patterns Using 3D Technology in Community Settings
UC Davis Health
Nadine A. Yehya
January 18, 2023
University of California, Davis Health (UC Davis Health) researchers found that markerless motion capture (MLMC) technology can be used in a community setting to perform a three-dimensional movement analysis of an individual's walking pattern to identify impairments related to neurological conditions. Unlike traditional gait studies performed in motion analysis labs, MLMC does not require patients to wear reflective body markers. The study used MLMC to analyze the movements of 166 participants in six community locations. Eight video cameras recorded them initially walking normally and then as quickly as possible, with the system measuring cadence, speed, step length, stride length, stride width, step time, and stride time. Said UC Davis Health's Carolynn Patten, "3D gait analysis provides a robust and sensitive digital biomarker.”
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3D-Printed Fish-Gutting Machine Contains Secret of a Less-Globalized Economy
The Wall Street Journal
Christopher Mims
January 14, 2023
Icelandic manufacturer Curio three-dimensionally (3D)-prints stainless steel parts for fish-processing machinery using printers from U.S.-based Desktop Metals. Curio's Ellioi Hreinsson envisions 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, as spurring a domestic "reshoring" of manufacturing and the industries it facilitates so fabrication no longer needs to be executed abroad. Such additive manufacturing technologies could potentially revamp global supply chains. Companies leading the way include Ohio-based Humtown Additive, which makes vehicle parts using 3D printers from Desktop Metals subsidiary ExOne. Companies can apply additive manufacturing to eliminate some of their spare-parts inventory, and to bypass supply-chain bottlenecks, factory closures, and tariffs.
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Gentle Drone Collects Loose DNA from Swaying Tree Branches
TechCrunch
Devin Coldewey
January 18, 2023
Roboticists at ETH Zurich in Switzerland have designed an aerial drone that collects "loose" DNA left behind by organisms on swaying tree branches. The wood-plastic drone can snag DNA samples using strips of adhesive tape or "humidified cotton" on its lower surfaces. A controller guides the drone to branches, where it hovers above and tracks any branch movement, synchronizing its approach. The device then makes gentle contact to transfer external DNA samples to the strips by essentially leaning on the tree. The researchers used the drone to identify dozens of plant, animal, and microorganism species during initial flights in an arboretum.
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ComEd Report Shows Science, Supercomputers Help Utilities Adapt to Climate Change
Argonne National Laboratory
January 13, 2023
Researchers at electric utility ComEd and the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory modeled how climate change may impact northern Illinois and how utilities can adapt. The researchers analyzed data on temperatures, heat indices, and average wind for historical (1995-2004) and forecast (2045-2054) periods to assess future regional climate effects on ComEd's energy demand. This yielded a map showing other areas of the U.S. where current climate resembles northern Illinois' projected future weather. Argonne's Jordan Branham said the study predicts average temperatures will exceed 93 or 94 degrees Fahrenheit more frequently in the forecast period, adding that higher nighttime temperatures could prompt greater air conditioner use, putting greater strain on the grid.
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How the Netherlands Is Taming Big Tech
The New York Times
Natasha Singer
January 19, 2023
In the Netherlands, government and educational institutions have pushed big tech companies to make significant privacy changes using a carrot-and-stick approach that involves negotiating their compliance with European data privacy standards. After the Dutch Data Protection Authority said schools would have to discontinue use of Google's education apps if privacy risks were not addressed, Google responded with new privacy measures and transparency tools that will be rolled out in the Netherlands and elsewhere later this year. Zoom also announced substantial changes to its data protection practices and policies after talks with a Dutch cooperative, SURF, that negotiates tech vendor contracts on behalf of the nation's universities and research institutions. Now other nations are looking to the Dutch approach as they seek to regulate big tech.
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Research Team Develops App for Precise Brain Mapping
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University (Canada)
Prabhjot Sohal
January 12, 2023
Researchers at Canada's Western University developed an app that uses artificial intelligence to map hard-to-reach areas of the hippocampus, the part of the brain associated with memories and often the first affected by neurodegenerative disorders. The open-source app, HippUnfold, could be used to achieve earlier diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy, Alzheimer's, major depressive disorder, and other conditions. Western's Ali Khan said, "It has been challenging to detect subtle abnormalities in the hippocampus with imaging because it is small and folded in layers. With this tool, researchers and clinicians can extract a wide range of accurate and precise measurements of the hippocampus using magnetic resonance images (MRI).” Khan said the new tool “has a wide range of applications with a potential for a significant clinical impact."
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App Identifies Nutrient Deficiencies
IEEE Spectrum
Joanna Goodrich
January 17, 2023
A mobile app developed by New Jersey high school student Rian Tiwari allows pregnant women to scan their fingernails to determine whether they have nutrient deficiencies. The app uses artificial intelligence to identify signs of nutrient deficiency and recommend dietary and lifestyle changes to treat it. The algorithms developed by Tiwari classify images of nails as healthy or unhealthy based their appearance, looking for cracks, ridges, peeling, and discoloration. Tiwari is working to improve the app to identify nutrient deficiencies based on images of lips and the inner eyelids, and to recommend medications and vitamin supplements.
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Researchers Produce Toolkit for RNA Sequencing Analysis Using a 'Pantranscriptome'
UC Santa Cruz
Emily Cerf
January 17, 2023
A method for analyzing RNA sequencing data genome-wide developed by researchers at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) to address reference bias and improve mapping accuracy employs a "pantranscriptome" (a combination of a transcriptome and a pangenome), which contains genetic material from a cohort of diverse individuals, rather than using a single linear strand. The new method enables researchers to map where the spliced segments of an individual's RNA align on a pangenome reference, determine the haplotype to which the data belongs, and analyze gene expression. The open-source toolkit is available on Github.
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Mathematical Trick Lets Hackers Shame People into Fixing Software Bugs
New Scientist
Matthew Sparkes
January 17, 2023
Researchers at the Galois software company have developed a zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) method of using math to verify vulnerabilities in a particular software program, without releasing details of how an exploit works. The idea is to generate public pressure to force a company to release a fix while preventing hackers from exploiting the flaw. Said Galois' Santiago Cuéllar, "There are a lot of frustrated people trying to disclose vulnerabilities, or saying ‘I found this vulnerability, I’m talking to this company and they’re doing nothing’." However, bug bounty hunter Rotem Bar is concerned that ZKPs could generate a "ransom effect" that gives power to the attacker.
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Can You Trust Your Quantum Simulator?
MIT News
Jennifer Chu
January 18, 2023
Physicists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technology have identified a randomness in the quantum fluctuations of atoms that follows a predictable pattern and developed a benchmarking protocol to assess the fidelity of existing quantum analog simulators based on their quantum fluctuation patterns. The researchers tested this on a quantum analog simulator containing 25 atoms by exciting the atoms with a laser, letting the qubits interact and evolve naturally, and collecting 10,000 measurements on the state of each qubit during multiple runs. They developed a model to predict the random fluctuations and compared the predicted outcomes with experimental measurements, which yielded a close match. MIT's Soonwon Choi said, "With our tool, people can know whether they are working with a trustable system."
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