Welcome to the May 12, 2023, edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for IT professionals three times a week.
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ACM, CSTA Announce 2022-23 Cutler-Bell Student Recipients
ACM
May 10, 2023
ACM and the Computer Science Teachers Association recognized four U.S. high school students as recipients of the 2022-2023 Cutler-Bell Prize in High School Computing. The organizations chosen Okezue Bell from Bethlehem, PA's Moravian Academy for the "Fidutam" solution to provide financial accounts for unbanked populations by combining the user's selfie, name and personal data, and location into a private signature. Nathan Elias at Austin, TX's Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy was selected for his InvasiveAI service application, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) to detect, forecast, and visualize invasive species growth in agriculture. The MDiiN (Multi-Dimensional Interpretable Interaction Network) model earned Hannah Guan at Texas' BASIS San Antonio Shavano recognition; the model is an affordable solution for assessing health risk factors for seniors. Sirihaasa Nallamothu from Normal, IL's University High School was cited for developing an ML system that can predict vasovagal syncope in Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome patients.
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Robotics Tested at Rice Paddies with Eye on Full Automation
The Asahi Shimbun (Japan)
Yasuaki Oshika
May 10, 2023
Under a three-year agreement with the city government in Nobeoka, Japan, robot manufacturer Tmsuk Co. will roll out drones and robots to handle the sowing and harvesting of vacant rice paddies amid a farmer shortage. Tmsuk will oversee three rice paddies spanning 3,000 square meters (about three-quarters of an acre) and develop and test robotic technologies during the three-year trial period. A test held last month saw a drone scatter seeds over a 1,000-square-meter rice paddy in 10 minutes. Nobeoka Mayor Yoji Yomiyama said, "This method is revolutionary. It will dramatically reduce the burden on farmers."
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New Genome Map Tries to Capture All Human Genetic Variation
MIT Technology Review
Antonio Regalado
May 10, 2023
A team that included researchers from the University of California, Santa Cruz announced a new version of the human genome map, called a "pangenome," which merges the complete DNA of 47 diverse individuals to better account for the genetic diversity of the human species. The draft pangenome was developed using a sequencing machine from Pacific Biosciences that generates continuous readouts of 10,000 letters of DNA at once. The pangenome can show an individual's genome by connecting dots on a graph, each representing a DNA segment, with each person's DNA skipping some numbers and adding others to take a unique path.
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U.S. Focuses on Invigorating 'Chiplets' to Stay Cutting-Edge in Tech
The New York Times
Don Clark; Ana Swanson
May 11, 2023
To stay at the forefront of semiconductor technology, the U.S. has turned its attention to "chiplets," multiple smaller chips packaged tightly together to work like a single electronic brain. However, data from trade association IPC indicates the U.S. accounts for 12% of global semiconductor production and just 3% of chip packaging. Last year's CHIPS Act dedicated $52 billion in subsidies to bolster domestic chip manufacturing and help advanced packaging factories in the U.S. boost their market share. The U.S. Department of Commerce is accepting applications for manufacturing grants, including for chip packaging factories, and has earmarked funding for an advanced packaging research program. Meanwhile, $50 million in funding was announced in March as part of the Defense Production Act for U.S. and Canadian companies involved in advanced packaging and domestic circuit board production.
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Shared Irresponsibility
Ruhr-Universität Bochum Horst Görtz Institute for IT Security (Germany)
Julia Weiler
May 8, 2023
Ghassan Karame at Germany's Ruhr University Bochum found cryptocurrencies are susceptible to security breaches. Karame and collaborators have previously identified serious bugs that Bitcoin swiftly corrected, but other cryptocurrencies can be launched using bitcoin's freely available source code. The decentralized nature of cryptocurrency also complicates breach disclosure. Karame's team developed a tool to approximate the time of security updates for forked source code, based on an archive service that monitors all events on GitHub's public repositories. They calculated the timestamp of security patches and found modified bitcoin variants could take years to correct bugs. While Bitcoin fixed the vulnerability in just seven days, it took, for example, Litecoin 114 days, Dogecoin 185 days and Digibyte almost three years.
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Internet of Things: Fire Sleuth, Fire Starter
IEEE Spectrum
Charles Q. Choi
May 9, 2023
A study by researchers at Switzerland's University of Lausanne looked at whether Internet of Things (IoT) devices could provide useful evidence in arson investigations. In an experiment in a multiroom apartment with a fire involving spilled gasoline and diesel fuel, the researchers found IoT devices can show precisely when and where the fire started and the timeline of its spread. In a separate experiment in a single-room apartment, the researchers demonstrated IoT devices also could be used to help arsonists, in this case by remotely turning on an immersion heater placed in a box filled with Styrofoam. The researchers identified several data collection challenges, including the destruction of memory chips by fire, the lack of memory chips in some IoT gadgets, and read protections on their internal memory.
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Fashion Education Now Means Learning to Make Chic Outfits for Roblox Avatars
The Wall Street Journal
Sarah E. Needleman
May 9, 2023
Fashion design students increasingly are learning how to make digital clothing for avatars on Roblox and other metaverse platforms. The Parsons School of Design has partnered with Roblox to offer the "Collab: Roblox" avatar-design course, which teaches aspiring fashion designers to make trendy clothes for the platform's block-shaped avatars. Roblox already features digital versions of clothes from luxury brands like Gucci, Ralph Lauren, and Burberry. Said Parsons' Ben Barry, "We dress in the physical world, and we dress in the digital world. We are in a new era." The students are tasked with creating three bespoke avatar ensembles that eventually will be sold on Roblox.
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Centipede Robots with More Legs Better at Walking Over Bumps
New Scientist
Karmela Padavic-Callaghan
May 4, 2023
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) developed a range of multi-legged robots and found that those with more legs were better at navigating rough terrain than those with fewer legs. The robots were made of three-dimensionally printed body segments that featured two legs and multiple motors, with each robot having a total of six to 16 legs. The robots moved in a pre-programmed manner through an obstacle course comprised of stacks of small cubes. The researchers observed that robots with 14 and 16 legs traveled faster and had similar times in different trials.
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Jellybeans: A Sweet Solution for Overcrowded Circuitry in Quantum Computer Chips
UNSW Sydney Newsroom (Australia)
Lachlan Gilbert
May 11, 2023
Engineers at Australia's University of New South Wales, Sydney (UNSW Sydney) designed "jellybean" quantum dots to enhance quantum processing by physically spreading apart quantum bits (qubits) without breaking communication between them. Laboratory experiments showed elongating the space between qubit pairs in silicon leaves more room for wiring without disrupting their interaction. To create the jellybean, the engineers assembled chains of electrons by corralling more electrons in between the qubits. Only the electrons at each end of the structure participate in computations, while those within the jellybean dot keep them in communication. UNSW Sydney's Zeheng Wang explained only three to possibly 10 extra electrons are needed to make the jellybean heterogenous, while adding 15 or 20 electrons creates homogeneity and generates "your well-defined spin and quantum states that you can use to couple qubits to another."
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Wendy's Turns to AI-Powered Chatbots for Drive-Thru Orders
Bloomberg
Daniela Sirtori-Cortina; Rachel Metz
May 9, 2023
In June, Wendy's plans to test an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot’s ability to take drive-thru orders at a store near Columbus, OH. Powered by Google Cloud's AI software, the system purportedly can understand requests phrased differently from the menu and answer frequently asked questions. Wendy's said there are no plans to reduce labor in response to the chatbot’s deployment, but it will shift crew responsibilities to handle an increase in drive-thru and digital orders. During the pilot, staff will oversee the chatbot to ensure it can handle all requests and will be on hand to step in if customers insist on speaking with a human.
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Electron Dynamics in Real Time
University of Zurich (Switzerland)
May 9, 2023
Sandra Luber and colleagues at Switzerland's University of Zurich developed an algorithm that can visualize molecular electron movements as they are excited by laser pulses in real time. The researchers used the Piz Daint supercomputer to model the excited molecules' dynamics and were able to observe changes to the wave function of the electrons after the laser pulse, as well as the electrons' occupation of laser-induced higher energy levels. The algorithm runs 10 times faster than conventional spectra models while maintaining precision, according to the researchers. Luber said the model enables scientists to "see which type of function is important in which area of the atom or molecule," which "gives us a lot of additional information about the molecule's chemistry."
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Camera, Sensor, Drone Data Lights Up Disaster Response
GCN
Kaitlyn Levinson
May 10, 2023
A new network will use more than 1,000 wireless cameras and sensor arrays to provide public safety agencies in California with critical data to help them better organize emergency disaster response. University of California, San Diego officials said the network developed for the ALERTCalifornia public safety program will collect and process data to support natural disaster prevention, response, and mitigation strategies. They said the cameras deliver 24-hour monitoring with views up to 120 miles on clear nights, while some units can detect hotspots and flare-ups through smoke via infrared. LiDAR- and hyperspectral imaging-equipped drones and aircraft teams also collect data for ALERTCalifornia by tracking biomass and moisture in forests to understand wildfires, for example.
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When It Comes to Satellite Data, Sometimes More Is More
Stevens Institute of Technology
May 11, 2023
The New Observing Strategies Testbed (NOS-T) digital platform developed by Stevens Institute of Technology researchers allows numerous organizations to model information sharing between fleets of orbital devices and ground-based antennae to tackle earth science challenges. The institute's Paul Grogan explained, "NOS-T gives researchers a way to quickly prototype collaborative space research projects" while removing problems that might otherwise inhibit their development. The platform enables organizations to simulate their own satellites and data and to exchange limited volumes of sanctioned data without directly accessing sensitive information. The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Earth Science and Technology Office is scheduled to start using NOS-T to evaluate mission proposals next year; some mission designers already are using it to certify new research frameworks prior to applying for federal funds.
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