Welcome to the July 8, 2024 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• U.S. Provides $504 Million to Support Technology Hubs Nationwide
• Intel CPUs Face Spectre-Like 'Indirector' Attack
• Tech Industry Wants to Lock Up Nuclear Power for AI
• Japan Wins ‘War’ on Floppy Disks
• 3D Food Printing Tech Creates Edible QR Codes
• Will Ray Kurzweil Merge with AI?
• Australia Spy Agency Moves Intelligence Data to Cloud
• Japan Introduces Enormous Humanoid Robot to Maintain Train Lines
• Paleontologists Tag, Track Dinosaur Bones with RFID
• Tiny Chip Could Secure Quantum Wi-Fi
• Robot Dog Assists the Blind
• GPS Is Under Attack

U.S. Provides $504 Million to Support Technology Hubs Nationwide

The Biden administration announced on July 2 that 12 technology hubs nationwide will receive implementation grants totaling $504 million to foster developments in quantum computing, computer chips, and other technologies. The administration is trying to encourage more technological innovation across the country. Said Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo (pictured), "We’re leaving so much potential on the table if we don’t give them the resources to compete and win in the tech sectors that will define the 21st century global economy."
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Intel CPUs Face Spectre-Like 'Indirector' Attack

University of California San Diego researchers demonstrated a technique that can deploy Spectre-like side channel attacks on high-end Intel CPUs by exploiting a speculative execution feature to redirect a program's control flow. The technique, called Indirector, could dupe the CPU into incorrectly altering the order in which individual instructions and function calls are executed and allow attackers to access sensitive data.
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Tech Industry Wants to Lock Up Nuclear Power for AI

Big tech companies are pursuing deals with the owners of U.S. nuclear power plants to power their datacenters. Amazon Web Services, for example, is working with Constellation Energy to obtain electricity directly from an East Coast nuclear power plant. Big tech companies are willing to pay a premium to obtain power directly from a power plant because it reduces the time frame for building datacenters by eliminating the need for new grid infrastructure.
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Japan Wins ‘War’ on Floppy Disks

Two years after declaring war on the continued use of floppy disks in government operations, Japan's Digital Minister Taro Kono (pictured) has announced victory. Kono said in 2022 that the Japanese government still required floppies and CDs for some 1,900 procedures, vowing to eliminate their use. “We have won the war on floppy disks on June 28!” he said last week.
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3D Food Printing Tech Creates Edible QR Codes

A 3D food printer developed by Singapore University of Technology and Design researchers allows for customized dishes based on dietary requirements, textures, and aesthetics. The 3D food printer also allows for the production of edible QR codes, opening the door to interactive food experiences. To address concerns about food sustainability, the researchers adjusted the printing parameters to allow for the integration of unconventional food sources, including soybean dregs, orange peels, and insect protein.
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Will Ray Kurzweil Merge with AI?

ACM Fellow Ray Kurzweil believes "the Singularity," when people merge with AI, will arrive by 2045, citing the rate of growth of computer power. Kurzweil, who received ACM's Grace Murray Hopper Award in 1978 for developing a device that reads text to the blind, wants to experience the Singularity but acknowledges that, at 76, he may not live to see it. Said ACM A.M. Turing Award laureate Geoffrey Hinton, "His prediction no longer looks so silly. Things are happening much faster than I expected."
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Australia Spy Agency Moves Intelligence Data to Cloud

In a deal with Amazon Web Services, the Australian Defense Force will move its top secret intelligence data to the cloud to increase interoperability with the U.S. Rachel Noble, director general of the Australian Signals Directorate, added that top secret datacenters will be built in Australia as the national security agency ramps up AI use to analyze data.
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Japan Introduces Enormous Humanoid Robot to Maintain Train Lines

West Japan Railway has deployed a truck-mounted humanoid robot to handle maintenance tasks and address labor shortages as Japan’s population ages. The machine has a vertical reach of 40 feet (12 meters) and can carry up to 88 pounds (40 kilograms), hold a paint brush, or use a chainsaw. It is remotely operated by a human stationed in the truck’s cockpit who "sees" using the robot's camera "eyes."
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Paleontologists Tag, Track Dinosaur Bones with RFID

Paleontologists with the nonprofit Earth Sciences Foundation are using radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and geographical information system (GIS) software at a dig site in South Dakota to catalog and track fossils. They leveraged technology from InfraMarker and GIS provider Esri to tag hundreds of bones. Earth Sciences Foundation's Tom Hebert said the paleontologists spend five minutes or less recording specimens they uncover with RFID technology.
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Tiny Chip Could Secure Quantum Wi-Fi

A quantum phase array (QPA) developed by California Institute of Technology researchers could allow secure quantum Wi-Fi communication in any location. The QPA contains more than 1,000 electronic components arranged on a 1.8 mm by 3 mm silicon-based chip. The system on a chip features 32 antennas that can transmit and receive quantum signals moving through free space, and it can operate at room temperature.
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Robot Dog Assists the Blind

A six-legged robotic guide dog developed by researchers at China's Jiao Tong University (JTU) can navigate using cameras and sensors. It uses AI to recognize voices, communicate with the user, plan routes, and identify traffic lights. JTU's Gao Feng said there could be a big market for robot guide dogs in China, where there are almost 20 million blind individuals but only slightly more than 400 guide dogs.
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GPS Is Under Attack

Attacks on the Global Positioning System (GPS) are being perpetrated worldwide, daily. GPS jamming is common in the airspace near conflict zones. The U.S. has lagged behind other countries in replacing aging GPS satellites and developing backup plans. The European Galileo system authenticates its signals, and China is developing timing stations and laying fiber-optic cables to eliminate the need for satellites to provide navigation.
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