Welcome to the May 16, 2025 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

HEADLINES AT A GLANCE

• EU Security Bug Database Fully Operational
• Dongarra Supports Traditional HPC
• China Restricts Children’s Use of AI in Schools
• Paul A. Strassmann, Resistance Fighter Turned Computer Guru, Dies at 96
• 'Significant Momentum' for CS Curriculum
• Researchers Discover New Security Vulnerability in Intel Processors
• DeepMind Unveils General-Purpose Science AI
• Spain Investigates Cyber Weaknesses in Blackout Probe
• China Makes High-Speed Laser Links in Orbit
• Student's Robot Obliterates 4x4 Rubik's Cube World Record
• Attack Steals Cryptocurrency by Planting False Memories in Chatbots
• Preparing Science Educators to Use, Teach AI

EU Security Bug Database Fully Operational

The European Union Agency for Cybersecurity has rolled out the European Vulnerability Database (EUVD). Updated in real time and now fully operational, the database identifies disclosed bugs with their U.S. Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE)-assigned IDs and EUVD identifiers, details their criticality and exploitation status, and provides links to available advisories and patches.
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Dongarra Supports Traditional HPC

In an opinion piece in The Conversation, ACM A.M. Turing Award laureate Jack Dongarra penned an opinion piece that takes a stand for traditional high-performance computing (HPC), opining that AI's reliance on HPC necessitates greater focus from the U.S. government. "U.S. national strategy should include funding new machines and training for people to use them," he wrote. "It would also include partnerships with universities, national labs and private companies. Most importantly, the plan would focus not just on hardware but also on the software and algorithms that make high-performance computing useful."
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China Restricts Children’s Use of AI in Schools

China is restricting the extent to which children can use generative AI in primary and secondary schools, according to local reports. Primary school students are prohibited from using unrestricted generative AI tools on their own, although an instructor may use the tech to assist with teaching, according to the local government report. Middle schoolers are permitted to explore how generative AI reasons and analyzes information, while high schoolers can use the tech more broadly.
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Paul A. Strassmann, Resistance Fighter Turned Computer Guru, Dies at 96

ACM Distinguished Member Paul A. Strassmann passed away on April 4 at the age of 96. A World War II resistance fighter and Holocaust survivor, Strassmann moved to the U.S. in 1948. Learning how to use a mainframe computer while studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he focused his knowledge on determining how computers can solve business problems and boost efficiencies.
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'Significant Momentum' for CS Curriculum

According to a report from the Code.org Advocacy Coalition, a dozen states now require high school students to take at least one computer science (CS) course to graduate. Thirty-two states require that at least one CS course be offered in high school, and 17 states have imposed course requirements for middle and elementary school students. Said Computer Science Teachers Association executive director Jake Baskin, "As generative AI and other technologies rapidly transform our world, every student needs the foundational knowledge to use these tools effectively."
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Researchers Discover New Security Vulnerability in Intel Processors

A new class of vulnerabilities in all Intel processors identified by computer scientists at Switzerland's ETH Zurich can be exploited to misuse the central processing unit's (CPU) prediction calculations to gain access to information from other users of the same CPU. The vulnerabilities enable the incorrect assignment of privileges during the few nanoseconds when the CPU switches between prediction calculations for two users with different permissions. ETH Zurich's Sandro Rüegge said quickly repeating the attack can result in a more than 5,000-bytes-per-second readout speed, allowing attackers to read the entire memory over time.
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DeepMind Unveils General-Purpose Science AI

Google DeepMind unveiled a general-purpose AI that can solve computer science and mathematics problems. Based on Google's Gemini family of large language models (LLMs), researchers have used the AlphaEvolve AI to solve open math problems, improve the design of Google's next generation of tensor processing units, and determine how to make full use of the company's global computing capacity.
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Spain Investigates Cyber Weaknesses in Blackout Probe

Spain's National Cybersecurity Institute is requesting information from small electricity generators in that nation regarding their cyber defenses as it investigates an April blackout, during which the country lost 15 gigawatts of electricity, or 60% of its supply, in just five seconds. The root cause of the blackout has not been determined, and the government has not ruled out a cyberattack. The government, which said last week that Spain suffered 100,000 cyberattacks across all sectors last year, announced a €1.1-billion (US$1.23-billion) investment to reinforce cybersecurity.
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China Makes High-Speed Laser Links in Orbit

Chinese aerospace firm Laser Starcom said its low Earth orbit satellites Guangchuan 01 and 02 had achieved a 400-gigabit-per-second communications link over a span of 640 kilometers. Laser Starcom said the test established a crosslink communication system capable of supporting future high-bandwidth space networks.
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Student's Robot Obliterates 4x4 Rubik's Cube World Record

Matthew Pidden, a computer science student at the U.K.'s University of Bristol, developed a robot that solved a four-by-four Rubik's cube in 45.305 seconds, beating the previous world record for a robot of one minute and 18 seconds. The Revenger robot scans the cube using dual webcams and is equipped with an algorithm that produces efficient solutions.
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Attack Steals Cryptocurrency by Planting False Memories in Chatbots

A "context manipulation" exploit developed by Princeton University researchers leverages prompt injection attacks against the open source framework ElizaOS to steal cryptocurrency. ElizaOS uses large language models to undertake blockchain-based transactions for users based on predefined rules. The attacks depend on a feature of ElizaOS in which past conversations are stored in an external database, which allows anyone authorized to transact with an agent to create a false memory that triggers an override of security defenses.
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Preparing Science Educators to Use, Teach AI

University of Florida's Bruce MacFadden led an interdisciplinary research team that developed a free, optional online curriculum that uses the science of paleontology to introduce Florida middle schooler students to AI. The curriculum, Shark AI, uses fossil shark teeth to explain data collection and object classification, teaches students how train and evaluate machine earning models, and helps them develop unique AI models.
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