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10 Bits: The Data News Hotlist

by Morgan Stevens

This week’s list of data news highlights covers October 23, 2021 to October 29, 2021 and includes articles on developing an AI system to communicate with whales and launching the fastest quantum computer in the world.

1. Playing Ancient Board Games

Researchers at Maastricht University in the Netherlands have developed an AI system that can decipher rules for board games played by ancient civilizations. The team trained the system on elements of play, such as player movements or the number of pieces, and historical research. They input rule hypotheses on ancient games into the system which simulated thousands of rounds of play to evaluate potential rules.

2. Improving Quantum Computing

Researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China have announced they have created a 66-qubit quantum computer. The computer is reportedly 10 million times faster than the current fastest supercomputer and has a calculation complexity more than 1 million times better than Google’s Sycamore computer.

3. Treating COVID-19 Symptoms

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University have created an AI system that can predict a patient’s likelihood of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms and suggest FDA-approved drugs to alleviate symptoms. In tests, the system successfully identified appropriate drug treatments in 72 percent of cases.

4. Protecting Football Players

The Glastonbury High School football team in Glastonbury, Connecticut has installed sensors inside players’ helmets to track hits and protect players from concussions. The sensors will collect and report real-time data on the number, locations, and force of impacts.

5. Transforming Still Photographs

Researchers at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany have created an AI system that can turn 2D images into explorable 3D models. The system improves upon earlier 3D-image processors by enabling users to change the camera pose and obtain a different view of an object in the image.

6. Dressing Up for Halloween

Chewy, a U.S.-based pet food retailer, has launched an app that uses augmented reality to dress pets in Halloween costumes. The app, known as the Fur-tual Boutique, features seven different costumes available in Chewy’s store: the Killer Doll, Werewolf, Granny, Country Singer, Cowboy, Teddy Bear, and Superhero.

7. Improving Drive-Thru Efficiency

McDonald’s has partnered with IBM to use AI to improve the drive-thru process. The system will collect and relay data on repeat orders to improve speed and efficiency in the drive-thru lane. 

8. Planning for Clean Energy

The U.S. Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has simulated millions of power supply scenarios to inform Los Angeles’s efforts to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2035. The team found that the city’s transition to clean energy in that time frame will cost between $57 to $87 billion.

9. Communicating with Whales

Researchers with Project CETI, a U.S.-based marine technology company dedicated to communicating with whales, have started training an AI system to decipher whale calls. The team has collected data on different clicking sounds from sperm whales to train the system.

10. Predicting Rapid Weather Intensification

The U.S. National Weather Service has upgraded its weather supercomputing capacity with two new supercomputers dedicated to forecasting models. The supercomputers will help researchers better understand and predict rapid intensification in weather patterns, such as with the unforeseen intensification of Hurricane Michael.

Image credit: Flickr user Cyrille Humbert

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