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10 Bits: The Data News Hotlist

by Morgan Stevens
International Space Station

This week’s list of data news highlights covers November 20, 2021 to November 26, 2021 and includes articles on using a supercomputer to evaluate vaccine rollout plans and visiting the International Space Station in virtual reality.

1. Suggesting Recipes

Snapchat has released a new feature that uses an AI system to scan food items and suggest recipes. The AI system can recognize 1,500 food items and recommend over 4,000 recipes from Allrecipes, a U.S.-based crowdsourced recipe website. 

2. Evaluating Vaccine Rollouts

Researchers at Iowa State University used a supercomputer to evaluate the effectiveness of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 vaccine rollout recommendations. The team ran 17.5 million simulations that accounted for factors such as vaccine priority groups, population demographics, and social distancing measures, and found that the CDC’s recommendations to prioritize individuals according to age, occupation, living conditions, and known risk factors were within 4 percent of total effectiveness across deaths, cases, suspected infections, and years of life lost. 

3. Generating Images

Nvidia has developed an AI system that can create pictures based on written text. The system uses generative adversarial networks, which can generate synthetic data, to create each image. Users can type simple phrases like “sunset at a beach” and the AI system will create the image according to the text.

4. Improving Football Safety

The National Football League has partnered with college football teams across the country to collect data on the force of game impacts. This season, players on participating teams have worn mouth guards equipped with sensors that collect data on the speed, direction, force, location, and severity of impacts. The NFL and partner schools will use the data to improve player safety efforts. 

5. Detecting Polyps

Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Norris Cotton Cancer Center have created an AI system that can classify the four most common types of colorectal polyps removed during colonoscopies. The team trained the system on historical electronic health records from Cheshire Medical Center in New Hampshire and tested it against datasets from medical institutions across the country. 

6. Designing Sculptures

Researchers at ETH Zurich have partnered with the Swiss Data Science Center to build a 22.5 meter-high green architectural sculpture inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon using AI. The team used one AI system to inform the design and engineering processes and are using four robots to construct the sculpture at ETH Zurich.

7. Predicting Rainfall

Researchers at the U.K.’s Meteorological Office have used a supercomputer to predict weather conditions for the upcoming winter season. The team found that the United Kingdom has a 60 percent chance of average rainfall patterns, a 30 percent chance of wetter conditions, and a 10 percent chance of drier conditions, which has led the U.K. Environment Agency to warn residents about increased chances of flooding.

8. Identifying Birds

Netvue, a smart home technology company in China, has created a camera that can identify bird species. The camera’s AI system can recognize 6,000 different species, present information about the relevant bird, and trigger attached alarms if squirrels or other unwanted animals are detected.

9. Monitoring Bone Health

Researchers at the University of Arizona have created a medical device with sensors that can transmit data about an individual’s bone health, growth, or recovery to a doctor’s smartphone. The team created an adhesive that enables bones to grow onto the device and render it permanently immobile. 

10. Visiting the International Space Station

Felix & Paul Studios, an immersive entertainment company based in Canada, has launched a virtual reality exhibit in Houston featuring the International Space Station. Visitors can use a virtual reality headset to walk through the International Space Station and accompany astronauts on a spacewalk.

Image credit: Flickr user NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center

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