ACM TechNews, Wednesday, October 2, 2024

Welcome to the October 2, 2024 edition of ACM TechNews, providing timely information for computer professionals three times a week.

Academics to Chair Drafting the Code of Practice for General-Purpose AI

The European Commission said several academics will serve as chairs and vice chairs of working groups tasked with drafting a Code of Practice on general-purpose artificial intelligence (GPAI). This Code of Practice will shape the risk management and transparency requirements of the EU's AI Act. The first draft is expected in early November.
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Scientists Encode 11.28MB of Brain MRI Data into 250,000 DNA Sequences

Researchers at China's Tianjin University have developed a method for storing brain Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan data in DNA. With the DNA Palette coding scheme, MRI data can be converted into a DNA-compatible format; decoding the stored data is lossless and facilitates 3D reconstruction of the imaging data. The researchers encoded 11.28 megabytes of brain MRI data into about 250,000 DNA sequences, amounting to a data density of 2.39 bits per base.
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South Korea's Chip Stockpiles Shrink at Fastest Pace Since 2009

Recent data from Statistics Korea showed that ongoing demand for high-performance memory chips used in AI development depleted South Korea's semiconductor stockpiles in September at a pace unseen since 2009. Inventories were down 42.6% from a year ago, compared with a 34.3% drop in July. Meanwhile, production was up 10.3%, and shipments surged 16.1%.
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Intel Finds Root Cause of CPU Crashing, Instability Errors

Intel disclosed that a Vmin Shift Instability was the root cause of failures in its 13th and 14th Generation Core "Raptor Lake" processors. The company attributed the issue to a clock tree circuit in the IA core vulnerable to high voltage and temperature, resulting in a clock duty cycle shift that causes system instability. In response, Intel has issued microcode update 0x12B, which will be distributed via BIOS updates.
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Google Hails Move to Rust for Huge Drop in Memory Vulnerabilities

Google said its shift to memory safe programming languages resulted in a drop in memory safety vulnerabilities. The search engine giant said memory safety issues declined from 76% of all Android vulnerabilities in 2019 to 24% this year, which it attributes in part to its move to the Rust programming language as part of its Safe Coding initiative.
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Extreme Weather Is Taxing Utilities More Often. Can AI Help?

Electric utilities increasingly are turning to AI to improve severe weather predictions and identify ways to harden the electrical grid as aging infrastructure is being hit by severe weather more frequently. Extreme weather currently is the leading cause of major U.S. power outages, with more than 4 million without power following Hurricane Helene on Sept. 27.
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Israeli VR Game Helps New War Amputees Reduce Phantom Pain

Israeli medical startup 6Degrees is helping new war amputees reduce phantom pain with an immersive virtual reality (VR) game that allows them to see and control virtual legs while playing soccer. The technology enables patients to perform physical therapy at home, connecting to the hospital data center to record their progress and pain levels. In clinical trials, the VR system reduced pain for 88% of patients.
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Website Bug Allowed Kia Vehicles to Be Hacked, Tracked

Independent security researchers identified a vulnerability in the back end of a Kia Web portal for customers and dealers that could allow a hacker to redirect control of Internet-connected features of most Kia models from the car owner's smartphone to the hacker. A custom app built by the researchers allowed them to leverage that flaw. Shortly after the researchers reported the issue, Kia made a change to its Web portal API that appeared to block the technique.
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Samsung Goes After High School Graduates Amid Engineer Shortage

Samsung will allow high school graduates to participate in its internal software training program amid a shortage of engineers in South Korea. Select high school students also will be awarded scholarships and will receive preferential hiring following internships. Samsung has established in-house training facilities to provide high school graduates and other young workers with specialized skills.
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Device Doubles Capacity for Terahertz Signals

A signal mixer developed by researchers at Australia's University of Adelaide and Japan's Osaka University effectively doubles the transmission capacity of terahertz signals. The polarization multiplexer combines two polarized signals of the same frequency into a single beam. The multiplexer is made from float-zone silicon to reduce signal loss and interference.
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Snake Robot Sent to Part of Dounreay Not Seen in Years

A snake-like robot developed by researchers at the U.K.'s University of Nottingham has been deployed at Dounreay, opened in Scotland nearly 70 years ago as a center of nuclear reactor research and development but now being decommissioned and demolished. Nottingham’s seven-meter-long robot, featuring a camera, lights, and a radiation detector, is being used to examine a containment chamber, while a robot developed by the University of Manchester and companies FIS360 and Ice9 also was used at Dounreay to inspect a duct.
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Bacteria Can Work as a Team to Spot Prime Numbers, Vowels

Researchers at India's Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics demonstrated that genetically engineered bacteria can be combined in different ways to act as biological computers and solve various problems. The researchers arranged these "bactoneurons" in an assortment of combinations to perform 12 tasks, such as identifying prime numbers and vowels. The bacteria cultures work together as a single-layer artificial neural network, and their ability to self-replicate means they could be produced at scale for less than the cost of traditional computer chips.
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