This week’s list of top data news stories covers the period from October 22, 2022 to October 28, 2022 and includes articles on supercomputer modeling of tornadoes and using an AI system to locate missing tourists.
Researchers at Sakarya University in Turkey have created an AI-based application that can identify monkeypox infections from images of skin lesions. In tests, the system identified signs of monkeypox with 91 percent accuracy.
2. Analyzing the impact of climate change
Researchers from the University of Texas at Austin, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, Shanghai University of Engineering Sciences, the National Defense Academy of Japan and the University of Tsukuba in Japan used a supercomputer to model the relationship between land-surface processes, such as deforestation and cloud cover and climate change. The team found that the difference between daytime high temperatures and daytime low temperatures was shrinking due to the increase in cloud cover during the day.
3. Selling AI generated photos
Shutterstock, a US-based stock photography company, has partnered with OpenAI, a US-based artificial intelligence research company, to sell stock images created by OpenAI’s DALL-E 2 text-to-image system. Shutterstock also launched a fund to compensate creators whose work is used to train text-to-image systems.
4. Calculating the cost of the opioid epidemic
The Virginia Department of Health and Virginia Commonwealth University released a cost calculator estimating the cost of the state’s opioid epidemic. The calculator displays data on lost work, health care, crime, household spending, and state and federal spending by sector, payer, and location, as well as data visualizations and reports. Virginia’s opioid epidemic cost $3.5 billion in 2020, according to the calculator.
5. Flagging inappropriate images
Online dating platform Bumble has open-sourced its AI system that can detect inappropriate images sent by users. The framework for the system is now available on GitHub.
Researchers at Northern Illinois University used a supercomputer to model extreme weather events and the development of tornado supercells. The team found that the tornado track, the region of the United States most affected by tornadoes, had shifted eastward from the Central Plains to the Mid-South and Ohio Valley regions.
The Hong Kong Fire Department has begun using an AI system and drones to locate missing tourists. The artificial intelligence system can identify people in drone images and inform first responders of their location. So far, the AI system has shortened the typical drone image review process from eight hours to about two hours.
8. Advances in Quantum Research
The United States and Switzerland are partnering to advance research in quantum information science and technology. The partnership will focus on applications in quantum computing, networking and sensors.
9. Prediction of unplanned hospitalization
Researchers at UC San Francisco and Montefiore Medical Center in New York have created an artificial intelligence system that uses step count data from wearable devices to predict health outcomes and the likelihood of an unplanned hospitalization in the next week for cancer patients. The team trained the system on medical and fitness data from 214 patients in clinical trials.
Taylor Swift and Snapchat have teamed up to create three augmented reality lenses featuring her latest album, midnight. Two of the lenses show artwork from her album cover on the clock face of London’s Big Ben and the Grand Central Terminal clock in New York. The third lens completes a partial clock on the back cover of the album.
