This week’s list of top data news highlights covers November 4, 2023 to November 10, 2023 and includes articles on viewing the International Space Station in augmented reality and using an AI system to monitor bus lanes.
1. Mapping Icebergs
Researchers at the University of Leeds have created an AI system that can map icebergs in satellite images 10,000 times faster than humans. Researchers can use the system to differentiate icebergs from clouds, sea ice, and other objects and determine how much meltwater they create.
2. Removing Space Junk
Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a robot that can clear space junk, such as discarded satellites, rockets, and debris. The robot uses a magnet to move space junk into a position to burn up in orbit.
3. Sharing Construction Information
Officials in San Antonio, Texas have launched a chatbot to inform residents about road construction projects in the city. The city will also use residents’ submissions to determine community sentiments about construction projects.
4. Studying the Universe
The European Space Agency has published the first images from its space telescope, Euclid. The agency plans to use data collected by Euclid to study the expansion of the universe, dark energy, and dark matter.
5. Muting Chips
Frito-Lay, a U.S.-based chip manufacturer, has created an AI-powered mic filter that can remove the crunching sound created by eating chips during online gaming sessions. The company trained the system with thousands of recordings of crunching sounds.
6. Tracking Drone Usage
The Portland Police Bureau has launched a dashboard tracking law enforcement’s use of drones. Residents can use the dashboard to view information about usage context, location, time, and the number of drones used for each call.
7. Answering Questions
YouTube has created two new AI features, including one that can generate summaries of video comments and another that can answer questions about video content and recommend other videos.
8. Tracking the International Space Station
The U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has launched a new app to track the International Space Station. The app uses augmented reality to show the location of the space station in the sky.
9. Interpreting Chest X-Rays
Researchers at Northwestern Medicine have created a generative AI system that can create text reports interpreting chest radiographs as accurately as radiologists. The team used 900,000 chest x-rays and radiologist reports to create the system.
10. Monitoring Bus Lanes
The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority will use an AI system to monitor bus lanes for illegally parked cars and issue tickets. During a previous 70-day pilot program, the city found more than 36,000 cars illegally parked on two bus routes.
Image credit: Flickr user NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center