This week’s list of top data news highlights covers January 11, 2025 to January 17, 2025, and includes articles on using AI to create proteins that neutralize lethal snake venom and a tool that evaluates the impact of New York City’s congestion pricing.
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering in Germany have developed a machine learning algorithm that can analyze the molecular composition of a glass of whisky to predict its aroma profile more accurately than human experts. By pairing chemical analyses with sensory data, the team trained two models that accurately distinguished between Scottish and American whiskies and predicted specific aroma descriptors like caramel-like and smoky.
2. Appealing Insurance Denials
Waystar, a Utah-based healthcare payments software company, has launched AltitudeCreate, a generative AI tool that can automate the process of appealing denied health insurance claims. The tool reduces the costs and time hospitals spend on appeals by using AI to analyze contracts and records and draft official appeal letters that meet insurers’ criteria, eliminating the need for manual effort.
3. Transforming Special Needs Education
Floreo VR, a Maryland-based ed-tech company, has developed a virtual reality (VR) platform to help neurodiverse students, particularly those with autism, practice social, emotional, and safety skills in a controlled, low-stakes environment. The platform uses VR headsets to immerse students in lessons, while teachers guide the experience in real time using a connected iPad, providing immediate, tailored feedback. AI-powered virtual characters adapt to the student’s interactions to reinforce learning.
Popular online dating app Hinge has introduced a new feature that uses generative AI to provide real-time feedback to users that can help them get more matches by making their profiles more appealing. The feature analyzes the written answers users give in their profiles and provides targeted feedback to avoid boring or common responses, suggesting individualized ways to come up with original answers.
5. Increasing Police Transparency
The Invisible Institute, a Chicago-based nonprofit, has launched the National Police Index, a database tracking the career history of police officers across 26 states, including California, Florida, Illinois, and Texas. The tool provides data going as far back as the 1960s, detailing information on active officers, such as those with multiple employers or prior terminations, although the accuracy depends on local reporting. This tool aims to improve transparency in law enforcement by helping policymakers, journalists, and the public better understand officer mobility and its potential impact on accountability and trust.
Benjamin and Joshua Moshes, two college-age brothers, have developed the Congestion Pricing Tracker, an online tool that monitors traffic patterns in New York City after the recent implementation of congestion pricing. Using Google Maps, the tool collects real-time traffic data from 19 routes, updating every 15 minutes to compare commute times before and after the $9 toll introduced on January 5, 2025. By tracking changes in travel times and congestion levels, the tool helps evaluate whether the toll has successfully reduced traffic and improved overall commuting conditions.
Adobe has launched Firefly Bulk Create, a tool allowing creatives and designers to edit and transform up to ten thousand images simultaneously, ensuring consistency across branding and improving workflow efficiency. The tool uses AI to automate tasks like changing backgrounds, resizing images, and adding AI-generated elements across thousands of product shots.
Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee have developed an AI model that improves sign language recognition by incorporating detailed data on hand and facial expressions. Unlike older methods that focused only on general movements, the new model can analyze hand shapes, movements in relation to the body, and facial expressions to capture critical nuances that affect a sign’s meaning. The model can help enhance communication for hearing- and speech-impaired individuals across various countries and sign languages.
9. Combatting Lethal Snake Venom
Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark and the University of Washington have used AI to create proteins that neutralize snake venom toxins. Using a generative AI model called RFdiffusion, the team designed proteins to block toxins from venom, such as those from cobras, by preventing them from binding to human cells. These proteins successfully protected mice from lethal venom doses, a promising step toward safer, cost-effective treatments for snakebite victims, which could save tens of thousands of lives annually.
Future Flight Global, a Washington, D.C.-based aviation technology company, and Anra Technologies, a provider of software solutions for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), have partnered to develop a digital backbone to support and scale electric flying vehicles like air taxis and delivery drones. The companies aim to create a real-time airspace management platform to avoid collisions, reduce congestion, and integrate with vertiports and charging stations while conducting pilot programs to validate the infrastructure in urban and regional environments.
Image credit: Luke Stackpoole