This week’s list of top data news highlights covers February 15, 2025 to February 21, 2025, and includes articles on predicting human extinction with supercomputers and mapping the seafloor with AI.
The World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) Germany has partnered with Microsoft AI for Good Lab and Accenture to create GhostNetZero, an AI-powered sensing technology. GhostNetZero combines sonar imaging data and AI to detect ghost nets, which are lost fishing gear that contribute to marine plastic waste and marine animal and ecosystem endangerment. The technology has been 90 percent accurate in tests and has allowed WWF Germany to recover 26 tons of nets from the Baltic Sea.
2. Predicting Human Extinction
Researchers at the University of Bristol in England have run climate simulations using a supercomputer to predict the condition of humans on the Earth in 250 million years. The computer model predicted the formation of a supercontinent near the equator called Pangaea Ultima based on historic tectonic plate movement data. The creation of this colossal land mass would come in tandem with predictions of extreme temperatures, humidity, and increased volcanic activity making most of the planet uninhabitable for humans and other mammals.
3. Improving Sorting Algorithms
A team of U.S.-based researchers has developed an algorithm that dramatically improves how data is organized in databases and dynamic storage systems, reducing insertion times and computational costs. By moving away from traditional methods that evenly space data, the algorithm instead uses a selective, partially randomized approach to anticipate future insertions. It strategically reserves space based on past data trends while avoiding rigid patterns that slow down updates. This innovation brings insertion times closer to the theoretical limit, making data storage and processing significantly more efficient.
North.io, a German startup specializing in geospatial data, is using sensing technology in autonomous vehicles to map the seafloor to strengthen underwater military defense. Existing navigational data that academic research institutes, wind-farm operators, and other sea-based commercial entities collect using sonar systems is often fragmented and processed too slowly to detect threats in real time. North.io applies AI to analyze and synthesize this data alongside robotic scans, ship-based sensors, drones, and other detection technologies, improving underwater defense capabilities while also contributing to marine life research.
5. Aiding Sustainable Urban Planning
Researchers at Peking University in China and the University of South Denmark have used deep learning and remote sensing to identify building materials to improve sustainable and efficient city planning. The researchers used Google Street View imagery, satellite data, and OpenStreetMap geospatial information to train models to identify roof and facade materials. They use this data to create customized material intensity databases, quantify the environmental impact of building materials, and develop targeted strategies for sustainable urban development.
6. Advancing Air Mobility in the UAE
The UAE, in partnership with the Technology Innovation Institute and Aspire, an R&D funding organization based in the UAE, has developed autonomous air taxis and cargo drones equipped with AI-driven vision and communication systems for real-time route optimization and collision avoidance. To support deployment, they have designed aerial corridors to integrate piloted and autonomous air transport into urban mobility networks. This initiative advances connectivity and sustainability in the UAE’s transport infrastructure.
Flashnet, a smart street lighting provider based in Romania, is deploying its street light optimization technology in Nordic cities to reduce energy consumption and improve lighting efficiency. The technology, called inteliLIGHT, harnesses real-time data, collected from streetlight-mounted sensors, controllers, and communication networks, that monitor environmental conditions, energy usage, and system performance, along with a network of IoT devices to ensure prompt lighting adjustment. Flashnet’s inteliLIGHT system has been shown to reduce energy consumption by up to 35 percent in cities where it has been implemented.
8. Making Scalable Quantum Computers
Microsoft has announced a breakthrough in quantum computing with its Majorana 1 chip, which introduces a new material designed to create more stable and scalable qubits. Traditional quantum computers rely on qubits that are highly unstable and prone to errors. Microsoft’s innovation is a topoconductor, a new material that combines two types of substances: one that carries electricity easily and another that resists it in certain ways. This combination allows for a special kind of qubit—called a topological qubit—that is less sensitive to interference, meaning it can process information more accurately. The chip could eventually support 1 million qubits, bringing quantum computing closer to practical applications.
Volvo is partnering with chip company Nvidia to install supercomputing chips in its new ES90 sedan, dramatically increasing its processing power. The boost in computing power will support AI-driven safety features, real-time sensor processing, and battery management optimizations through over-the-air updates. Over-the-air updates allow cars to receive software improvements and new features wirelessly.
10. Advancing Weather Predictions
Researchers at Argonne National Laboratory are using the Aurora supercomputer to improve weather forecasting by training AI models on 50 years of historical weather data. The system processes real-time atmospheric data to enhance storm prediction, flood risk analysis, and extreme weather forecasting. Unlike traditional weather models that rely on complex physics equations, Aurora’s AI-driven approach rapidly analyzes past weather patterns to generate longer-range and more accurate forecasts, potentially extending prediction windows from five to fifteen days.
