Most Read: Flying Car Gets Green Light for More Test Flights, Digital Twins at the 2024 Paris Olympics

Here are this week’s most-read stories in IoT World Today:

Flying Car Company Gets OK for More Test Flights

The flying car that last year was authorized for test flights has now also been approved for test flying for a second year.

California startup Aska received another experimental airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) following its inspection, according to Aska co-founder and chairman Maki Kaplinsky.

The four-passenger flying car already had been given approval to drive on public roads.

The full-scale prototype of the Aska A5 road-drivable electric-hybrid VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) received a certificate of waiver or authorization last year.

Find out more about Aska’s four-passenger flying car >>>

Digital Twins Enhance US Swim Team Training for 2024 Paris Olympics

The U.S. swim team will use digital twins at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to evaluate and improve race performance. 

Ken Ono, a mathematics professor from the University of Virginia and his team of students created the digital twins of swimmers and have worked with U.S. swim team members August Lamb and Kate Douglass to test them ahead of the Paris Games.

The digital versions accurately replicate a swimmer’s movements and offer valuable insights to coaches. 

Related:Global Microsoft Outage Grounds Flights, Disrupts Businesses Worldwide

These digital twins provide detailed information on drag force, a critical factor affecting a swimmer's performance. The technology allows athletes to make adjustments to their technique based on the data provided.

Results of their study, published in Scientific American, suggest digital twins would enable swim coaches to “precision train” Olympic athletes.

Uncover how digital twins can help swimmers improve their efforts at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games >>>

Rite Aid Data Breach Impacts 2.2M Customers, Personal Data Exposed

The personal data of more than 2.2 million customers has been exposed after drugstore chain Rite Aid was hit by a data breach.

According to a filing with the Massachusetts attorney general, Rite Aid said personal information was exposed following an incident on June 6 when an unknown party impersonated a company employee using their business credentials to gain access to systems.

Rite Aid said the incident was detected within 12 hours, prompting an immediate internal investigation to terminate the unauthorized access, remediate affected systems and determine if any customer data was impacted.

The compromised data included customer names, addresses, dates of birth and driver’s license numbers or other government-issued ID presented for purchases between June 6, 2017, and July 30, 2018 

Related:Microsoft Moves Australian Quantum Operation to US

Rite Aid said no social security numbers, financial or patient information was impacted. 

Learn more about the latest high-profile data breach >>>

Timekeeping Goes High-Tech With Emerging Technologies at 2024 Olympics

Swiss watchmakers Omega, the official timekeepers of the Olympic Games since 1932, will revolutionize the Paris 2024 Olympics with cutting-edge technology, including AI-driven computer vision cameras.

Omega will bring 350 tons of equipment to Paris to keep track of times during the event. Some 550 official timekeepers and on-site professionals will work across the 32 sports with support from 900 trained volunteers.

Omega has outfitted its timekeeping solutions with an array of sensors. 

Specially designed starting blocks for runners have built-in sensors that measure an athlete’s force against the footrest 4,000 times per second. The integrated sensors feed the data to an on-site computer, informing race officials of potential false starts by up to a tenth of a second.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature the increased integration of computer vision technologies. 

Powered by a combination of AI and smart cameras, Omega will deliver detailed information on athletes’ movements and performance directly to judges.

Take a look at the technologies Omega will be using at the 2024 Olympic Games >>>

17 Self-Driving Taxis Vandalized, Alleged Tire Slasher Charged

A tire-slashing spree that damaged at least 17 Waymo self-driving taxis in San Francisco over three days has led to a Castro Valley resident being charged with 17 counts of vandalism.

Ronaile Joshua Burton (36) has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

The incidents happened between June 24 and June 26 in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco.

On June 24, five separate incidents were recorded between 6:37 p.m. and 8:06 p.m. The following day, there were a further nine attacks, between 3:05 p.m. and 11:01 p.m.

And on June 25, there were three incidents between 12:06 a.m. and 1:19 a.m.

In each case, the damage done was said to exceed $400, making it an offense punishable by jail time, as per the California penal code.

Read more about the damage to Waymo vehicles >>>