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Scientific American

Rachel Feltman of Scientific American’s “Science Quickly” podcast visits MIT.nano to learn more about MIT’s “clean laboratory facility that is critical to nanoscale research, from microelectronics to medical nanotechnology.” Prof. Vladimir Bulović, director of MIT.nano, explains: “Maybe a fifth of all of M.I.T.’s research depends on this facility…from microelectronics to nanotechnology for medicine to different ways of rethinking what will [the] next quantum computation look like. Any of these are really important elements of what we need to discover, but we need all of them to be explored at the nanoscale to get that ultimate performance.” 

The New York Times

Writing for The New York Times, Prof. Catherine Wolfram and Columbia Prof. Glenn Hubbard make the case that to help end the war between Russia and Ukraine, the U.S. should “impose sanctions on any company or individual – in any country – involved in a Russian oil and gas sale.” They write: “Ideally, the policy would pressure Russia into negotiations, where its removal could be part of a deal. If not, the United States would still collect billions annually, which could help fund Mr. Trump’s proposed tax cuts.” 

Forbes

Prof. David Sontag, Monica Agrawal PhD '23, Luke Murray SM '22, and Divya Gopinath '19, MEng '20 co-founded Layer Health - an AI healthcare startup that is applying large language models (LLMs) to help clinicians with medical chart reviews and data abstraction, reports Seth Joseph for Forbes. “The same chart review problem we’re solving with our clinical registry module is faced by clinicians at the point of care,” says Sontag. “For example, one of our next modules will focus on real-time clinical decision support to help automate clinical care pathways, leading to more reliable, high-quality care."

Scientific American

Prof. Erik Demaine and his colleagues have solved a longstanding mathematical puzzle called “Dudeney’s dissection,” which involves dissecting an equilateral triangle into the smallest number of pieces that could be rearranged into a square, reports Lyndie Chiou for Scientific American. “Each of those pieces could have arbitrarily many edges to it, and the coordinates of those cuts start at arbitrary points,” says Demaine, of what makes the puzzle so challenging. “You have these continuous parameters where there’s lots and lots of infinities of possible choices that makes it so annoyingly hard. You can’t just brute-force it with a computer.”

Travel + Leisure

Travel + Leisure’s Michael Cappetta speaks with aviation experts about the best location to sit on an airplane. According to Professor John Hansman, “seats in the rear of the aircraft are generally the safest,” since during some accidents, “the front of the airplane acts as a shock absorber.” 

Tech Briefs

MIT researchers have developed a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple, coordinated directions, and could be useful for building “biohybrid” robots, reports Andrew Corselli for Tech Briefs. Prof. Ritu Raman explains that her lab is focused on creating “artificial muscle tissues that can be used to understand and treat muscle diseases that impact healthy human mobility,” and making “safe muscle-powered robots that can perform complex tasks in dangerous environments that are not suitable for humans.”

Scientific American

MIT researchers have observed “Hofstadter’s butterfly” – the quantum theory that proposes “under the right conditions, tiny electrons in a quantum system could produce an energy spectrum composed of fractals” that would resemble a butterfly, reports Gayoung Lee for Scientific American. The discovery, “emerged from the complex quantum dance of electrons sandwiched between two microscopic layers of graphene,” explains Lee. The results “were unexpected [as] the researchers involved weren’t even trying to hatch Hofstadter’s butterfly from its quantum chrysalis.” 

CBS News

Graduate student Cathy Fang speaks with CBS News reporter Lindsey Reiser about her research studying the effects of AI chatbots on people’s emotional well-being. Fang explains that she and her colleagues found that how the chatbot interacts with the user is important, “but also how the user interacts with the chatbot is equally important. Both influence the user’s emotional and social well-being.” She adds: “Overall, we found that extended use is correlated with more negative outcomes.”

The Boston Globe

Biogen will move its headquarters to MIT’s Kendall Common development in 2028, reports Catherine Carlock and Jonathan Saltzman for The Boston Globe. “Biogen has been a foundational presence in the Massachusetts life science ecosystem for close to half a century,” says Governor Maura Healey. “We are thrilled to see them begin a new era in our state.”

The Boston Globe

Sloan Lecturer Harvey Michaels speaks with Boston Globe reporter Scooty Nickerson about skyrocketing energy costs in Massachusetts. Michaels explains that one contributing factor is the vast but costly energy system that can supply heat during cold dips but is expensive to maintain. “It’s like having a fleet of planes flying around with very few passengers on them,” Michaels explains. “It’s going to be very expensive for the passengers that do fly” to make it worth it.

Community Updates

Featured Multimedia

Christopher Palmer is an Associate Professor of Finance at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He is also a Faculty Research Fellow at the National Bureau of Economic Research, and an Affiliate with the Jameel Poverty Action Lab, based here at MIT. He studies consumer credit, and household financial decision making. In this episode, President Kornbluth and Palmer discuss household financial decision making around mortgages, car loans, and how best to save for retirement.

In the new Advanced Manufacturing for Aerospace Engineers course, students design, build, and test an electric rocket engine turbopump, preparing them for a career at the forefront of the aerospace industry. In just 13 weeks, students design, build, and test a laboratory-scale electric turbopump, the type of pump used in liquid rocket propulsion systems to deliver fuel and oxidizer to the combustion chamber under high pressure.

Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have developed an all-in-one 3D printing approach called “Xstrings.” Part design tool, part fabrication method, Xstrings can embed all the pieces together and produce a cable-driven device, saving time when assembling bionic robots, creating art installations, or working on dynamic fashion designs.

The SeaPerch underwater robot, a “do-it-yourself” maker project, is a popular educational tool for middle and high school students. Developed by MIT Sea Grant, the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) teaches hand fabrication processes, electronics techniques, and STEM concepts, while encouraging exploration of structures, electronics, and underwater dynamics. SeaPerch II builds on the original program, adding robotics and elements of marine and climate science.

Liam Hines is excited about the practical and societal benefits of his work, about pinpointing the challenges posed by existing technologies and finding tangible solutions toward energy sustainability. Liam is a PhD student in the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. He works on advanced fission systems and waste management with Professors Koroush Shirvan and Haruko Wainwright.

Neuroscientist Sidney Diamond is a researcher in Pawan Sinha’s Lab in MIT’s Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, where, at 99 years old, he studies the science of visual learning and helps to decode the mysteries of brain development. In addition to the invaluable decades of experience Sid brings to his work, he serves as a mentor and inspiration to his colleagues.

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