Popular Science reporter Nicole Wetsman writes that MIT researchers have found light pulses could potentially be used to help ease the symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers found that “light pulses and gamma oscillations protect against neurodegeneration and change the expression of genes involved with inflammation and neuron health in the brains of mice.”
Writing for The Washington Post, postdoctoral associate Gregory Falco argues that the computer systems operating satellites are vulnerable to cyberattacks. “Computer systems running our satellites haven’t kept up, making them prime targets for an attack,” warns Falco. “This makes our space assets a massive vulnerability — and it could get much worse if we’re not careful.”
HealthDay News reporter Amy Norton writes that MIT researchers have developed an AI system that can help predict a woman’s risk of developing breast cancer and provide more personalized care. “If you know a woman is at high risk, maybe she can be screened more frequently, or be screened using MRI,” explains graduate student Adam Yala.
MIT researchers have identified a new method to engineer neural networks in a way that allows them to be a tenth of the size of current networks without losing any computational ability, reports Avery Thompson for Popular Mechanics. “The breakthrough could allow other researchers to build AI that are smaller, faster, and just as smart as those that exist today,” Thompson explains.
In an article for Wired, K. Gretchen Greene, a research affiliate at the Media Lab, argues that the government’s proposed $2 trillion infrastructure plan should include robots. New technologies “offer the possibility of completing projects we otherwise couldn't afford, minimizing disruption, improving safety, and optimizing systems in ways humans working alone could not,” writes Greene.
Scientific American reporter Jeremy Hsu highlights how CSAIL researchers have developed a robot that can automatically sort recycling. The robot “uses soft Teflon ‘fingers,’ which have fingertip sensors to detect object size and stiffness,” Hsu explains.
Fast Company reporter Jared Lindzon spotlights how Ultra Testing, a company founded by two MIT graduates that employs over 60 workers remotely across 20 states, 75% of whom are on the autism spectrum. “Not only was the company open to hiring neurodiverse employees, but it actively sought them out,” notes Lindzon.
Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard memorializes Prof. Emeritus David Gordon Wilson, known for his work in the field of mechanical engineering and for spurring interest in recumbent bicycles. Marquard notes that in addition to designing a recumbent bicycle that set a world speed record, Wilson was “decades ahead of some modern-day political proposals that aim to address climate change.”
Marina Koren writes for The Atlantic about the continued importance of the discoveries that stem from the LIGO and Virgo laser experiments. “There is something called the gravitational-wave memory effect…that comes out of Einstein’s theory of relativity, but it would be nice to see that directly,” says Salvatore Vitale, a physics professor at MIT and a LIGO scientist.
Dr. Sekar Kathiresan, a member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, speaks with NPR’s Richard Harris about his work on an experimental genetic scan that could identify people who are likely to become severely overweight. “This work hopefully will destigmatize obesity and make it very similar to every other disease, which is a combination of both lifestyle and genetics,” said Kathiresan.
A new MIT study suggests that “strings of plastic balls dangled in the ocean could harvest enough cobalt for hundreds of thousands of electric car batteries,” reports David Adam for New Scientist. The researchers think the system could “catch enough dissolved cobalt from seawater each year to make a battery for every Tesla Model 3 that has rolled off the production line so far,” says Adam.
Researchers from MIT and the European Space Agency are developing a process to evaluate how operators deploy satellites to help reduce the amount of debris in space, reports Loren Grush for The Verge. “It’s actually encouraging companies to try to beat each other in how good they behave, so they can build their brand,” explains Prof. Danielle Wood.
Writing for The Conversation, Profs. David Keith and Christopher Knittel examine why the transition to electric vehicles is proving difficult. Keith and Knittel write that drivers should be encouraged to “buy plug-in hybrid vehicles. These vehicles can go up to 50 miles or more without burning any gasoline…yet they still have a gasoline engine to overcome any range anxiety that drivers may experience.”
In an article about how the social messaging app WhatsApp could have a large influence on the upcoming election in India, the Financial Times spotlights postdoctoral associate Kiran Garimella’s work examining how misinformation spreads in India through platforms such as WhatsApp.
Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard memorializes the life of alumna Natalie Adelman Taub, known for her pioneering work in Boston’s construction field. “Why should construction be exclusively a man’s field?” said Taub in 1954, after founding her own firm. “There are many fine women architects, designers, and decorators, so why not women contractors?”