In the Media

Prof. Desiree Plata speaks with AccuWeather senior on-air meteorologist Geoff Cornish about her research in using zeolite clay to control and remove methane emissions from the air.  “So, the really interesting thing about zeolite is it has these cool pore spaces so when you drop copper into those pore spaces it can grab onto a methane molecule and attach an oxygen atom to it and that helps convert that methane into carbon dioxide which is a much less potent greenhouse gas and so the net benefit to the climate can be quite dramatic,” explains Plata.

A new exhibit by Azza El Siddique, a sculptor and mixed media artist, will be on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center this summer, reports Pamela Reynolds for WBUR. Reynolds notes that in this show, “viewers are invited to contemplate the transitory nature of everything.”

Forbes contributor Jeff Kart writes that a new study by MIT researchers finds that yeast, an abundant waste product from breweries, can filter out even trace amounts of lead. The researchers demonstrated that in just five minutes “a single gram of the inactive, dried yeast cells can remove up to 12 milligrams of lead in aqueous solutions with initial lead concentrations below 1 part per million.”

MIT engineers have developed a wireless, reconfigurable chip that could easily be snapped onto existing devices like a LEGO brick, reports Miriam Fauzia for The Daily Beast. “Having the flexibility to customize and upgrade an old device is a modder’s dream,” writes Fauzia, “but the chip may also help reduce electronic waste, which is estimated at 50 million tons a year worldwide.”

Tom Davenport, a visiting scholar at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, writes for Forbes about Telstra Ventures, a venture capitalist firm that invests in tech firms and its incorporation of data science into its investing criteria. “It seems inevitable that other venture capitalist firms will begin to make more data and analytics-driven decisions in the future,” writes Davenport.

Researchers from MIT have discovered a hardware vulnerability in Apple’s M1 chip using an attack called PACMAN, reports Harry Guinness for Popular Science. “Attackers can only use PACMAN to exploit an existing memory bug in the system, which can be patched,” explained Guinness.

Scientists from MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a plant-based gel that can be used to deliver effective doses of antimicrobial drugs around the world, reports Ed Cara for Gizmodo. The gels “can be produced cheaply and combined with edible materials like beeswax to create different textures and viscosity, ranging from something like a protein shake to yogurt,” writes Cara.

The new Wright Brothers Wind Tunnel at MIT, which is capable of reaching wind speeds of up to 230 miles per hour, provides a controlled environment to measure the aerodynamics of an object, reports Matt Shearer for WBZ. "Everybody turns into a little kid when they get into a wind tunnel," says Prof. Mark Drela.

MIT researchers have discovered a hardware vulnerability in Apple’s M1 chips that can allow attackers to break through its security defenses, reports Carly Page for TechCrunch. “Researchers from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, however, have created a novel hardware attack, which combines memory corruption and speculative execution attacks to sidestep the security feature,” writes Page.

CSAIL researchers have found a security vulnerability in Apple’s M1 chip, reports Philip Tracy for Gizmodo. “The flaw could theoretically give bad actors a door to gain full access to the core operating system kernel,” explains Tracy.

Associate Group Leader at the Lincoln Laboratory, William (Bill) Blackwell is the principal investigator for NASA’s TROPICS mission, which is preparing to launch small satellites into space to help better track the development of tropical storms, reports Justine Calma for The Verge. “With more frequent observations from these satellites, scientists hope to better understand how tropical storms grow and intensify,” writes Calma.

MIT has been rated the world’s best university by the QS World University Rankings for the 11^th year in a row, reports Michael T. Nietzel for Forbes. “MIT’s success takes the spotlight as the world’s preeminent university and the US shines as the world’s superlative higher education system,” says Ben Sowter, QS Senior Vice President.

Artist Matthew Angelo Harrison’s solo exhibition “Robota” is on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center through July 24. The exhibition “positions organized labor and workers’ rights as entombed relics, victims of post-industrial economy,” writes Murray Whyte for The Boston Globe.

Researchers at MIT have developed a wood-like plant material which could eventually serve as a viable wood substitute in various construction projects, reports Tim Newcomb for Popular Mechanics. Researchers adjust “chemicals in the growth process to precisely control the physical and mechanical properties, such as stiffness and density,” explains Newcomb.

Boston Globe reporter Brittany Bowker spotlights the work of Amy Brand, director and publisher of the MIT Press, which is celebrating its 60^th anniversary this month. “I feel like I have one of the best jobs in the world because I’m living in this realm of exciting ideas and discoveries,” Brand says. “I’m getting to walk and work with such brilliant and amazing people at the press, but also in general. Authors who are passionate about what they do and passionate about the potential for knowledge.”