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.
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.
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.
Based on data from the MIT Election Data and Science Lab and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, researchers have found that mortality rates are improving faster in Democratic counties than Republican ones, reports Adrianna Rodriguez for USA Today. “Democratic counties also saw greater reductions in deaths from chronic lower respiratory tract diseases, diabetes, influenza and pneumonia, and kidney disease,” writes Rodriguez.
Information from MIT’s Election Data and Science Lab and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were used in a new study that found mortality rates in Democratic and Republican counties are growing further apart, reports WCVB. The study found “that mortality rates decreased more in Democratic counties than in Republican counties,” writes WCVB.
Keri Pearlson, executive director of the Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan consortium, and Prof. Stuart Madnick write for The Wall Street Journal about how managers should build and equip their organizations for cyber threats. “It is more effective to build a cybersecurity culture – an effort that goes beyond training and gets employees to see security as part of their job,” write Pearlson and Madnick.
Researchers from MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center (PSFC) and Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) are working on making commercial nuclear fusion a reality, reports Juandre for Popular Mechanics. “CFS will build [the tokamak] SPARC and develop a commercial fusion product, while MIT PSFC will focus on its core mission of cutting-edge research and education,” says Prof. Dennis G. Whyte, director of the PSFC.
Associate Provost Richard Lester and Prof. Noelle Selin speak with Tiziana Dearing, host of Radio Boston, about MIT’s Climate Grand Challenges. “To me, the Climate Grand Challenges effort really represents that we’re kind of at a frameshift when thinking about the climate problem. It’s not just a problem that some people can work on,” says Selin. “A climate challenge is a whole of society challenge, and therefore it really has to be a whole of MIT challenge.” Lester adds he hopes the challenges will “inspire a new generation of students to roll up their sleeves, put their shoulders to the wheel and help us solve this problem.”
Prof. Lydia Bourouiba speaks with BBC CrowdSource presenter Marnie Chesterton about her work in understanding how bodily fluids such as snot and spittle spread after leaving the body using high speed cameras. “What is very clear is that we emit… droplets of a continuum of sizes but they are not coming out alone,” explains Bourouiba. “They are coming out with an air that is in our lungs, that is hot and moist and turbulent, which changes the physical dynamics of the emission and how the drops will evolve.”
Researchers at MIT worked with colleagues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to develop a gel that could deliver drugs that typically come in pill form. “The work involved testing gel formulations with trained food tasters who found that the most appealing versions were made from cottonseed oil (neutral flavor) or sesame oil (nutty flavor),” reports Amanda Kooser for CNET.
Graduate student Tse Yang Lim and his colleagues used federal data on use and death of opioid use and overdose in the United States to build a model that “successfully replicated how certain factors and interventions affect use, treatment, relapse and overdose deaths over 20 years,” reports Sara Reardon for Nature. “Lim hopes that the model will help policymakers and other scientists think about the big picture rather than just how a particular community or demographic is affected,” writes Reardon.
A new study by Prof. Albert Saiz finds that Mexico needs to build 800,000 housing units a year over the next two decades and invest nearly 4% of its gross domestic product annually to keep up with housing demands, reports Kylie Madry for Reuters. "In 1990, there were five people per home in Mexico. By 2020, there were only 3.6 per home," said Saiz of how the demand for houses in Mexico is rising while the number of people living together is shrinking.
Financial Times reporter Jemima Kelly spotlights Prof. Basima Tewfi’s research on imposter syndrome. Tewfik’s study finds that those who have “imposter workplace thoughts” tend to “have an advantage over their colleagues when it comes to social skills, teamwork and the support of others.”
FiercePharma’s Nick Paul Taylor writes about a new drug delivery gel developed by researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Our system is an oil-based system gel, which makes it compatible with most drugs,” says visiting scientist Ameya Kirtane. “This enables the formulation of drugs that were not available in semi-solid or liquid dosage forms and allows patients, especially children, to more easily take their medicine.”
MIT researchers have developed a new drug-delivering gel that could make it easier for children and adults to swallow their medicine, reports Gwen Egan for Boston.com. The gel could be made in a variety of different textures and can be stored without refrigeration.