IEEE Spectrum reporter Mark Anderson highlights how Prof. Jeehwan Kim’s research group has developed techniques to produce ultrathin semiconducting films and harvest the materials necessary to manufacture 2-D electronics. Anderson explains that the group’s advances could make possible such innovations as high-efficiency solar cells attached to a car’s exterior and low-power, long-lasting wearable devices.
Prof. Mark Harnett has found that each individual cell in the human brain could operate like a mini-computer, reports Clare Wilson for New Scientist. Wilson explains that “the study has revealed a key structural difference between human and mouse neurons that could help explain our superior powers of intelligence.”
A study by MIT researchers successfully eradicated two strains of drug-resistant bacteria using encapsulated probiotics and antibiotics, writes UPI reporter Allen Stone. The researchers believe “these probiotics can replenish the gut microbiome after treatment with antibiotics,” and they hope to use this method to develop new types of bandages.
Financial Times reporter Jemima Kelly reports that MIT researchers have developed a low-power chip that is hardwired to perform public-key encryption. Kelly writes that the chip is “potentially a game-changer for simple, low-powered products such as smart sensors used by industry to gauge things such as temperature and pressure, as well as health monitors.”
Taylor Pettaway of the Boston Herald writes that MIT’s new college of computing will be one of the university’s largest structural changes made since 1950. Offering classes in different fields, “students will be able to experience on campus new computational tools and these new abilities transform academics on campus with every study,” says Provost Martin Schmidt.
President L. Rafael Reif joins Bloomberg Bay State Business to speak with hosts Peter Barnes, Janet Wu and Pat Carroll about MIT’s $1 billion commitment to furthering the study of computer science and AI through a new college for computing.
Chronicle of Higher Education reporter Lee Gardner notes that MIT is making a $1 billion investment in furthering the study of computation and AI. “The institute’s project will support the search for solutions to two other daunting challenges,” Gardner explains, “how to handle the ethical and philosophical implications of AI for the societies it will transform, and how to break down institutional silos in academe.”
BBC Click spotlights a new semi-autonomous, wearable robot developed by MIT researchers that takes different types of measurements from the skin to identify conditions such as skin cancer. “The doctor can see your whole body, but the doctor doesn’t pick up the small changes in your skin conditions, which the robot can do,” says graduate student Artem Dementyev.
WGBH reporter Maggie Penn examines how the MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing will integrate the study of computer science and AI into every academic discipline. "Much of higher education is silo-ed, a lot of universities are dealing with that," explains Melissa Nobles, dean of SHASS. "This is a really creative way of getting around that and creating something new that is truly collaborative."
Chronicle of Higher Education reporter Lee Gardner notes that MIT is making a $1 billion investment in furthering the study of computation and AI. “The institute’s project will support the search for solutions to two other daunting challenges,” Gardner explains, “how to handle the ethical and philosophical implications of AI for the societies it will transform, and how to break down institutional silos in academe.”
Science reporter Jeffrey Mervis notes that the $350 million gift from Stephen Schwarzman, which will help establish a new college of computing at MIT, will enable the Institute to hire 50 new faculty members. Provost Martin Schmidt notes that the college will be instrumental in “linking computation to all disciplines on campus.”
Hiawatha Bray of The Boston Globe writes that fake news articles are destined for the same fate as spam emails thanks to research from MIT postdoc Ramy Baly, who is developing software to flag fake news sites. Baly hopes to “create a consumer news app that would direct users to reliable news sources from every point on the political compass.”
A new study by MIT researchers has confirmed that light melts matter differently than heat, writes UPI reporter Brooks Hays. Hays explains that in the future, the researchers “hope to engineer or manipulate the phase change process. The mechanism could be used to power new types of optoelectronic devices, such as a data storage device.”
Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed reports that MIT has announced a $1 billion plan to create a college of computing. The college, which will be named for Stephen Schwarzman, will also “promote teaching and research on computing and artificial intelligence.”
MIT’s new college of computing will teach students how to apply computer science and artificial intelligence in their specific field of study, writes Dave Gershgorn for Quartz. Gershgorn notes that researchers studying the impact of AI on society “have consistently suggested the expansion of interdisciplinary education, on the grounds that computer scientists can sometimes overlook the nuances of other fields.”