Researchers at MIT have developed a new method for “training home robots in simulation,” reports Brain Heater for TechCrunch. “Simulation has become a bedrock element of robot training in recent decades,” explains Heater. “It allows robots to try and fail at tasks thousands — or even millions — of times in the same amount of time it would take to do it once in the real world.”
Emily Calandrelli SM '13 speaks with NPR host Adam Bearne about using her science background to encourage children to explore the world of science. Calandrelli has just published a new book of family friendly experiments called, “Stay Curious and Keep Exploring: Next Level.”
Writing for The Hill, Prof. Christopher Knittel and graduate student Kailin Graham emphasize the importance of ensuring the transition away from fossil fuels is an equitable process that provides support for vulnerable workers. “If we’re serious about achieving a truly just transition, far more federal policy action is needed,” they write.
A more than $40 million investment to add advanced nano-fabrication equipment and capabilities to MIT.nano will significantly expand the center’s nanofabrication capabilities, reports Jon Chesto for The Boston Globe. The new equipment, which will also be available to scientists outside MIT, will allow “startups and students access to wafer-making equipment used by larger companies. These tools will allow its researchers to make prototypes of an array of microelectronic devices.”
Graduate student Lt. Col. Jill Rahon, a war veteran and seasoned pilot, discusses her journey from her tours in Afghanistan to her research at MIT on engineering solutions for the enforcement of nuclear nonproliferation accords, writes Sam Cavanaugh for Hoodline. “The path Rahon has blazed is marked by courage and ingenuity, from deftly handling the controls of a Chinook helicopter over the treacherous terrains of Afghanistan to meticulously studying the nuances of resonance analysis to keep nuclear powers in check,” writes Cavanaugh.
MIT researchers have developed a new tool called “PhotoGuard” that can help protect images from AI manipulation, reports Ross Cristantiello for Boston.com. The tool “is designed to make real images resistant to advanced models that can generate new images, such as DALL-E and Midjourney,” writes Cristantiello.
Researchers at MIT have developed “PhotoGuard,” a tool that can be used to protect images from AI manipulation, reports Catherine Thorbecke for CNN. The tool “puts an invisible ‘immunization’ over images that stops AI models from being able to manipulate the picture,” writes Thorbecke.
In an opinion piece for The New York Times, Prof. Nicholas Ashford calls for creating systems that could help address the spread of misinformation in broadcast media. “Public trust in the media industry has been declining for years,” writes Ashford. “It can be restored by securing media companies’ commitment to practicing fact-checking and presenting contrasting perspectives on issues important to news consumers.”
In a commentary for Nature, Ashley Nunes, Bryan Reimer and Joseph Coughlin of the MIT AgeLab discuss how current legislation does not sufficiently account for the risks associated with operating autonomous vehicles. “Policymakers need to work more closely with academics and manufacturers to design appropriate regulations,” they write. “This is extremely challenging because the research cuts across many disciplines.”
Lisa Grossman writes for New Scientist that a new report from the National Academies urges the U.S. to “get back on the gravitational-wave hunting horse” in support of a space-based detector. MIT Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt, who chaired the report panel, also touted exoplanets research. “The government is getting its money’s worth in terms of the resources it’s been investing in support for scientists,” says Hewitt.
A National Academies panel chaired by MIT Prof. Jacqueline Hewitt “says the United States should rejoin a partnership with the European Space Agency... to study gravitational waves in space,” reports Daniel Clery for Science. “The community very much wants to see LISA [the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna] go forward,” explains Hewitt.