Latest News
New Intervention Could Cut Spread of Misinformation on Social Media
News Mar 18, 2021Stopping the spread of political misinformation on social media may seem like an impossible task. But a new study co-authored by MIT scholars finds that most people who share false news stories online do so unintentionally, and that their sharing habits can be modified through reminders about accuracy.
Over 2000 Microphones Help Discover How Hummingbirds Hum
News Mar 17, 2021The hummingbird is named after the sound it makes when it hovers in front of flowers to feed. Researchers observed hummingbirds using 12 high-speed cameras, 6 pressure plates and 2176 microphones and discovered that their soft and complex feathered wings generate sound in a fashion similar to how the simpler wings of insects do. The new insights could help make devices like fans and drones quieter.
World Class Supercomputer To Support COVID-19 Recovery
News Mar 16, 2021A new £3.8 million supercomputer commissioned by the N8 Research Partnership (N8) is being used by researchers to better understand COVID-19 and how to recover from the pandemic. It will also support research projects of the SARS-CoV-2 UK strain, energy storage and supply and therapeutic drug design.
READ MORE
Oceans Predicted To Become a Source of Harmful CFCs
News Mar 16, 2021The world’s oceans are a vast repository for gases including ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs. However, as atmospheric concentrations of CFC-11 drop, the global ocean should reverse its longtime role as a sink for CFC-11 and become a source of the chemical by the middle of the next century.
READ MORE
Quickly Calculating Drug–Target Binding Affinity With Machine Learning
News Mar 16, 2021The new technique, DeepBAR, quickly calculates the binding affinities between drug candidates and their targets.
READ MORE
A Glint in the Eye May Help Beat Current Deepfakes
News Mar 15, 2021Computer scientists have developed a deepfake identification tool that automatically identifies deepfake photos by analyzing light reflections in the eyes.
READ MORE
Indoor Cannabis Cultivation Leaves a Large Carbon Footprint, Study Finds
News Mar 15, 2021Across North America, the rising tide of cannabis legalization has upped the demand for domestic cultivation operations that can provide a consistent product year-round. But what’s been the environmental cost of this boom in indoor, energy-demanding farming? A heavy one, according to one new study.
READ MORE
Computational Guide Improves Cellular Conversion Efficiency
News Mar 15, 2021Researchers have developed a computer-guided design tool called IRENE, which increases the efficiency of cell conversions by predicting highly effective combinations of cell type-specific transcription factors. By combining IRENE with a genomic integration system the team demonstrated their approach to generate higher numbers of natural killer cells used in immune therapies, and melanocytes used in skin grafts, than other methods.
READ MORE
Computation Paves the Way for Cleaner Water
News Mar 15, 2021A research group has developed an algorithm to minimize or maximize the affinity of a given solute to the surface. The findings of the research show that computational methods can contribute in significant ways to next-generation membrane systems for sustainable water treatment.
READ MORE
Alexa and Arrythmia: AI System Monitors Heart Through Home Assistants
News Mar 12, 2021Researchers have developed a new skill for a smart speaker that allows monitoring of heartbeats without physical contact. The system sends inaudible sounds from the speaker out into a room and, based on the way the sounds are reflected back to the speaker, it can identify and monitor regular and irregular heartbeats.
READ MORE
