Manufacturing a cleaner future

Manufacturing had a big summer. The CHIPS and Science Act, signed into law in August, represents a massive investment in U.S. domestic manufacturing. The act aims to drastically expand the U.S. semiconductor industry, strengthen supply chains, and invest in R&D for new technological breakthroughs. According to John Hart, professor of mechanical engineering and director of […]

MIT in the media: 2022 in review

From the announcement that President L. Rafael Reif would be stepping down and the news that Duke University Provost Sally Kornbluth had been named MIT’s 18th president to the Institute’s first Climate Grand Challenges and the opening of the new MIT Museum in Kendall Square, MIT faculty, researchers, students, and staff made headlines in 2022. […]

How Twitter played a major role in research and science communication, especially during the pandemic, as researchers and scientists leave the service (Chris Stokel-Walker/Nature)

Chris Stokel-Walker / Nature: How Twitter played a major role in research and science communication, especially during the pandemic, as researchers and scientists leave the service  —  Chris Stokel-Walker is a freelance journalist in Newcastle, UK.  —  You can also search for this author in  —  PubMed Google Scholar

The SEC’s Paul Munter says the regulator is increasing scrutiny of audit firms working with crypto companies, warning investors to be “very wary” of some claims (Jean Eaglesham/Wall Street Journal)

Jean Eaglesham / Wall Street Journal: The SEC’s Paul Munter says the regulator is increasing scrutiny of audit firms working with crypto companies, warning investors to be “very wary” of some claims  —  Regulator concerned about cryptocurrency companies overstating audit firms’ narrow reports

How ByteDance and TikTok, which owe their existence to intermingled Western and Chinese ideas, capital, and people, became entangled in the US-China rift (Alex W. Palmer/New York Times)

Alex W. Palmer / New York Times: How ByteDance and TikTok, which owe their existence to intermingled Western and Chinese ideas, capital, and people, became entangled in the US-China rift  —  A Chinese app conquered the planet — and now the U.S. is threatening to shut it down.  Can the world’s biggest virality machine survive?

The FCC proposes a record-breaking ~$300M fine against an auto warranty scam robocall campaign that made 5.1B+ calls to 550M+ US phone numbers in Q1 2021 (Tonya Riley/CyberScoop)

Tonya Riley / CyberScoop: The FCC proposes a record-breaking ~$300M fine against an auto warranty scam robocall campaign that made 5.1B+ calls to 550M+ US phone numbers in Q1 2021  —  The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday proposed a record-breaking $300 million fine against an auto warranty robocall campaign …

Sources detail steps Netflix may take to reduce US password sharing, like charging account owners an extra sharing fee at just below the $6.99 ad-supported tier (Wall Street Journal)

Wall Street Journal: Sources detail steps Netflix may take to reduce US password sharing, like charging account owners an extra sharing fee at just below the $6.99 ad-supported tier  —  Putting a stop to the practice without alienating customers will be a challenge  —  The end of password sharing is coming to Netflix soon …

Micron reports Q1 revenue down ~47% YoY to $4.09B and plans to reduce its workforce by ~10% over the next year; Micron had 48,000 employees in September 2022 (Ian King/Bloomberg)

Ian King / Bloomberg: Micron reports Q1 revenue down ~47% YoY to $4.09B and plans to reduce its workforce by ~10% over the next year; Micron had 48,000 employees in September 2022  —  Micron Technology Inc., the largest US maker of memory chips, gave a lackluster revenue outlook for the current period …

Pablo Jarillo-Herrero delivers 2022 Dresselhaus Lecture on the magic of moiré quantum matter

“We have barely scratched the surface of the moiré quantum matter universe,” said Pablo Jarillo-Herrero at the 2022 Mildred S. Dresselhaus Lecture. The Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT, Jarillo-Herrero is at the forefront of the scientific exploration into moiré quantum systems, where correlated physics, superconductivity, and other phases of matter can […]

This is your brain. This is your brain on code

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which measures changes in blood flow throughout the brain, has been used over the past couple of decades for a variety of applications, including “functional anatomy” — a way of determining which brain areas are switched on when a person carries out a particular task. fMRI has been used to […]

Reimagining a curriculum for tomorrow’s engineers at the University of the Andes

Nestled in the foothills of Bogotá, the University of the Andes (Uniandes) draws students across Colombia who are looking to study engineering. Today, those graduates are better equipped than ever, thanks to a comprehensive redesign of the university’s undergraduate engineering curriculum, inspired in part by its relationship with MIT’s Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab […]

Kuo: Apple plans to cancel or postpone iPhone SE 4 mass production, set for 2024, due to lower than expected shipments of its middle- and lower-tier iPhones (Juli Clover/MacRumors)

Juli Clover / MacRumors: Kuo: Apple plans to cancel or postpone iPhone SE 4 mass production, set for 2024, due to lower than expected shipments of its middle- and lower-tier iPhones  —  Apple will cancel or postpone mass production for the planned 2024 iPhone SE 4, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said today in a series […]

In a Twitter Space, Elon Musk says he expects Twitter to “be okay” next year after cost cutting, claiming the company was on course to spend ~$5B in 2023 (Hannah Murphy/Financial Times)

Hannah Murphy / Financial Times: In a Twitter Space, Elon Musk says he expects Twitter to “be okay” next year after cost cutting, claiming the company was on course to spend ~$5B in 2023  —  Social network’s owner offers snapshot of dire finances to explain huge lay-offs since $44bn takeover

George Hotz, aka geohot, who joined Twitter on November 18 after Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore” pledge, resigned, saying he could not make “any real impact” (Jay Peters/The Verge)

Jay Peters / The Verge: George Hotz, aka geohot, who joined Twitter on November 18 after Elon Musk’s “extremely hardcore” pledge, resigned, saying he could not make “any real impact”  —  George Hotz, known for being the first person to carrier-unlock an iPhone and jailbreaking the PS3 …

Should we tax robots?

What if the U.S. placed a tax on robots? The concept has been publicly discussed by policy analysts, scholars, and Bill Gates (who favors the notion). Because robots can replace jobs, the idea goes, a stiff tax on them would give firms incentive to help retain workers, while also compensating for a dropoff in payroll […]

SEC deposition: in 2017, Zuckerberg considered saying Facebook was investigating “organizations like Cambridge Analytica”, before advisers suggested against it (Brian Fung/CNN)

Brian Fung / CNN: SEC deposition: in 2017, Zuckerberg considered saying Facebook was investigating “organizations like Cambridge Analytica”, before advisers suggested against it  —  Mark Zuckerberg considered disclosing in 2017 that Facebook (FB) was investigating “organizations like Cambridge Analytica” …

Android and Google Chrome will soon no longer trust certificates from TrustCor Systems, following Firefox and Edge, over alleged ties to a US defense contractor (Mishaal Rahman/Esper Blog)

Mishaal Rahman / Esper Blog: Android and Google Chrome will soon no longer trust certificates from TrustCor Systems, following Firefox and Edge, over alleged ties to a US defense contractor  —  The world’s biggest tech companies have lost confidence in one of the Internet’s behind-the-scenes gatekeepers.

US prosecutors say two men conspired with Russian hackers to tamper with JFK airport’s taxi queuing software, allegedly letting drivers cut the line for a fee (James Reddick/The Record)

James Reddick / The Record: US prosecutors say two men conspired with Russian hackers to tamper with JFK airport’s taxi queuing software, allegedly letting drivers cut the line for a fee  —  Two Queens men have been arrested and are facing up to 10 years in prison on charges that they conspired with Russian hackers […]

MIT community members win 2023 IEEE medals and awards

The IEEE recently announced the annual winners of their 2023 prestigious medals and technical awards, and a number of MIT faculty and alumni have been honored. Rodney Brooks, Panasonic Professor of Robotics Emeritus of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, was awarded the IEEE Founders Medal “for leadership in research and commercialization of […]

Amazon agrees to settle two EU antitrust cases related to third-party sellers on its platform, won’t pay a fine, and will adhere to commitments for seven years (Sam Schechner/Wall Street Journal)

Sam Schechner / Wall Street Journal: Amazon agrees to settle two EU antitrust cases related to third-party sellers on its platform, won’t pay a fine, and will adhere to commitments for seven years  —  Amazon.com Inc. has agreed to settle two European Union antitrust cases related to allegations about its treatment of third-party sellers …

The DEA finds a Mexico-based methamphetamine and cocaine gang operating across the US, Mexico, Europe, and Australia used Binance to launder $15M to $40M (Thomas Brewster/Forbes)

Thomas Brewster / Forbes: The DEA finds a Mexico-based methamphetamine and cocaine gang operating across the US, Mexico, Europe, and Australia used Binance to launder $15M to $40M  —  A methamphetamine and cocaine gang operating across the U.S., Mexico, Europe and Australia used the world’s biggest cryptocurrency exchange Binance …

A look at Modulo Capital, a mysterious multi-strategy hedge fund founded in 2022 and based in Albany in The Bahamas, which received $400M from Alameda Research (Tracy Wang/CoinDesk)

Tracy Wang / CoinDesk: A look at Modulo Capital, a mysterious multi-strategy hedge fund founded in 2022 and based in Albany in The Bahamas, which received $400M from Alameda Research  —  Founded in early 2022, Modulo operated out of the same luxury Bahamian condominium community where Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX employees lived.