Jorg Scholvin ’00, MEng ’01, PhD ’06 first set foot in a cleanroom midway through his undergraduate studies. It was the late 1990s and, as a computer science major, he’d registered for a fabrication class for a firsthand look at how a computer is assembled. “It’s amazing to see how it’s built,” he realized, “and […]

The company plans to expand its Communication Safety features, which aim to disrupt the sharing of child sexual abuse material at the source.

The company will also soon support the use of physical authentication keys with Apple ID, and is adding contact verification for iMessage in 2023.

On cybercrime forums, user complaints about being duped may accidentally expose their real identities.

Mary Ann Azevedo / TechCrunch: Plaid lays off approximately 260 employees, or 20% of its workforce, citing macroeconomic conditions; the company was valued at ~$13.4B in April 2021  —  CEO says the fintech company ‘hired and invested ahead of revenue growth’  —  Fintech decacorn Plaid is laying off 260 employees …

Jordan Novet / CNBC: The Pentagon awards Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle a cloud-computing contract of up to $9B each through 2028 under the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability  —  – Of the four companies receiving cloud-computing contracts from the Pentagon, all of them had received requests for bids from the U.S. federal agency last year.

Shawna Chen / Axios: Texas bans the use of TikTok on government-issued devices, becoming the fourth GOP-led state to do so, following South Dakota, South Carolina, and Maryland  —  A growing number of GOP-led states are barring state employees and contractors from using TikTok on government-issued devices …

A deepfake detector designed to identify unique facial expressions and hand gestures could spot manipulated videos of world leaders such as Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin

A simple robot has sensors that can detect when they are damaged, stop the robot, self-heal and instruct the robot to start moving again

Despite recent claims of vehicles having full automation, it is no more possible to buy a truly self-driving car now than it was 15 years ago. Will private cars that never need a driver ever reach the market?

Since 1901, MIT has offered a graduate program unlike any other at the Institute. The Naval Construction and Engineering program in the Department of Mechanical Engineering educates active duty officers in the U.S. Navy, U.S Coast Guard, and foreign navies. Every year, the U.S. Navy chooses 10 officers to enroll in the program, which is […]

MIT professor Michael Birnbaum strives to prepare his students for success, from day one of graduate school through embarking on an enriching career path. For the thoughtfulness and depth of his feedback, the variety of different career paths he exposes students to, and his far-reaching inclusiveness within both his lab and his greater department, he […]

Nearly 20 years ago, scientists developed ways to stimulate or silence neurons by shining light on them. This technique, known as optogenetics, allows researchers to discover the functions of specific neurons and how they communicate with other neurons to form circuits. Building on that technique, MIT and Harvard University researchers have now devised a way […]

It takes dedication — but it doesn’t have to take a lot of time.

The “production as a service” model enables firms to contract with independent factory operators on an as-needed basis.

Sponsor content from Zoho.

Andrew Romero / 9to5Google: Telegram partners with Fragment to let users create an anonymous number to join the service, removing the need for a SIM card, and expands security features  —  For years, apps like Telegram and Whatsapp have restricted access to users who could sign up using a SIM card and phone number.

Financial Times: Sources: FTX reached the late stages of talks with Taylor Swift over a $100M+ sponsorship deal, supported by Swift fan SBF, who faced opposition from FTX execs  —  Negotiations between singer-songwriter and Sam Bankman-Fried’s crytpo group collapsed this spring

Pew Research Center: A survey of 19 developed nations: 57% say social media has been good for democracy, 35% say it has been bad; in the US, 34% think it has been good for democracy  —  Most think social media has made it easier to manipulate and divide people, but also say it informs and […]

Searching the internet can reveal information a user would rather keep private. For instance, when someone looks up medical symptoms online, they could reveal their health conditions to Google, an online medical database like WebMD, and perhaps hundreds of these companies’ advertisers and business partners. For decades, researchers have been crafting techniques that enable users […]

America’s most popular music streaming service is adding the ability to turn down the vocals and sing along.

Don’t worry if you skipped the Cyber Monday madness. Some of the company’s best gear is on sale right now.

Disgruntled former staff allege they were not given the severance packages they were promised. The mountain of litigation could cost Twitter millions.

Paul Sawers / TechCrunch: Loft Dynamics, which makes a VR training simulator for helicopter pilots, has raised $20M in a round led by Craft Ventures, Sky Dayton, and Up Partners  —  Loft Dynamics, a Swiss startup creating virtual reality (VR) simulation technology for helicopter pilots, has raised $20 million in funding …

Jason McMaster / VentureBeat: GameOn, which develops the AI chatbot ChatOS, used by major sports brands to connect with fans, raised a $35M Series B, bringing its total funding to $54M  —  Chat platform developer GameOn has raised $35 million in Series B funding.  Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Mighty Capital …

Kif Leswing / CNBC: Apple, AMD, and Nvidia have all indicated plans to buy chips from TSMC’s planned Arizona fabs  —  – Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke at an event in Arizona on Tuesday, ahead of remarks expected by President Joe Biden later in the day, where Cook confirmed Apple will buy chips built in […]

A prototype heat pump that uses water and sound to cool is three times as efficient as previous comparable designs

Today’s protests in Iran have been cited as the biggest threat the Islamic Republic has faced since it seized power in 1979. Ignited over the regime’s mandatory veiling of women and the recent death of Mahsa Amini while in morality police custody, the uprising is rooted in the Iranian people’s long struggle for freedom, says […]

Sponsor content from Workday.

But lagging technology can make them a weak link.

A conversation with Georgetown’s Ella Washington about how to make real progress on diversity, equity and inclusion.

A Swedish electric bike is helping Mozambique’s park rangers protect game and reducing the need for fossil fuel infrastructure in Africa’s remotest areas.

The UK grime rapper transformed #Merky into a music label, a book imprint, and advocacy campaigns—something that may be impossible in the new Twitter era.

Catherine Shu / TechCrunch: Singapore-based Osome, a “super app” for corporate services, raised a $25M Series B, after a $16M Series A in June 2021, and says it serves 11K+ companies  —  Osome is a financial admin platform that helps business owners with administrative tasks like payroll, accounting and tax reporting.

Joshua Oliver / Financial Times: Filing: US bank Silvergate acknowledges processing wire transfers for traders on Alameda, saying it conducted “extensive due diligence” on FTX and Alameda  —  Federal Reserve-regulated company says it performed ‘significant due diligence’ on FTX and Alameda Research

Drew FitzGerald / Wall Street Journal: Verizon replaces consumer unit chief Manon Brouillette, who joined in July 2021, with CEO Hans Vestberg; Verizon stock is down 29% in 2022  —  Consumer division leader Manon Brouillette departs after less than a year amid weak wireless subscriber growth  —  Verizon Communications Inc. VZ …

Fentanyl-related substances have a bad reputation, but they could also save lives. In the US, a legislative battle to expedite research is heating up.

Emergency responders rely on the platform to share and collect lifesaving information. Looser moderation puts that in peril.

Headphone jacks might be endangered, but they’re not gone. Here are some of our favorite smartphones that still let you plug in.

Rachael Levy / Reuters: Sources: the US Department of Agriculture is probing Neuralink for potential animal welfare violations after complaints that its animal testing is being rushed  —  Elon Musk’s Neuralink, a medical device company, is under federal investigation for potential animal-welfare violations amid …

Sam Altman / @sama: Sam Altman says ChatGPT crossed 1M users since it launched less than a week ago  —  ChatGPT launched on wednesday. today it crossed 1 million users!

Paul Thurrott / Thurrott: Google’s latest Pixel drop brings VPN by Google and Clear Calling to Pixel 7 and 7 Pro, automatic speaker labels in the Recorder app to Pixel 6 and up, and more  —  Google today announced the latest Pixel drop, which brings new features to Pixel phones, Pixel Watch, and Pixel Buds.

A technique that uses nanoscale structures to reproduce colour has been employed to make copies of famous paintings, and could also help fight counterfeiting

The noise of a construction site often annoys the people living and working nearby. But at MIT, it can lead to creativity and innovation. Such was the case with the creation of the new well-being graduate resident advisor (WGRA) role at MacGregor House. With the construction of a new apartment in the residence hall, heads-of-house […]

The School of Science has announced that 10 of its faculty members have been appointed to named professorships. The faculty members selected for these positions receive additional support to pursue their research and develop their careers. Camilla Cattania has been named a Cecil and Ida Green Career Development Professor in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric […]

Former co-hosts Sarah, Nicole, and Emily join the Amys to talk through insights from this season.

Fifty percent of jobs will require new skill sets in the next five years, according to the World Economic Forum.

It costs five times more to win a new customer than to retain a current one.

Simon Sharwood / The Register: Rackspace confirms a “security incident” impacted its hosted Microsoft Exchange services, leading to an “extended outage”; customers complain of poor support  —  Warns recovery could take several days and pledges better support after customer complaints

Dan Milmo / The Guardian: Survey of 8,000 young people in nine European countries finds 34% have pirated content, 27% reported trolling someone, 22% reported inciting violence, and more  —  EU-funded survey of people aged 16-19 finds one in four have trolled someone – while UK least ‘cyberdeviant’ of nine countries