Researchers from three institutions, including UC Santa Barbara, have demonstrated that artificial intelligence has the potential to make future visual prostheses, like a bionic eye, more precise, predictable and responsive to an individual user.

Researchers at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center and international collaborators have developed a new blood test that could help patients at high risk for lymphoma get to a biopsy and treatment sooner. The Access to Diagnosis using Liquid Biopsy (ADLiB) platform combines multiple genetic clues found in the blood with machine learning to estimate a patient’s likelihood of having lymphoma. In an initial study of 124 patients in South Africa, the platform correctly identified patients with lymphoma 95% of the time. Rather than replacing a tissue biopsy, researchers envision ADLiB as a tool to fast-track patients who need further testing, particularly in rural and resource-limited settings where access to specialized pathology expertise may be limited.

Leading voices from across the aerospace industry and academia gathered in Florence, Italy for the panel titled "Engineering Innovation Enabling Scientific Research," examining how advances in engineering are unlocking new scientific missions and how ambitious science goals are, in turn, driving engineering breakthroughs.

The panel, moderated by Alison Nordt, Director of Space Sciences & Instrumentation at Lockheed Martin Space's Advanced Technology Center, brought together six panellists to discuss the evolving relationship between space science and systems engineering: Marius Anger (Aalto University), Jon Arenberg (Northrop Grumman), Mayra Montrose (L3Harris), Giampiero Di Paolo (Thales Alenia Space Italia), Steve Squyres (Blue Origin) and Eric Stallmer (Voyager).

 - Researchers at Princeton engineering developed a math framework for construction of adjustable shells that snap into different configurations. Each configuration is stable — it can maintain its position and resist outside force without additional locking mechanisms. The method has applications in robotics, space exploration and construction.

- Shells, thin structures with a curved surface, are a highly efficient method for supporting loads over wide areas, like airplane wings. Shells exist in nature, as eggshells or skulls, in the built environment as bridges and machine parts, and in ancient buildings like the Roman Pantheon and the Hagia Sophia.

- Taking inspiration from curved-crease origami and concepts from differential geometry, the team developed guidelines for curved, multi-stable structures. Based on geometry, the work does not require specific shapes or exotic construction materials. The team built robots to explore the concept of snapping curved folds which can be controlled with magnetic fields, without needing any onboard motors or electronics.