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Tech & Engineering

Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Jun-2025 09:10 ET (21-Jun-2025 13:10 GMT/UTC)

System lets robots identify an object’s properties through handling

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Reports and Proceedings

Robots developed at MIT can now learn about an object’s weight, softness, or contents by picking it up and gently shaking it. A robot can accurately guess parameters like an object’s mass in a matter of seconds, without the need for cameras or other external sensors.

Funder: Amazon, GIST-CSAIL Research Program

Researchers find new defense against hard-to-treat plant diseases

Texas A&M University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

In a recent study published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, researchers showed that some spinach defensins can confer similar protection to citrus and potatoes — and possibly other crops. The effects show significant progress toward recovering yield and improving quality in diseased plants.

Journal: Plant Biotechnology Journal

Exoskeleton technology shows promise in protecting workers in one of the most dangerous jobs

Texas A&M University

In a recent study, Kim and co-author Woodam Chung, PhD, a forest engineer at Oregon State University, were the first to objectively measure biomechanical stress experienced by professional timber fellers during actual timber felling operations. They also evaluated forest workers’ perceptions of wearable exoskeletons—emerging technology already being used in other physically demanding industries such as shipbuilding and automotive and aerospace manufacturing.

Journal: International Journal of Forest Engineering
Funder: Economic Development Administration, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health

Dr. Emily DeJeu on using large language models to analyze sensitive discourse

Carnegie Mellon University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Large language models (LLMs) are artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can understand and generate human language by analyzing and processing large amounts of text. In a new essay, a Carnegie Mellon University researcher critiques an article on LLMs and provides a nuanced look at the models’ limits for analyzing sensitive discourse, such as hate speech. The commentary is published in the Journal of Multicultural Discourses.

Journal: Journal of Multicultural Discourses

AI-designed DNA controls genes in healthy mammalian cells for first time

Center for Genomic Regulation
Peer-Reviewed Publication

A study published today in the journal Cell marks the first reported instance of generative AI designing synthetic molecules that can successfully control gene expression in healthy mammalian cells. As a proof-of-concept, the authors of the study asked the AI to design synthetic fragments which activate a gene coding for a fluorescent protein in some cells while leaving gene expression patterns unaltered. They created the fragments from scratch and dropped them into mouse blood cells, where the sequence fused with the genome at random locations. The experiments worked exactly as predicted and pave the way for new strategies to give instructions to a cell and guide how they develop and behave with unprecedented accuracy.

Journal: Cell

Building vaccines for future versions of a virus

Harvard Medical School
Peer-Reviewed Publication

AI model EVE-Vax provides clues about how a virus may evolve and the immune response it could provoke

Journal: Immunity

People who understand the health dangers of living in high-risk areas are more likely to accept home buyouts

Texas A&M University
Peer-Reviewed Publication

Galena Park, Texas, is on the northern bank of the Houston Ship Channel, home of the nation’s largest petrochemical complex. About 4,200 of the town’s nearly 10,500 residents live within a mile of industrial sites that handle substances that are sufficiently hazardous to be covered under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Risk Management Program. Now, a new, multidisciplinary study from researchers at Texas A&M University, that is part of a broader, multi-year effort, sheds light on how Galena Park residents feel about a novel remedy for their situation: home buyouts.

Journal: Sustainable Environment
Funder: Environmental Protection Agency