For pregnant women, ultrasounds are an informative (and sometimes necessary) procedure. They typically produce two-dimensional black-and-white scans of fetuses that can reveal key insights, including biological sex, approximate size, and abnormalities like heart issues or cleft lip. If your doctor wants a closer look, they may use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which uses magnetic fields to capture images that can be combined to create a 3D view of the fetus.

MRIs aren’t a catch-all, though; the 3D scans are difficult for doctors to interpret well enough to diagnose problems because our visual system is not accustomed to processing 3D volumetric scans (in other words, a wrap-around look that also shows us the inner structures of a subject). Enter machine learning, which could help model a fetus’s development more clearly and accurately from data — although no such algorithm has been able to model their somewhat random movements and various body shapes.

That is, until a new approach called “Fetal SMPL” from MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH), and Harvard Medical School presented clinicians with a more detailed picture of fetal health. It was adapted from “SMPL” (Skinned Multi-Person Linear model), a 3D model developed in computer graphics to capture adult body shapes and poses, as a way to represent fetal body shapes and poses accurately. Fetal SMPL was then trained on 20,000 MRI volumes to predict the location and size of a fetus and create sculpture-like 3D representations. Inside each model is a skeleton with 23 articulated joints called a “kinematic tree,” which the system uses to pose and move like the fetuses it saw during training.

The extensive, real-world scans that Fetal SMPL learned from helped it develop pinpoint accuracy. Imagine stepping into a stranger’s footprint while blindfolded, and not only does it fit perfectly, but you correctly guess what shoe they wore — similarly, the tool closely matched the position and size of fetuses in MRI frames it hadn’t seen before. Fetal SMPL was only misaligned by an average of about 3.1 millimeters, a gap smaller than a single grain of rice.

The approach could enable doctors to precisely measure things like the size of a baby’s head or abdomen and compare these metrics with healthy fetuses at the same age. Fetal SMPL has demonstrated its clinical potential in early tests, where it achieved accurate alignment results on a small group of real-world scans.

“It can be challenging to estimate the shape and pose of a fetus because they’re crammed into the tight confines of the uterus,” says lead author, MIT PhD student, and CSAIL researcher Yingcheng Liu SM ’21. “Our approach overcomes this challenge using a system of interconnected bones under the surface of the 3D model, which represent the fetal body and its motions realistically. Then, it relies on a coordinate descent algorithm to make a prediction, essentially alternating between guessing pose and shape from tricky data until it finds a reliable estimate.”

In utero

Fetal SMPL was tested on shape and pose accuracy against the closest baseline the researchers could find: a system that models infant growth called “SMIL.” Since babies out of the womb are larger than fetuses, the team shrank those models by 75 percent to level the playing field.

The system outperformed this baseline on a dataset of fetal MRIs between the gestational ages of 24 and 37 weeks taken at Boston Children’s Hospital. Fetal SMPL was able to recreate real scans more precisely, as its models closely lined up with real MRIs.

The method was efficient at lining up their models to images, only needing three iterations to arrive at a reasonable alignment. In an experiment that counted how many incorrect guesses Fetal SMPL had made before arriving at a final estimate, its accuracy plateaued from the fourth step onward.

The researchers have just begun testing their system in the real world, where it produced similarly accurate models in initial clinical tests. While these results are promising, the team notes that they’ll need to apply their results to larger populations, different gestational ages, and a variety of disease cases to better understand the system’s capabilities.

Only skin deep

Liu also notes that their system only helps analyze what doctors can see on the surface of a fetus, since only bone-like structures lie beneath the skin of the models. To better monitor babies’ internal health, such as liver, lung, and muscle development, the team intends to make their tool volumetric, modeling the fetus’s inner anatomy from scans. Such upgrades would make the models more human-like, but the current version of Fetal SMPL already presents a precise (and unique) upgrade to 3D fetal health analysis.

“This study introduces a method specifically designed for fetal MRI that effectively captures fetal movements, enhancing the assessment of fetal development and health,” says Kiho Im, Harvard Medical School associate professor of pediatrics and staff scientist in the Division of Newborn Medicine at BCH’s Fetal-Neonatal Neuroimaging and Developmental Science Center. Im, who was not involved with the paper, adds that this approach “will not only improve the diagnostic utility of fetal MRI, but also provide insights into the early functional development of the fetal brain in relation to body movements.”

“This work reaches a pioneering milestone by extending parametric surface human body models for the earliest shapes of human life: fetuses,” says Sergi Pujades, an associate professor at University Grenoble Alpes, who wasn’t involved in the research. “It allows us to detangle the shape and motion of a human, which has already proven to be key in understanding how adult body shape relates to metabolic conditions and how infant motion relates to neurodevelopmental disorders. In addition, the fact that the fetal model stems from, and is compatible with, the adult (SMPL) and infant (SMIL) body models, will allow us to study human shape and pose evolution over long periods of time. This is an unprecedented opportunity to further quantify how human shape growth and motion are affected by different conditions.”

Liu wrote the paper with three CSAIL members: Peiqi Wang SM ’22, PhD ’25; MIT PhD student Sebastian Diaz; and senior author Polina Golland, the Sunlin and Priscilla Chou Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, a principal investigator in MIT CSAIL, and the leader of the Medical Vision Group. BCH assistant professor of pediatrics Esra Abaci Turk, Inria researcher Benjamin Billot, and Harvard Medical School professor of pediatrics and professor of radiology Patricia Ellen Grant are also authors on the paper. This work was supported, in part, by the National Institutes of Health and the MIT CSAIL-Wistron Program.

The researchers will present their work at the International Conference on Medical Image Computing and Computer Assisted Intervention (MICCAI) in September.

Attaullah Baig, WhatsApp’s former head of security, has filed a whistleblower lawsuit alleging that Facebook deliberately failed to fix a bunch of security flaws, in violation of its 2019 settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.

The lawsuit, alleging violations of the whistleblower protection provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed in 2002, said that in 2022, roughly 100,000 WhatsApp users had their accounts hacked every day. By last year, the complaint alleged, as many as 400,000 WhatsApp users were getting locked out of their accounts each day as a result of such account takeovers...

Public health experts say diseases are more likely to tear through crowded storm shelters after the state canceled vaccine mandates.

Chevron is hoping for a ruling that would derail lawsuits that seek to hold oil majors responsible for damaging Louisiana’s coastline.

Legislation approved Saturday aims to help property owners assess their rate hikes amid a statewide insurance crisis and rising costs.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey aims to rapidly expand his state's coal- and gas-fired power to fuel the “AI and technology arms race.”

The conservative firebrand has been on a crusade against weather modification.

Thousands of small-scale farmers in the southern African country Malawi are using a generative AI chatbot for farming advice.

In the past two years, the region has more than doubled its annual spending on stormwater drainage.

Germany said the European Commission’s emissions proposal should be discussed by leaders at their October meeting.

South Africa’s environment minister is expressing dismay over developed nations reneging on funding pledges.

Alan Lightman has spent much of his authorial career writing about scientific discovery, the boundaries of knowledge, and remarkable findings from the world of research. His latest book “The Shape of Wonder,” co-authored with the lauded English astrophysicist Martin Rees and published this month by Penguin Random House, offers both profiles of scientists and an examination of scientific methods, humanizing researchers and making an affirmative case for the value of their work. Lightman is a professor of the practice of the humanities in MIT’s Comparative Media Studies/Writing Program; Rees is a fellow of Trinity College at Cambridge University and the UK’s Astronomer Royal. Lightman talked with MIT News about the new volume.

Q: What is your new book about?

A: The book tries to show who scientists are and how they think. Martin and I wrote it to address several problems. One is mistrust in scientists and their institutions, which is a worldwide problem. We saw this problem illustrated during the pandemic. That mistrust I think is associated with a belief by some people that scientists and their institutions are part of the elite establishment, a belief that is one feature of the populist movement worldwide. In recent years there’s been considerable misinformation about science. And, many people don’t know who scientists are.

Another thing, which is very important, is a lack of understanding about evidence-based critical thinking. When scientists get new data and information, their theories and recommendations change. But this process, part of the scientific method, is not well-understood outside of science. Those are issues we address in the book. We have profiles of a number of scientists and show them as real people, most of whom work for the benefit of society or out of intellectual curiosity, rather than being driven by political or financial interests. We try to humanize scientists while showing how they think.

Q: You profile some well-known figures in the book, as well as some lesser-known scientists. Who are some of the people you feature in it?

A: One person is a young neuroscientist, Lace Riggs, who works at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. She grew up in difficult circumstances in southern California, decided to go into science, got a PhD in neuroscience, and works as a postdoc researching the effect of different compounds on the brain and how that might lead to drugs to combat certain mental illnesses. Another very interesting person is Magdalena Lenda, an ecologist in Poland. When she was growing up, her father sold fish for a living, and took her out in the countryside and would identify plants, which got her interested in ecology. She works on stopping invasive species. The intention is to talk about people’s lives and interests, and show them as full people.

While humanizing scientists in the book, we show how critical thinking works in science. By the way, critical thinking is not owned by scientists. Accountants, doctors, and many others use critical thinking. I’ve talked to my car mechanic about what kinds of problems come into the shop. People don’t know what causes the check engine light to go on — the catalytic converter, corroded spark plugs, etc. — so mechanics often start from the simplest and cheapest possibilities and go to the next potential problem, down the list. That’s a perfect example of critical thinking. In science, it is checking your ideas and hypotheses against data, then updating them if needed.

Q: Are there common threads linking together the many scientists you feature in the book?

A: There are common threads, but also no single scientific stereotype. There’s a wide range of personalities in the sciences. But one common thread is that all the scientists I know are passionate about what they’re doing. They’re working for the benefit of society, and out of sheer intellectual curiosity. That links all the people in the book, as well as other scientists I’ve known. I wish more people in America would realize this: Scientists are working for their overall benefit. Science is a great success story. Thanks to scientific advances, since 1900 the expected lifespan in the U.S, has increased from a little more than 45 years to almost 80 years, in just a century, largely due to our ability to combat diseases. What’s more vital than your lifespan?

This book is just a drop in the bucket in terms of what needs to be done. But we all do what we can. 

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak:

• I’m speaking and signing books at the Cambridge Public Library on October 22, 2025 at 6 PM ET. The event is sponsored by Harvard Bookstore.
• I’m giving a virtual talk about my book Rewiring Democracy at 1 PM ET on October 23, 2025. The event is hosted by Data & Society. More details to come.
• I’m speaking at the World Forum for Democracy in Strasbourg, France, November 5-7, 2025.
• I’m speaking and signing books at the University of Toronto Bookstore in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 14, 2025. Details to come...

Research:

Nondestructive detection of multiple dried squid qualities by hyperspectral imaging combined with 1D-KAN-CNN

Abstract: Given that dried squid is a highly regarded marine product in Oriental countries, the global food industry requires a swift and noninvasive quality assessment of this product. The current study therefore uses visible­near-infrared (VIS-NIR) hyperspectral imaging and deep learning (DL) methodologies. We acquired and preprocessed VIS-NIR (400­1000 nm) hyperspectral reflectance images of 93 dried squid samples. Important wavelengths were selected using competitive adaptive reweighted sampling, principal component analysis, and the successive projections algorithm. Based on a Kolmogorov-Arnold network (KAN), we introduce a one-dimensional, KAN convolutional neural network (1D-KAN-CNN) for nondestructive measurements of fat, protein, and total volatile basic nitrogen…...

Interesting analysis:

When cyber incidents occur, victims should be notified in a timely manner so they have the opportunity to assess and remediate any harm. However, providing notifications has proven a challenge across industry.

When making notifications, companies often do not know the true identity of victims and may only have a single email address through which to provide the notification. Victims often do not trust these notifications, as cyber criminals often use the pretext of an account compromise as a phishing lure.

[…]

This report explores the challenges associated with developing the native-notification concept and lays out a roadmap for overcoming them. It also examines other opportunities for more narrow changes that could both increase the likelihood that victims will both receive and trust notifications and be able to access support resources...

Each year, the U.S. energy industry loses an estimated 3 percent of its natural gas production, valued at $1 billion in revenue, to leaky infrastructure. Escaping invisibly into the air, these methane gas plumes can now be detected, imaged, and measured using a specialized lidar flown on small aircraft.

This lidar is a product of Bridger Photonics, a leading methane-sensing company based in Bozeman, Montana. MIT Lincoln Laboratory developed the lidar's optical-power amplifier, a key component of the system, by advancing its existing slab-coupled optical waveguide amplifier (SCOWA) technology. The methane-detecting lidar is 10 to 50 times more capable than other airborne remote sensors on the market.

"This drone-capable sensor for imaging methane is a great example of Lincoln Laboratory technology at work, matched with an impactful commercial application," says Paul Juodawlkis, who pioneered the SCOWA technology with Jason Plant in the Advanced Technology Division and collaborated with Bridger Photonics to enable its commercial application.

Today, the product is being adopted widely, including by nine of the top 10 natural gas producers in the United States. "Keeping gas in the pipe is good for everyone — it helps companies bring the gas to market, improves safety, and protects the outdoors," says Pete Roos, founder and chief innovation officer at Bridger. "The challenge with methane is that you can't see it. We solved a fundamental problem with Lincoln Laboratory."

A laser source "miracle"

In 2014, the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) was seeking a cost-effective and precise way to detect methane leaks. Highly flammable and a potent pollutant, methane gas (the primary constituent of natural gas) moves through the country via a vast and intricate pipeline network. Bridger submitted a research proposal in response to ARPA-E's call and was awarded funding to develop a small, sensitive aerial lidar.

Aerial lidar sends laser light down to the ground and measures the light that reflects back to the sensor. Such lidar is often used for producing detailed topography maps. Bridger's idea was to merge topography mapping with gas measurements. Methane absorbs light at the infrared wavelength of 1.65 microns. Operating a laser at that wavelength could allow a lidar to sense the invisible plumes and measure leak rates.

"This laser source was one of the hardest parts to get right. It's a key element," Roos says. His team needed a laser source with specific characteristics to emit powerfully enough at a wavelength of 1.65 microns to work from useful altitudes. Roos recalled the ARPA-E program manager saying they needed a "miracle" to pull it off.

Through mutual connections, Bridger was introduced to a Lincoln Laboratory technology for optically amplifying laser signals: the SCOWA. When Bridger contacted Juodawlkis and Plant, they had been working on SCOWAs for a decade. Although they had never investigated SCOWAs at 1.65 microns, they thought that the fundamental technology could be extended to operate at that wavelength. Lincoln Laboratory received ARPA-E funding to develop 1.65-micron SCOWAs and provide prototype units to Bridger for incorporation into their gas-mapping lidar systems.

"That was the miracle we needed," Roos says.

A legacy in laser innovation

Lincoln Laboratory has long been a leader in semiconductor laser and optical emitter technology. In 1962, the laboratory was among the first to demonstrate the diode laser, which is now the most widespread laser used globally. Several spinout companies, such as Lasertron and TeraDiode, have commercialized innovations stemming from the laboratory's laser research, including those for fiber-optic telecommunications and metal-cutting applications.

In the early 2000s, Juodawlkis, Plant, and others at the laboratory recognized a need for a stable, powerful, and bright single-mode semiconductor optical amplifier, which could enhance lidar and optical communications. They developed the SCOWA (slab-coupled optical waveguide amplifier) concept by extending earlier work on slab-coupled optical waveguide lasers (SCOWLs). The initial SCOWA was funded under the laboratory's internal technology investment portfolio, a pool of R&D funding provided by the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering to seed new technology ideas. These ideas often mature into sponsored programs or lead to commercialized technology.

"Soon, we developed a semiconductor optical amplifier that was 10 times better than anything that had ever been demonstrated before," Plant says. Like other semiconductor optical amplifiers, the SCOWA guides laser light through semiconductor material. This process increases optical power as the laser light interacts with electrons, causing them to shed photons at the same wavelength as the input laser. The SCOWA's unique light-guiding design enables it to reach much higher output powers, creating a powerful and efficient beam. They demonstrated SCOWAs at various wavelengths and applied the technology to projects for the Department of Defense.

When Bridger Photonics reached out to Lincoln Laboratory, the most impactful application of the device yet emerged. Working iteratively through the ARPA-E funding and a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA), the team increased Bridger's laser power by more than tenfold. This power boost enabled them to extend the range of the lidar to elevations over 1,000 feet.

"Lincoln Laboratory had the knowledge of what goes on inside the optical amplifier — they could take our input, adjust the recipe, and make a device that worked very well for us," Roos says.

The Gas Mapping Lidar was commercially released in 2019. That same year, the product won an R&D 100 Award, recognizing it as a revolutionary advancement in the marketplace.

A technology transfer takes off

Today, the United States is the world's largest natural gas supplier, driving growth in the methane-sensing market. Bridger Photonics deploys its Gas Mapping Lidar for customers nationwide, attaching the sensor to planes and drones and pinpointing leaks across the entire supply chain, from where gas is extracted, piped through the country, and delivered to businesses and homes. Customers buy the data from these scans to efficiently locate and repair leaks in their gas infrastructure. In January 2025, the Environmental Protection Agency provided regulatory approval for the technology.

According to Bruce Niemeyer, president of Chevron's shale and tight operations, the lidar capability has been game-changing: "Our goal is simple — keep methane in the pipe. This technology helps us assure we are doing that … It can find leaks that are 10 times smaller than other commercial providers are capable of spotting."

At Lincoln Laboratory, researchers continue to innovate new devices in the national interest. The SCOWA is one of many technologies in the toolkit of the laboratory's Microsystems Prototyping Foundry, which will soon be expanded to include a new Compound Semiconductor Laboratory – Microsystem Integration Facility. Government, industry, and academia can access these facilities through government-funded projects, CRADAs, test agreements, and other mechanisms.

At the direction of the U.S. government, the laboratory is also seeking industry transfer partners for a technology that couples SCOWA with a photonic integrated circuit platform. Such a platform could advance quantum computing and sensing, among other applications.

"Lincoln Laboratory is a national resource for semiconductor optical emitter technology," Juodawlkis says.

A new MIT initiative known as Day of Design offers free, open-source, hands-on design activities for all classrooms, in addition to professional development opportunities and signature events. The material engages pK-12 learners in the skills they need to solve complex open-ended problems while also considering user, social, and environmental needs. Inspired by Day of AI and Day of Climate, it is a new collaborative effort by the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) and the WPS Institute, with support from the MIT pK-12 Initiative.

“At MIT, design is practiced across departments — from the more obvious ones, like architecture and mechanical engineering, to less apparent ones, like biology and chemistry. Design skills support students in becoming strong collaborators, idea-makers, and human-centered problem-solvers. The Day of Design initiative seeks to share these skills with the K-12 audience through bite-sized, engaging activities for every classroom,” says Rosa Weinberg, who co-led the development of Day of Design and serves as MAD’s K–12 design education lead.

These interdisciplinary resources are designed collaboratively with feedback from teachers and grounded in exciting themes across science, humanities, art, engineering, and other subject areas, serving educators and learners regardless of their experience with design and making. Activities are scaffolded like “grammar lessons” for design education, including classroom-ready slides, handouts, tutorial videos, and facilitation tips supporting 21st century mindsets. All materials will be shared online, enabling educators to use the content as-is, or modify it as needed for their classrooms and other informal learning settings.

Rachel Adams, a former teacher and head of teaching and learning at the WPS Institute, explains, “There can be a gap between open-ended teaching materials and what teachers actually need in their classrooms. Day of Design classroom materials are piloted and workshopped by an interdisciplinary cohort of teachers who make up our Teacher Innovation Fellowship. This collaborative design process allows us to bridge the gap between cutting-edge MIT research with practical student-centered design lessons. These materials represent a new way of thinking that honors both the innovation happening in the labs at MIT and the real-world needs of educators.” 

Day of Design also features signature events and a yearly, real-world challenge that brings all the design skills together. It is intended for educators who want ready-to-use design and making activities that connect to their subject areas and mindsets, and for students eager to develop problem-solving skills, creativity, and hands-on experience. Schools and districts looking to engage learners through interdisciplinary, project-based approaches can adopt the program as a flexible framework, while community partners can use it to provide young people with tools and spaces to create.

Cedric Jacobson, a chemistry teacher at Brooke High School in Boston who participated in MAD’s Teacher Innovation Fellowship and contributed to testing the Day of Design curriculum, emphasizes it “provides opportunities for teachers to practice and interact with design principles in concrete ways through multiple lesson structures. This process empowers them to try design principles in model lessons before preparing to use them in their own curriculum.”

Evan Milstein-Greengart, another Teacher Innovation Fellow, describes how “having this hands-on experience changed the way I thought about education. I felt like a kid again — going back to playground learning — and I want to bring that same spirit into my classroom.” 

Closing the skills gap through design education

Technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and biotech are reshaping work and society. The World Economic Forum estimates that 39 percent of key job skills will change by 2030. At the same time, research shows student engagement drops sharply in high school, with a third of students experiencing what is often called the “engagement cliff.” Many do not encounter design until college, if at all.

There is a growing need to foster not just technical literacy, but design fluency — the ability to approach complex problems with empathy, creativity, and critical thinking. Design education helps students prototype solutions, iterate based on feedback, and communicate ideas clearly. Studies have shown it can improve creative thinking, motivation, problem-solving, self-efficacy, and academic achievement.

At MIT, design is a way of thinking and creating that spans disciplines — from bioengineering and architecture to mechanical systems and public policy. It is both creative and analytical, grounded in iteration, user input, and systems thinking. Day of Design reflects MIT’s “mens et manus” (“mind and hand”) motto and extends the tools of design to young learners and educators.

“The workshops help students develop skills that can be applied across multiple subject areas, using topics that draw context from MIT research while remaining exciting and accessible to middle and high school students,” explains Weinberg. “For example, ‘Cosmic Comfort,’ one of our pilot workshops, was inspired by MIT's Space Architecture course (MAS.S66/4.154/16.89). It challenges students to consider how you might make a lunar habitat feel like home, while focusing on developing the crucial design skill of ideation — the ability to generate multiple creative solutions.”

Building on an MIT legacy

Day of Design builds on the model of Day of AI and Day of Climate, two ongoing efforts by MIT RAISE and the MIT pK-12 Initiative. All three initiatives share free, open-source activities, professional development materials, and events that connect MIT research with educators and students worldwide. Since 2021, Day of AI has reached more than 42,000 teachers and 1.5 million students in 170 countries and all 50 U.S. states. Day of Climate, launched in March 2025, has already recorded over 50,000 website visitors, 300 downloads of professional development materials, and an April launch event at the MIT Museum that drew 200 participants.

“Day of Design builds on the spirit of Day of AI and Day of Climate by inviting young people to engage with real-world challenges through creative work, meaningful collaboration, and deep empathy for others. These initiatives reflect MIT’s commitment to hands-on, transdisciplinary learning, empowering future young leaders not just to understand the world, but to shape it,” says Claudia Urrea, executive director for the pK–12 Initiative at MIT Open Learning. 

Kicking off with connection

“Learning and creating together in person sparks the kind of ideas and connections that are hard to make any other way. Collective learning helps everyone think bigger and more creatively, while building a more deeply connected community that keeps that growth alive,” observes Caitlin Morris, PhD student in Fluid Interfaces, a 2024 MAD Design Fellow, and co-organizer of Day of Design: Connect, which will kick off Day of Design on Sept. 25. 

Following the launch, the first set of classroom resources will be introduced during the 2025–26 school year, starting with activities for grades 7–12. Additional resources for younger learners, along with training opportunities for educators, will be added over time. Each year, new design skills and mindsets will be incorporated, creating a growing library of activities. While initial events will take place at MIT, organizers plan to expand programming globally.

Teacher Innovation Fellow Jessica Toupin, who piloted Day of Design activities in her math classroom, reflects on the impact: “As a math teacher, I don’t always get to focus on design. This material reminded me of the joy of learning — and when I brought it into my classroom, students who had struggled came alive. Just the ability to play and build showed me they were capable of so much more.”

The head of the National Weather Service has long sought to embed forecasters in emergency operation centers nationwide.

Mayoral candidates of both parties say the city needs to shake up its climate programs.

Environmental justice groups were riding momentum against the industry, but then refinery closure announcements changed everything.