BY: GINA MANTICA Social science that uses qualitative research methods is ideal for understanding complex social and political processes that contribute to pressing societal issues. But this type of research is limited by the time-consuming process of manually collecting and analyzing qualitative data. To address this problem, sociologists at Boston University (BU) and the University […]
BY: GINA MANTICA Drones can learn to fly on their own thanks to machine learning. But drones trained with current machine learning algorithms sometimes move erratically or use up a lot of energy, preventing them from traveling long distances. Kate Saenko, Co-Director of the Artificial Intelligence Research Initiative at the Hariri Institute for Computing, worked […]
BY: NATALIE GOLD Hasini Weerathunge has a strong background in industry—from working in the London Stock Exchange to conducting research at SYNERGEN Technology Labs. Now, as a Graduate Student Fellow at Boston University’s Hariri Institute for Computing, she is studying how Parkinson’s disease affects speech production processes in the brain. Originally from Sri Lanka, Weerathunge […]
Better detection of the disease may lead to earlier treatment, opportunity to participate in clinical trials For media inquiries, please contact Gina DiGravio: 617-224-8962, ginad@bu.edu Warning signs for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) can begin in the brain years before the first symptoms appear. Spotting these clues may allow for lifestyle changes that could possibly delay the […]
Boston University’s Hariri Institute for Computing and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory join forces to create a cloud computing platform for global change scientists. BY GINA MANTICA For media inquiries, please email gmantica@bu.edu. Climate change might be partly to blame for the severe winter weather in Texas. To create effective policies that protect the Earth’s climate, […]
BY: GINA MANTICA Francesco Orabona, Hariri Institute Research Fellow and Assistant Professor in Electrical & Computer Engineering, recently received a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation (NSF). NSF CAREER awards recognize exceptional early-career scientists that will use their funding to support the next generation of scientists and diversify the […]
BY: GINA MANTICA Stem cells can help repair damaged tissues, but only if they aren’t damaged, themselves. Some techniques to visualize the intricate structures of stem cells are time-consuming and invasive, while others require the cells to be killed. But machine learning can significantly cut down the time it takes to visualize the different parts […]
BY: GINA MANTICA Allyson Sgro explored many different career trajectories and research fields before landing in academia. Sgro’s fearless pursuit of her passions led her from considering a path running her own scientific small business to getting degrees and post-doctoral training in chemistry and physics. The interdisciplinary nature of her current work to understand how […]
Just this weekend, Massachusetts confirmed the presence of the more contagious strain of SARS-CoV-2, known as B-117. And without enough COVID-19 tests and contact tracers, current contact tracing methods might be insufficient in preventing its spread throughout the Commonwealth. But bidirectional contact tracing, or tracking positive COVID-19 cases both to newly infected individuals and back to their original source, can be twice as effective as current methods.
BY: GINA MANTICA People’s fear of 5G technology is rational. Such technology does emit radiation, even if it’s at low levels. But 5G isn’t all that different from 4G, and it certainly doesn’t cause COVID-19 despite such rumors having spread rapidly across the globe. Researchers need to better understand how misinformation like this spreads in […]