After uncovering a unifying algorithm that links more than 20 common machine-learning approaches, MIT researchers organized them into a “periodic table of machine learning” that can help scientists combine elements of different methods to improve algorithms or create new ones.

For many cancer patients, side effects from radiation can be debilitating. But a new way of delivering radiation treatment has proven effective at eliminating a hard-to-treat cancer with the only side effect being light skin discoloration, even nine months after treatment. This new treatment, step-and-shoot proton arc therapy, is the first to be used by physicians and scientists to treat a patient at Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan.

A new review paper in Engineering delves into silicon carbide (SiC)-based pressure sensors. SiC, a third-generation semiconductor, shows great potential for high-temperature applications. The report covers SiC’s material properties, key technologies in sensor development like piezoresistive effect, ohmic contact, etching, and packaging, along with future research directions.

In the realm of smart manufacturing and digital engineering, a new technology named Data-Model Fusion (DMF) is gaining traction. A review paper in Engineering details how DMF integrates model-based and data-driven methods, addresses their limitations, and finds applications across the product lifecycle. It also explores DMF’s future directions, showing its potential to reshape industrial processes.

In a recent study published in Engineering, researchers from Xi’an Jiaotong University have developed a self-adaptive core-shell dry adhesive with a “live core”. This new adhesive addresses the long-standing issue of weak adhesion under non-parallel contact in engineering operations, offering improved performance and potential applications in various fields such as robotic gripping and optical component assembly.