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  • Product showcase: Protect your data with Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3NXC

    Product showcase: Protect your data with Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3NXC

    The Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3NXC is a 256-bit AES XTS hardware-encrypted flash drive with a USB-C connector. It is available in storage capacities ranging from 4GB to 512GB and holds FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validation. The device is OS-agnostic, meaning it can work with any device that has a USB-C port, whether it’s a phone, tablet, Windows PC, or Mac.

    Apricorn Aegis Secure Key 3NXC setup

    Before setting it up, the device must be connected to a powered USB port and charged for 60 minutes. When not in use, the device enters sleep mode, during which it locks itself and becomes inaccessible.

    Aegis Secure Key 3NXC

    PIN requirements

    The Aegis Secure Key 3NXC does not come with a preset PIN. To begin using it, you must first create an Admin PIN, which must be 7 to 16 digits long. The PIN cannot be made up of only identical or sequential numbers (e.g., 123456789, 987654321, 11111111). All configuration settings, like setting a Self-Destruct PIN or Brute-Force protection, require you to enter Admin Mode.

    Since the key comes preformatted in NTFS, it must be reformatted before using it on a Mac.

    The Aegis Secure Key can have one Admin and one User, making a total of two working PINs.

    After setting up the Admin PIN, the User PIN can be created. The User has limited access: they can view and manage data, change their own PIN, and switch between Read-Only and Read/Write modes, but they cannot change Admin settings.

    Configure multiple Apricorn secure devices

    For larger deployments, companies can use the Aegis Configurator application along with a USB hub authorized by Apricorn to configure multiple devices simultaneously.

    If you’re using the Aegis Configurator to set up your Aegis Secure Key or any other Apricorn secure drive, first make sure the device has the “Configurable” logo on the back. Also, do not manually set up the Admin or User PINs, the Aegis Configurator will handle these steps automatically. It will only work with devices that are either in their original factory state or have been fully reset.

    Speed

    Help Net Security conducted a speed test using the 128GB version of the Aegis Secure Key 3NXC. All tests were done using the same computer and USB port to keep results consistent. The table below shows the average time in seconds it took to transfer different file sizes.

    Aegis Secure Key 3NXC

    According to official specifications, read and write speeds can reach up to 171MB/s and 160MB/s, respectively.

    Advanced security features

    The Aegis Secure Key 3NXC includes Brute-Force protection. By default, you are allowed up to 20 incorrect PIN attempts, but this can be reduced (in Admin Mode) to as few as 4.

    The key also features a Self-Destruct mode that can be enabled or disabled only by the Admin. However, the Self-Destruct PIN can be created by either the Admin or a User. When this PIN is entered while the device is locked, the key will perform a crypto-erase, wiping all data permanently. After that, the device must be reformatted, and the self-destruct PIN becomes the new Admin PIN.

    Another useful security feature is Read-Only mode. It’s especially helpful when you need to access your data in a public setting, since malware can easily attach themselves to USB drives.

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  • Why is David Koma showing in Berlin?

    Why is David Koma showing in Berlin?

    According to David Koma, his menswear line is a “selfish” project. “I wanted to have new experiences and to have something to enjoy on top of working hard,” he tells me. “It’s the first time I’ve had myself in mind as a customer, so there have been nice surprises along the way.”

    Even though the London-based designer has been designing menswear for three seasons now, he’s only just felt ready to put on a menswear show — and what appears to have been the perfect opportunity presented itself. Koma is showing as part of Berlin Fashion Week (BFW) organiser Fashion Council Germany’s primary talent scheme, Berlin Contemporary, which offers a €25,000 grant to put towards a show. The invitation to show in Berlin came a few months ago through one of his PR agencies, Reference Studios, which is based in Berlin with offices in Milan, Paris and London, and has been working with Fashion Council Germany to invite buzzy designers to the schedule as part of its showcase, Intervention. GmbH and Ottolinger are also taking part.

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  • Ultrafast 12-minute MRI maps brain chemistry to spot disease before symptoms

    Ultrafast 12-minute MRI maps brain chemistry to spot disease before symptoms

    A new technology that uses clinical MRI machines to image metabolic activity in the brain could give researchers and clinicians unique insight into brain function and disease, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign report. The non-invasive, high-resolution metabolic imaging of the whole brain revealed differences in metabolic activity and neurotransmitter levels among brain regions; found metabolic alterations in brain tumors; and mapped and characterized multiple sclerosis lesions — with patients only spending minutes in an MRI scanner.

    Led by Zhi-Pei Liang, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and a member of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the U. of I., the team reported its findings in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering.

    “Understanding the brain, how it works and what goes wrong when it is injured or diseased is considered one of the most exciting and challenging scientific endeavors of our time,” Liang said. “MRI has played major roles in unlocking the mysteries of the brain over the past four decades. Our new technology adds another dimension to MRI’s capability for brain imaging: visualization of brain metabolism and detection of metabolic alterations associated with brain diseases.”

    Conventional MRI provides high-resolution, detailed imaging of brain structures. Functional MRI maps brain activity by detecting changes in blood flow and blood oxygenation level, which are closely linked to neural activity. However, they cannot provide information on the metabolic activity in the brain, which is important for understanding function and disease, said postdoctoral researcher Yibo Zhao, the first author of the paper.

    “Metabolic and physiological changes often occur before structural and functional abnormalities are visible on conventional MRI and fMRI images,” Zhao said. “Metabolic imaging, therefore, can lead to early diagnosis and intervention of brain diseases.”

    Both MRI and fMRI techniques are based on magnetic resonance signals from water molecules. The new technology measures signals from brain metabolites and neurotransmitters as well as water molecules, a technique known as magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. These MRSI images can provide significant new insights into brain function and disease processes, and could improve sensitivity and specificity for the detection and diagnosis of brain diseases, Zhao said.

    Other attempts at MRSI have been bogged down by the lengthy times required to capture the images and high levels of noise obscuring the signals from neurotransmitters. The new technique addresses both challenges.

    “Our technology overcomes several long-standing technical barriers to fast high-resolution metabolic imaging by synergistically integrating ultrafast data acquisition with physics-based machine learning methods for data processing,” Liang said. With the new MRSI technology, the Illinois team cut the time required for a whole brain scan to 12 and a half minutes.

    The researchers tested their MRSI technique on several populations. In healthy subjects, the researchers found and mapped varying metabolic and neurotransmitter activity across different brain regions, indicating that such activity is not universal. In patients with brain tumors, the researchers found metabolic alterations, such as elevated choline and lactate, in tumors of different grades — even when the tumors appeared identical on clinical MRI images. In subjects with multiple sclerosis, the technique detected molecular changes associated with neuroinflammatory response and reduced neuronal activity up to 70 days before changes become visible on clinical MRI images, the researchers report.

    The researchers foresee potential for broad clinical use of their technique: By tracking metabolic changes over time, clinicians can assess the effectiveness of treatments for neurological conditions, Liang said. Metabolic information also can be used to tailor treatments to individual patients based on their unique metabolic profiles.

    “High-resolution whole-brain metabolic imaging has significant clinical potential,” said Liang, who began his career in the lab of the late Illinois professor Paul Lauterbur, recipient of the Nobel Prize for developing MRI technology. “Paul envisioned this exciting possibility and the general approach, but it has been very difficult to achieve his dream of fast high-resolution metabolic imaging in the clinical setting.

    “As healthcare is moving towards personalized, predictive and precision medicine, this high-speed, high-resolution technology can provide a timely and effective tool to address an urgent unmet need for noninvasive metabolic imaging in clinical applications.”

    This work was supported by the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation.

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  • India-Pakistan cricket rivalry set to light up UAE

    India-Pakistan cricket rivalry set to light up UAE

    UAE likely to host entire event

    Broadcasters apply pressure

    Political standoff nearly derailed tournament

    Cricket’s biggest rivalry, bigger than ever

    From playing on the pitch to analysing it from the press box, Satish has spent over three decades living and breathing sport. A cricketer-turned-journalist, he has covered three Cricket World Cups, the 2025 Champions Trophy, countless IPL seasons, F1 races, horse racing classics, and tennis in Dubai.

    Cricket is his home ground, but he sees himself as an all-rounder – breaking stories, building pages, going live on podcasts, and interviewing legends across every corner of the sporting world.

    Satish started on the back pages, and earned his way to the front, now leading the sports team at Gulf News, where he has spent 25 years navigating the fast-evolving game of journalism.

    Whether it’s a Super-Over thriller or a behind-the-scenes story, he aims to bring insight, energy, and a fan’s heart to every piece. Because like sport, journalism is about showing up, learning every day, and giving it everything.

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  • Preventing obesity with an immune-altering gut microbe

    Preventing obesity with an immune-altering gut microbe

    The gut bacteria has potential to become a probiotic or postbiotic to treat obesity and metabolic diseases.

    Credit: iStock.com/Artur Plawgo

    The understudied human gut bacteria P. faecium  counteracted weight gain in mice by reducing inflammation, revealing a potential new way to treat obesity.

    The human gut serves as an intersection point for many processes — digesting food, absorbing nutrients, supporting immunity, and regulating metabolism — that all interact with a vital and dynamic ecosystem: the gut microbiome. 

    What the body absorbs depends on how the intestines — and the microbes living there — break down food, said Nicola Segata, a computational microbiologist at the University of Trento. “There is a clear link between our diet and the composition of our gut microbiome,” he said. 

    Yolanda Sanz first became interested in P. faecium after finding that this bacterium was increased in children with normal weight gain.

    Credit: Yolanda Sanz

    Researchers have found that changes in the gut microbiome are associated with increased risk of obesity. However, “what is still unclear is which are the main biomarkers or microbiome signatures that consistently are linked with obesity,” said Yolanda Sanz, a microbiologist at the Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology, Spanish National Research Council (IATA-CSIC).

    In a study published in 2018, Sanz and her colleagues noticed that children who went on to experience excessive weight gain in a four-year period had different microbiomes prior to their weight gain than children who gained a normal amount of weight (1). During this longitudinal study, they found that the bacterial species Phascolarctobacterium faecium  was enriched in children with normal weight gains compared to those who gained excessive weight. This microbe “has long been known to be a regular commensal or inhabitant of our gut microbiome, but we didn’t know much about its role, its function, [or] its significance in our gut,” said Ravinder Nagpal, a microbiologist at Florida State University.

    To dig deeper into the role of this bacterium in obesity, Sanz, Segata, and their labs turned to 7,529 human metagenomic samples to document what microbes are present in the gut of people with and without obesity (2). In a new study, they reported that P. faecium  is associated with non-obesity and that it acted via an innate immune pathway to counteract metabolic changes associated with obesity (3). This microbe could provide a new path to treating obesity.

    To determine this bacterial species’ potential role in obesity, the researchers fed mice a high fat and sugar diet, while giving control mice a low fat and sugar diet. Without intervention, mice on the high-fat, high-sugar diet gained more weight than control mice. However, when the researchers treated these mice with P. faecium, it limited the mice’s weight and body fat increases and improved glucose clearance.

    Mice on the high-fat, high-sugar diet exhibited an increased amount of pro-inflammatory macrophages in the intestines and had higher levels of intestinal type 1 innate lymphoid cells, which are cells involved in many inflammatory disorders (4). The addition of P. faecium  mitigated these changes by boosting the levels of anti-inflammatory macrophages called M2 macrophages and reducing the increase in type 1 innate lymphoid cells. When the team used a small molecule inhibitor to block macrophages from adopting the M2 phenotype, P. faecium’s positive effects disappeared. These results demonstrate that P. faecium’s anti-obesogenic effect occurs by modulating the immune system.

    In the future, it’s possible that P. faecium  could be developed as a probiotic, said Nagpal, who was not associated with the study. He added that in the mouse model, the microbe “effectively showed promise as a therapeutic or preventative.”

    A group of laboratory researchers stand outside on the grass.

    Yolanda Sanz’s research group studies the role of the microbiome in nutrition and health.

    Credit: Yolanda Sanz

    Beyond probiotics, there’s also potential for this bacterium to act as a postbiotic, which are components released from living or dead microorganisms that have health benefits. The researchers found that both living and pasteurized P. faecium  reduced the pro-inflammatory immune response associated with an obesogenic diet. Sanz explained that they still see this effect for pasteurized bacteria possibly because the immune system could be responding to a structural component of P. faecium’s cell wall. Previous work from another team found that the gut commensal Akkermansia muciniphila  had an effect on metabolism and obesity whether it was alive or not (5). In particular, since P. faecium  is anaerobic, Sanz added that it would be easier to develop it as a postbiotic rather than a probiotic as keeping the bacteria alive during manufacturing is challenging due to oxygen exposure.

    Since the bacteria reduce inflammation, Sanz added that P. faecium  has potential applications beyond metabolic disorders and in other conditions where inflammation has a role.

    “The results are quite promising,” said Sanz. “We hope that, in the end, we can progress towards performing clinical trials and getting evidence from humans.”

    References

    1. Rampelli, S. et al.  Pre-obese children’s dysbiotic gut microbiome and unhealthy diets may predict the development of obesity. Commun Biol  1, 222 (2018).
    2. Pasolli, E. et al.  Accessible, curated metagenomic data through ExperimentHub. Nat Methods  14, 1023–1024 (2017).
    3. Liébana-García, R. et al.  Gut commensal Phascolarctobacterium faecium retunes innate immunity to mitigate obesity and metabolic disease in mice. Nat Microbiol  10, 1310-1322 (2025).
    4. Ebbo, M. et al.  Innate lymphoid cells: major players in inflammatory diseases. Nat Rev Immunol  17, 665–678 (2017).
    5. Plovier, H. et al.  A purified membrane protein from Akkermansia muciniphila or the pasteurized bacterium improves metabolism in obese and diabetic mice. Nat Med  23, 107–113 (2017).

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  • Neurosurgeon explains how ‘brain health is pretty easy to achieve’, reveals foods to eat: Dark chocolate, fish, broccoli | Health

    Neurosurgeon explains how ‘brain health is pretty easy to achieve’, reveals foods to eat: Dark chocolate, fish, broccoli | Health

    Take it from a brain surgeon, brain health is one of the most important things to living a quality life: US-based neurosurgeon Dr Brian Hoeflinger said in a March 23 Instagram post. According to him, food plays a significant role in supporting brain health. In the video he shared, Dr Hoeflinger explained ‘how to maintain a healthy brain’, highlighting some amazing brain-boosting foods. Also read | Want to keep your brain sharp? Add these 6 foods to your diet and know their benefits

    Food plays a significant role in supporting brain health. A balanced diet rich in nutrients can help improve cognitive function, boost memory, and reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline. (Freepik)

    What’s the secret to achieving a healthy brain?

    According to him, incorporating these foods into your diet can have a positive impact on brain health and overall well-being. From fish that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and support brain health and cognitive function, to green vegetables that are packed with vitamins and antioxidants that support cognitive function and may reduce age-related cognitive decline, here’s what Dr Hoeflinger suggested.

    He said, “Brain health is super important and is pretty easy to achieve by knowing this: it starts with food. There are fatty fish, including salmon and tuna. There are also green leafy vegetables, like kale, spinach, and broccoli, and berries like strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Then there are nuts and seeds like almonds and walnuts, flaxseeds and chia seeds, eggs, and avocados.”

    A little bit of dark chocolate is good for your brain

    He said that even healthy oils are good, and added that green tea, which contains antioxidants and L-theanine, and may improve focus and reduce stress, as well as dark chocolate, which contains flavonoids, and may improve blood flow and boost cognitive function, are an important part of a brain health-friendly diet.

    Dr Hoeflinger said, “Green tea is healthy for your brain, and lastly, a little bit of dark chocolate can be very beneficial for your brain. The foods you eat are just one aspect of keeping a healthy brain. There are so many other things that you can do.”

    Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

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  • Cryo-electron microscopy reveals intricacies of life

    Cryo-electron microscopy reveals intricacies of life

    Since its inception in the 1930s, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) has undergone significant development. The smaller wavelength of electrons provides resolution that surpasses traditional light microscopy. Advances such as the introduction of direct electron detectors, cryo-preparation techniques, and image processing software have dramatically enhanced its resolution and versatility. These developments enable scientists to visualize specimens at atomic resolutions, which provides insights into nanostructures and, more recently, the structure and function of large biological assemblies to small proteins vital for drug discovery.

    In 1933, Ernst Ruska first realized he could transmit electrons through a specimen of cotton fibers to form an image and was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery in 1986. In the following years, Jacques Dubochet, Joachim Franck, and Richard Henderson created a technique for generating a three-dimensional (3D) structure of the protein at an atomic level using a cryo-transmission electron microscope (cryo-TEM). Their technique taps vitrification to cool a sample to cryogenic temperatures, typically using liquid ethane around -180°C, which allows biomolecules to retain their native hydrated shape. This approach, commonly called cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), earned them the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2017.

    Detector technology resolves protein structure

    During the past 30 years, every nut and bolt of the cryo-TEM has gradually been optimized. A major technical hurdle was overcome in 2010, when CMOS-direct electron detectors replaced charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras. Direct electron detectors (DEDs) have the advantage of providing immediate access to digital images and higher detective quantum efficiency (DQE) at a wide spatial frequency range, which results in images with a better signal-to-noise ratio. It enables scientists to get to high-resolution images and ultimately 3D reconstructions with fewer images, which is critical when imaging beam-sensitive biological samples.

    DEDs can acquire data in movie mode to capture a series of frames at high speed during a single exposure. Further advancement came with the introduction of electron event representation (EER), which captures the position and time of each individual electron impact to enable the preservation of full temporal and spatial resolution of the data (i.e., super-resolution).

    Energy filters, cold field emission guns help cross atomic barrier

    In 2020, single particle analysis (SPA) cryo-EM broke the atomic resolution barrier, which allowed scientists to distinctly see atoms where blurry shapes and “blobs” once prevailed. Researchers harnessed technological improvements to determine breakthrough structure resolution of 1.2 Angstroms. For perspective, the first high-resolution structure by Henderson and colleagues was within the 10-Angstrom range attained in the early 1990s.

    More recently, for the first time, researchers used the combination of a cold field emission gun electron source to lower the energy spread of the electrons, and more stable energy filters to remove inelastically scattered electrons. This combination contributed to increasing the image contrast while also boosting the resolution at the high spatial frequency range—and it allows researchers to break the atomic resolution boundary.

    Most impressively, cryo-EM at atomic resolution enabled visualization of individual hydrogen atoms—even on water molecules inside of the protein structure. The visualization of hydrogen bonding networks inside protein structures and within drug binding pockets allows researchers to better understand how a drug interacts with its target molecule (see Fig. 1).

    Autonomous microscopy and artificial intelligence (AI)

    Cryo-EM innovation is reaching beyond higher resolution and contrast (see Fig. 2). Today, it’s also being adopted outside of academic labs by pharmaceutical institutions, which creates a need for automating routine workflows. Integrated software solutions offer a way to streamline data acquisition and 3D analysis with connected tools.

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  • How an iPhone satellite SOS feature saved an injured climber stranded at 11000 feet

    How an iPhone satellite SOS feature saved an injured climber stranded at 11000 feet

    Apple devices have often been praised for helping to save lives. In a recent incident, a climber stranded in the Colorado wilderness was successfully rescued after using the satellite emergency feature on his iPhone to send a message for help. Read on to find out how this incident unfolded and how satellite communication technology on smartphones helps people when traditional communication fails in remote areas.

    How a stranded climber in Colorado was rescued using Apple’s satellite SOS feature in a remote area.(Apple)

    On Sunday, a 53-year-old man reached the summit of Snowmass Mountain and began his descent using a method called glissading, which involves sliding down snow-covered slopes. During the descent, he injured his wrist, which left him unable to continue the trek. The injury occurred at an altitude of nearly 11,000 feet, in an area with no cellular service, according to a KDVR (via Reddit) report.

    Also read: Apple loses bid to halt court ruling that blocks some fees from its iPhone app store

    How iPhone’s Satellite Message Triggers Emergency Response

    Despite the lack of a cell signal, the man used the satellite messaging feature available on his iPhone to send a text to a family member. This message alerted the family, who then contacted the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office and Mountain Rescue Aspen for help.

    Responders found the injured climber near Snowmass Lake, located about eight miles from the nearest parking area. Due to the severity of his injury, he could not walk out of the area on his own. A team of 17 rescuers hiked into the remote location and began evacuation efforts early Monday morning. They reached the climber at approximately 8:25 a.m. and successfully brought him out of the area by 5:30 p.m.

    Also read: iOS 19 to take to boost iPhone’s battery life with help of AI

    iPhone’s Satellite SOS Feature

    The iPhone’s satellite communication function allows users to send messages without the need for cellular or Wi-Fi signals. This feature, available on iPhone 14 and later models, enables contact with emergency services in remote locations where traditional coverage is unavailable.

    Also read: iPhone 17 Air likely to come with optional accessories for lasting battery life- Details

    Following the rescue, the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office emphasised the importance of knowing how to use satellite communication tools during outdoor activities. In a public advisory, officials encouraged hikers and climbers to carry emergency communication devices and understand how to activate satellite-based SOS features. They noted that using the SOS button can help rescue teams establish direct contact and reduce response time during emergencies.

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  • Israel-Gaza war live: Trump says Israel has agreed terms for 60-day ceasefire, urges Hamas to accept deal | Israel-Gaza war

    Israel-Gaza war live: Trump says Israel has agreed terms for 60-day ceasefire, urges Hamas to accept deal | Israel-Gaza war

    Andrew Roth

    Donald Trump has claimed that Israel is ready to agree to a peace deal with Hamas as he seeks to broker a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that has claimed almost 60,000 lives.

    In a post on Truthsocial, the US president wrote: “Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.”

    It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to and Trump’s previous claims that Israel was ready to end the war, including a ceasefire negotiated before his inauguration in January, have quickly broken down as both sides have accused the other of violating agreements on prisoner exchanges.

    Nonetheless, the claim comes after Trump brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, and on the same day as Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer reportedly met with secretary of state Marco Rubio and Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

    “The Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal,” Trump wrote. “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.”

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    Key events

    Interim summary

    We are pausing this blog for now, but will be back later when further developments arise.

    For now, this is the latest:

    • President Donald Trump has claimed Israel has agreed on terms for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza and warned Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen, as he sought to reinvigorate peace talks.

    • It is unclear what conditions specifically Israel has agreed to. Trump’s previous claims that Israel was ready to end the war, including a ceasefire negotiated before his inauguration in January, have quickly broken down as both sides have accused the other of violating agreements on prisoner exchanges.

    • Hamas is yet to respond to Trump’s claim of a “final proposal” for a ceasefire but has previously said that it is willing to free remaining hostages in Gaza under any deal to end the war. Israel did not immediately respond to Trump’s remarks but has previously stated the war can end only if Hamas is disarmed and dismantled. The two sides have shown little sign of a readiness to budge from their entrenched positions since the conflict began on 7 October 2023.

    • A previous ceasefire this January had deteriorated by March when Israel launched an offensive before the second phase of the deal was reached.

    • The US president made the announcement on his social media platform Truth Social saying: “I hope, for the good of the Middle East, that Hamas takes this Deal, because it will not get better — IT WILL ONLY GET WORSE.” He added that the “Qataris and Egyptians, who have worked very hard to help bring Peace, will deliver this final proposal.”

    • Talk of a new ceasefire comes as Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, plans to travel to the US to meet Trump next week, in what would be the Israeli leader’s third US visit in less than six months.

    • The Red Cross has warned that Gaza’s few functioning medical facilities are overwhelmed, with nearly all public hospitals “shut down or gutted by months of hostilities and restrictions” on supplies.

    • There is rising concern about aid delivery in Gaza, with more than 170 NGOs on Tuesday calling for the dismantlement of the secretive US and Israeli-backed food distributor Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). The death toll from Israeli attacks on Palestinians waiting for food at its sites has risen to more than 500.

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  • The high-tech wizardry of integrated photonics | MIT News

    The high-tech wizardry of integrated photonics | MIT News

    Inspired by the “Harry Potter” stories and the Disney Channel show “Wizards of Waverly Place,” 7-year-old Sabrina Corsetti emphatically declared to her parents one afternoon that she was, in fact, a wizard.

    “My dad turned to me and said that, if I really wanted to be a wizard, then I should become a physicist. Physicists are the real wizards of the world,” she recalls.

    That conversation stuck with Corsetti throughout her childhood, all the way up to her decision to double-major in physics and math in college, which set her on a path to MIT, where she is now a graduate student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.

    While her work may not involve incantations or magic wands, Corsetti’s research centers on an area that often produces astonishing results: integrated photonics. A relatively young field, integrated photonics involves building computer chips that route light instead of electricity, enabling compact and scalable solutions for applications ranging from communications to sensing.

    Corsetti and her collaborators in the Photonics and Electronics Research Group, led by Professor Jelena Notaros, develop chip-sized devices which enable innovative applications that push the boundaries of what is possible in optics.

    For instance, Corsetti and the team developed a chip-based 3D printer, small enough to sit in the palm of one’s hand, that emits a reconfigurable beam of light into resin to create solid shapes. Such a device could someday enable a user to rapidly fabricate customized, low-cost objects on the go.

    She also contributed to creating a miniature “tractor beam” that uses a beam of light to capture and manipulate biological particles using a chip. This could help biologists study DNA or investigate the mechanisms of disease without contaminating tissue samples.

    More recently, Corsetti has been working on a project in collaboration with MIT Lincoln Laboratory, focused on trapped-ion quantum computing, which involves the manipulation of ions to store and process quantum information.

    “Our team has a strong focus on designing devices and systems that interact with the environment. The opportunity to join a new research group, led by a supportive and engaged advisor, that works on projects with a lot of real-world impacts, is primarily what drew me to MIT,” Corsetti says.

    Embracing challenges

    Years before she set foot in a research lab, Corsetti was a science- and math-focused kid growing up with her parents and younger brother in the suburbs of Chicago, where her family operates a structural steelwork company.

    Throughout her childhood, her teachers fostered her love of learning, from her early years in the Frankfort 157-C school district through her time at the Lincoln-Way East High School.

    She enjoyed working on science experiments outside the classroom and relished the chance to tackle complex conundrums during independent study projects curated by her teachers (like calculating the math behind the Brachistochrone Curve, or the shortest path between two points, which was famously solved by Isaac Newton).

    Corsetti decided to double-major in physics and math at the University of Michigan after graduating from high school a year early.

    “When I went to the University of Michigan, I couldn’t wait to get started. I enrolled in the toughest math and physics track right off the bat,” she recalls.

    But Corsetti soon found that she had bitten off a bit more than she could chew. A lot of her tough undergraduate courses assumed students had prior knowledge from AP physics and math classes, which Corsetti hadn’t taken because she graduated early.

    She met with professors, attended office hours, and tried to pick up the lessons she had missed, but felt so discouraged she contemplated switching majors. Before she made the switch, Corsetti decided to try working in a physics lab to see if she liked a day in the life of a researcher.

    After joining Professor Wolfgang Lorenzon’s lab at Michigan, Corsetti spent hours working with grad students and postdocs on a hands-on project to build cells that would hold liquid hydrogen for a particle physics experiment.

    As they collaborated for hours at a time to roll material into tubes, she peppered the older students with questions about their experiences in the field.

    “Being in the lab made me fall in love with physics. I really enjoyed that environment, working with my hands, and working with people as part of a bigger team,” she says.

    Her affinity for hands-on lab work was amplified a few years later when she met Professor Tom Schwarz, her research advisor for the rest of her time at Michigan.

    Following a chance conversation with Schwarz, she applied to a research abroad program at CERN in Switzerland, where she was mentored by Siyuan Sun. There, she had the opportunity to join thousands of physicists and engineers on the ATLAS project, writing code and optimizing circuits for new particle-detector technologies.

    “That was one of the most transformative experiences of my life. After I came back to Michigan, I was ready to spend my career focusing on research,” she says.

    Hooked on photonics

    Corsetti began applying to graduate schools but decided to shift focus from the more theoretical particle physics to electrical engineering, with an interest in conducting hands-on chip-design and testing research.

    She applied to MIT with a focus on standard electronic-chip design, so it came as a surprise when Notaros reached out to her to schedule a Zoom call. At the time, Corsetti was completely unfamiliar with integrated photonics. However, after one conversation with the new professor, she was hooked.

    “Jelena has an infectious enthusiasm for integrated photonics,” she recalls. “After those initial conversations, I took a leap of faith.”

    Corsetti joined Notaros’ team as it was just getting started. Closely mentored by a senior student, Milica Notaros, she and her cohort grew immersed in integrated photonics.

    Over the years, she’s particularly enjoyed the collaborative and close-knit nature of the lab and how the work involves so many different aspects of the experimental process, from design to simulation to analysis to hardware testing.

    “An exciting challenge that we’re always running up against is new chip-fabrication requirements. There is a lot of back-and-forth between new application areas that demand new fabrication technologies, followed by improved fabrication technologies motivating additional application areas. That cycle is constantly pushing the field forward,” she says.

    Corsetti plans to stay at the cutting edge of the field after graduation as an integrated-photonics researcher in industry or at a national lab. She would like to focus on trapped-ion quantum computing, which scientists are rapidly scaling up toward commercially viable systems, or other high-performance computing applications.

    “You really need accelerated computing for any modern research area. It would be exciting and rewarding to contribute to high-performance computing that can enable a lot of other interesting research areas,” she says.

    Paying it forward

    In addition to making an impact with research, Corsetti is focused on making a personal impact in the lives of others. Through her involvement in MIT Graduate Hillel, she joined the Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Boston, where she volunteers for the friend-to-friend program.

    Participating in the program, which pairs adults who have disabilities with friends in the community for fun activities like watching movies or painting has been an especially uplifting and gratifying experience for Corsetti.

    She’s also enjoyed the opportunity to support, mentor, and bond with her fellow MIT EECS students, drawing on the advice she’s received throughout her own academic journey.

    “Don’t trust feelings of imposter syndrome,” she advises others. “Keep moving forward, ask for feedback and help, and be confident that you will reach a point where you can make meaningful contributions to a team.”

    Outside the lab, she enjoys playing classical music on the clarinet (her favorite piece is Leonard Bernstein’s famous overture to “Candide”), reading, and caring for a family of fish in her aquarium.

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