Author: Kemi Aofolaju

AI Autophagy: Understanding the Risks and Solutions

by Dr Xiaodan Xing

The latest paper by the Yang Lab, published in Nature Machine Intelligence, delves into a pressing issue in AI development: what happens when generative models train on their own synthetic data? This phenomenon, known as AI autophagy, leads to model collapse, loss of diversity, and ethical risks.

As the awareness of AI autophagy grows, so does the call for a comprehensive framework to understand, detect, and mitigate its effects. Our research brings together conflicting findings, theoretical perspectives, and empirical evidence to highlight the risks and propose potential solutions.

One key takeaway is that technical fixes alone, like watermarking or detection methods, aren’t enough.

Saliva-based Menopause Test Wins Hackstarter

Congratulations to Karina Cheng, Biomedical Technology Ventures BSc student, and teammate Yihan Pu, on winning Imperial College’s Advanced Hackspace Hackstarter Grand Final with their Menosense device which monitors menopause via saliva!

Women experiencing menopause undergo hormonal changes that affect their mood, metabolism, and health. Traditional hormone tests need blood or urine samples, which can be invasive and take a long time to produce results.

Menosense introduces a portable saliva-based hormone detector for menopause that uses Lateral Flow Immunoassay technology for home use. It provides quick, noninvasive, and accurate hormone readings in just 20 minutes. A handheld reader analyses disposable test strips, and results appear on the device and a Bluetooth-connected mobile app, allowing users to track their health.

Science on Pointe

Dr Eleonora Moratto, a postdoctoral researcher and professional ballet dancer in the Microbiome-Microscopy and Microfluidics Lab, showcased her SciBallet Project at an Imperial Late event themed “Weird Science” in February.

Eleonora initiated the SciBallet project after choreographing and performing a dance that illustrated her PhD research. This experience earned her a spot as a finalist in the Dance Your PhD competition. It sparked her fascination with the intersection of science and art, particularly the use of ballet’s storytelling capabilities to convey complex research to the public.

Her dance wrapped up the event, featured a presentation on the historical relationship between science and art, and demonstrated how electric fields can be utilised to prevent plant root infections.

Meet the team: Bioengineering’s Student Support team

In the Meet the Team series, we’ll be introducing to staff and students the people behind the teams in our Professional Services Staff that help keep the Bioengineering department running smoothly. We’ll gain an insight into each team member, what their roles are within their team and what they get up to when they’re not at Imperial!

This month, we’ll be meeting the department’s Student Support team. The Student Support team aims to deliver efficient support services that facilitate a seamless student journey. They do this by supporting effective networks between academics and students and enabling the best academic and pastoral care.

Meet the team: Bioengineering’s laboratory, electronics and workshop technicians

In this new series, we’ll be introducing to staff and students the people behind the teams in our Professional Services Staff that help keep the Bioengineering department running smoothly. We’ll gain an insight into each team member, what their roles are within their team and what they get up to when they’re not at Imperial!

This month, we’ll be meeting the Technical team which is made up of laboratory, electronics and workshop technicians. Led brilliantly by Ken Keating, our Technical Operations Manager, the technical team are a multi-skilled group of staff that supports the department at both our South Kensington and White City offices and research spaces.

Bioengineering Thank You Awards: Edit Toth

The Bioengineering COVID-19 awards were developed to recognise the extraordinary efforts of students and staff in the Bioengineering department in the context of COVID-19.

Staff in the department were invited to nominate their colleagues and students for a Bioengineering Thank You Award. In their nomination, staff members had to state why they felt the work and actions of their nominee were so exceptional. These reasons could be: delivering critical departmental services despite challenging circumstances, working additional hours to ensure new processes were delivered, being involved in activities outside their role to support staff or students, or contributing to College and national COVID-19 related efforts.

Bioengineering Thank You Awards: Reiko Tanaka

The Bioengineering COVID-19 awards were developed to recognise the extraordinary efforts of students and staff in the Bioengineering department in the context of COVID-19.

Staff in the department were invited to nominate their colleagues and students for a Bioengineering Thank You Award. In their nomination, staff members had to state why they felt the work and actions of their nominee were so exceptional. These reasons could be: delivering critical departmental services despite challenging circumstances, working additional hours to ensure new processes were delivered, being involved in activities outside their role to support staff or students, or contributing to College and national COVID-19 related efforts.

Bioengineering Thank You Awards: Joseph Sherwood

The Bioengineering COVID-19 awards were developed to recognise the extraordinary efforts of students and staff in the Bioengineering department in the context of COVID-19.

Staff in the department were invited to nominate their colleagues and students for a Bioengineering Thank You Award. In their nomination, staff members had to state why they felt the work and actions of their nominee were so exceptional. These reasons could be: delivering critical departmental services despite challenging circumstances, working additional hours to ensure new processes were delivered, being involved in activities outside their role to support staff or students, or contributing to College and national COVID-19 related efforts.

Bioengineering Thank You Awards: Julia Sun

The Bioengineering COVID-19 awards were developed to recognise the extraordinary efforts of students and staff in the Bioengineering department in the context of COVID-19.

Staff in the department were invited to nominate their colleagues and students for a Bioengineering Thank You Award. In their nomination, staff members had to state why they felt the work and actions of their nominee were so exceptional. These reasons could be: delivering critical departmental services despite challenging circumstances, working additional hours to ensure new processes were delivered, being involved in activities outside their role to support staff or students, or contributing to College and national COVID-19 related efforts.

Bioengineering Thank You Awards: Julie Hoang

The Bioengineering COVID-19 awards were developed to recognise the extraordinary efforts of students and staff in the Bioengineering department in the context of COVID-19.

Staff in the department were invited to nominate their colleagues and students for a Bioengineering Thank You Award. In their nomination, staff members had to state why they felt the work and actions of their nominee were so exceptional. These reasons could be: delivering critical departmental services despite challenging circumstances, working additional hours to ensure new processes were delivered, being involved in activities outside their role to support staff or students, or contributing to College and national COVID-19 related efforts.