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​Stony Brook University's Reality Deck, located in the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT), offers an immersive 1.6-billion-pixel virtual reality experience. Designed by Dr. Arie Kaufman, the Reality Deck serves as a training ground for high school students interested in computer programming and visual computing. In collaboration with kidOYO®, a nonprofit organization focused on computational literacy, local high school students are mentored by Stony Brook PhD candidates. The program aims to inspire students, particularly from underrepresented groups, to pursue careers in computer science and related fields. Through hands-on experiences, students develop skills in coding, research, and immersive technologies like augmented and virtual reality. The initiative not only enhances technical abilities but also fosters a passion for innovation and problem-solving among the next generation of technologists.

Softheon, a Stony Brook-based digital health company, is expanding its services beyond the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid marketplaces following its merger with NextHealth Technologies, an AI-driven healthcare analytics firm. This acquisition enables Softheon to enhance care management by leveraging AI to guide patients toward more efficient healthcare options, potentially saving significant medical and operational costs. The combined entity now serves approximately 60 million Americans, with Softheon processing over $25 billion in health insurance premiums and collaborating with major insurers like UnitedHealthcare, Humana, and Aetna. The merger also adds about 50 employees from NextHealth, bringing Softheon’s total workforce to around 250, with annual revenues estimated at $100 million

​Snopes offers guidance on identifying social media bots, which are automated accounts used for various purposes, including boosting follower counts and influencing public opinion. Indicators of bot accounts include a lack of a profile picture, generic usernames, low follower counts, limited posts, and low engagement rates. Bots often exhibit behaviors such as click or like farming, hashtag hijacking, repost storms, sleeper bots, and trend jacking. To detect bots, Snopes recommends using tools like Botometer, which assesses the likelihood of an account being a bot based on its activity. Regularly removing bot followers can improve the authenticity of your social media presence.

​Stony Brook University has awarded its inaugural ProFund Seed Grants to six interdisciplinary research projects aimed at enhancing competitiveness for federal funding. The selected initiatives span diverse fields, including advanced materials science, quantum processing, environmental health, energy storage, digital histopathology, and sustainable ammonia synthesis. Each project is led by a principal investigator from various departments, such as chemistry, physics, biomedical informatics, and engineering. These grants are designed to support innovative research endeavors and foster collaboration across disciplines.