In the Media

MIT News Press Center

Boston 25’s Chris Flanagan visits MIT to learn more about how researchers have developed a smart diaper that can send caregivers an alert when moisture is detected. “It can help in identifying skin hydration and prevent rashes from happening on the skin because, if the diaper is left on for too long, it can lead to skin rashes," says research associate Pankhuri Sen.
February 24, 2020
Boston Globe reporter Scott Kirsner explores the growth and impact of The Engine, highlighting how the venture is “revving up the potential” of tough tech startups. Kirsner notes that The Engine has “managed to create a supremely supportive ecosystem for these startups.”
February 24, 2020
Profs. Regina Barzilay and James Collins speak with Angus Chen of WBUR about how they developed a new algorithm to identify an antibiotic that could treat drug-resistant bacteria. “The study shows the power of harnessing artificial intelligence to address the antibiotic resistance crisis,” says Collins.
February 24, 2020
Reporting for CBS Boston, Dr. Mallika Marshall spotlights how MIT researchers have uncovered a new antibiotic using a deep-learning algorithm. Marshall notes that the researchers tested the new antibiotic “against dozens of bacteria in lab dishes and found it could kill many strains that are resistant to treatment.”
February 24, 2020
Writing for Forbes, Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT AgeLab, explores how AgeLab researchers are examining the work of caregivers as part of an effort to “help us to understand how technology might help caregivers; the many other ways that caregivers need help to provide care to others and to care for themselves; and how to plan for this universally experienced fact of life.”
February 23, 2020
Neha Narula, director of the Media Lab’s Digital Currency Initiative, writes for The Wall Street Journal about why she feels the U.S. dollar should be digitized. “The U.S. could help pave the way for faster, cheaper and more secure payments by allowing consumers to hold central-bank-issued digital currency outside of commercial banks,” writes Narula.
February 23, 2020
Writing for The Conversation, Sriram Chandrasekaran explores how MIT researchers used a deep-learning algorithm to identify an antibiotic that could be used to treat drug-resistant bacteria. Chandrasekaran writes that AI technologies “may soon give us a leg up in the never-ending battle against drug resistance.”
February 21, 2020
In an article for The Washington Post, Prof. M. Taylor Favel examines China’s approach to territorial disputes. Fravel notes that “by settling the majority of its other territorial disputes, China and its neighbors have reduced numerous opportunities for armed conflict.”
February 21, 2020
Newsweek reporter Rosie McCall writes that MIT researchers have developed a decision map to help determine the best course of action when faced with an asteroid headed towards Earth. The decision map “considers the asteroid's mass, momentum, trajectory and how much warning time scientists have before collision,” writes McCall.
February 21, 2020
MIT researchers have identified a new kind of antibiotic using AI, according to BBC News. “A powerful algorithm was used to analyze more than one hundred million chemical compounds in a matter of days. The newly discovered compound was able to kill 35 types of potentially deadly bacteria.”
February 21, 2020
Alumna Mareena Robinson Snowden PhD '17 speaks with NBC’s Erin Delmore about what inspired her to pursue a career in nuclear engineering and the challenges women and minorities face in STEM fields. “I think it’s tremendously important to have this diversity of voices, not just from a cultural perspective or from a gender perspective, but just lived experience,” says Snowden.
February 21, 2020
The AP reports that William McRaven, a retired U.S. Navy admiral and former chancellor of the University of Texas system, has been selected to deliver MIT’s 2020 Commencement address. “McRaven was head of U.S. Special Operations Command in 2011 when a team of Navy SEALs killed the al-Qaida leader in Pakistan,” the AP notes.
February 21, 2020
Jo Marchant writes for Nature that MIT researchers have developed a machine learning model that was used to discover an antibiotic that works against a wide range of bacteria. People keep finding the same molecules over and over,” says Prof. James Collins. “We need novel chemistries with novel mechanisms of action.”
February 20, 2020
Boston Magazine reporter Kaylie Felsberg highlights an exhibit at the MIT List Visual Arts Center featuring the work of artist Rami George. Felsberg writes that the exhibit was inspired by how Rami George’s mother took her children to join a New Age cult called the Samaritan Foundation. George “reflects on their experience and shares research on the mysterious organization via two video essays.”
February 20, 2020
William McRaven, a retired four-star US Navy admiral, will deliver MIT’s 2020 Commencement address, writes Peter Bailey-Wells for The Boston Globe.
February 20, 2020