In the Media

In an effort to help medical professionals ensure patients are taking medications as prescribed, researchers at MIT have developed a “drug capsule containing an RFID tag that uses radiofrequency (RF) signals to communicate that it has been swallowed, and then bioresorbs into the body,” reports Tami Freeman for Physics World. “Medication non-adherence remains a major cause of preventable morbidity and cost, but existing ingestible tracking systems rely on non-degradable electronics,” explains Prof. Giovanni Traverso. Our motivation was to create a passive, battery-free adherence sensor that confirms ingestion while fully biodegrading, avoiding long-term safety and environmental concerns associated with persistent electronic devices.”  

A new analysis conducted by postdoctoral associate Rohan Naidu and his colleagues has found evidence that suggests “little red dot” galaxies may contain baby black holes, reports Alex Wilkins for New Scientist. “In ordinary black holes, what you actually see with your eyes is the tip of the iceberg of the total energy that is coming out of the system, but the little red dots we now understand should really be thought of as these puffed-up black hole stars,” says Naidu. “It seems that most of their energy is coming out at these wavelengths that we see with our eyes, so what you see is what you get.” 

MIT librarian Phoebe Ayers speaks with Boston Globe reporter Rebecca Spiess about the importance of Wikipedia editors in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the online encyclopedia. “People really want to be right,” says Ayers. “They want their source to be good. Let’s be real: It attracts the pedantic.”  

Prof. Barry Posen speaks with Newsweek reporter Andrew Stanton about the stockpile of United States weapons.  

Interesting Engineering reporter Atharva Gosavi features MIT researchers and their work developing a passive atmospheric water generator as a game-changing innovation “reshaping climate action.” The researchers developed a “passive device that harvests clean drinking water from desert air without electricity,” explains Gosavi. “The window-sized panel uses a hydrogel-desiccant combo absorbing vapor at night and releasing it via sunlight-driven condensation – no batteries, fans, or power needed.” Gosavi adds that the device is a “perfect climate-resilient solution for droughts.”  

Prof. Giovanni Traverso speaks with Claudia Hammond of BBC Health Check about a new pill he and his colleagues have developed that can send an alert when it’s been swallowed, which could help ensure patients are taking their medications as prescribed. “Researchers have estimated that in the US alone, people not taking their medication contributes to as many as 125,000 preventable deaths each year and costs more than $100 billion,” says Hammond. 

Prof. Jonathan Parker speaks with CNBC reporter Kate Dore about how larger tax refunds in 2026 could increase both consumer spending and inflation. “It could easily be inflationary,” says Parker.  

WBUR reporter Maddie Browning spotlights a new exhibit of photographer Brittany Nelson’s work, which will be on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center beginning mid-January. The exhibit “will debut new photographs and a moving-image work filmed at the Green Bank Observatory (National Radio Astronomy Observatory) in West Virginia,” writes Browning.  

Prof. Jesse Thaler speaks with New Scientist reporter Jon Cartwright about his work focused on exploring quantum entanglement. Research by Thaler and his colleagues found “that minimized entanglement gave precisely the small level of mixing between quarks observed in particle collider experiments,” explains Cartwright.  

Brian Bergstein at The Boston Globe speaks with Bob Mumgaard SM '15, PhD '15, CEO of MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems, about the company’s efforts to advance fusion technologies.  “When the federal government said in 2012 that it would cut funding for the experimental fusion reactor on campus, the MIT researchers took that as an opportunity to develop new fusion techniques — which eventually formed the basis of CFS’s plans,” writes Bergstein. 

Prof. Armando Solar-Lezama and Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, speak with CNBC reporter Trevor Laurence Jockims about the impact of AI in the workforce. “These transitions are about efficiency, but also about trust and transparency: workers will need to trust that companies aren’t simply using AI as a cover for cost-cutting,” says Rus. 

Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible “smart pill” that uses radio frequency to communicate from the stomach when patients have taken their medications. “It may sound simple, but the stakes are high,” reports McKenzie Beard for the New York Post. “Studies show that half of all Americans with chronic conditions don’t take their long-term medications as prescribed.” 

Researchers at MIT have developed an ingestible pill that “contains a biodegradable radiofrequency antenna” which can be used to monitor patients’ medication intake, reports Nancy Lapid for Reuters. “After [the antenna] sends out the signal that the pill has been consumed, most components break down in the stomach while a tiny radiofrequency chip passes out of the body through the digestive tract,” explains Lapid. 

The Economist chronicles the life and work of Prof. Nuno Loureiro, from his childhood in Portugal where he dreamed of becoming a scientist to his work at MIT as a “fusion pioneer” leading the Plasma Science and Fusion Center. “He walked into his classes beaming, ready to cover the blackboard with figures. He joked like a friend, but he worked his students vigorously, advising them that if they were not yet the best, they should strive to be. Failure was not to be feared, because it showed they were trying to tackle the really hard problems.”

Prof. Jonanthan Gruber speaks with Boston 25 reporter Amal Elhelw about increased health insurance premiums. “It’s an enormous emotional toll,” says Gruber. “It’s just not a stress we should put on people in a nation as wealthy as America.”