BBC News reporter Lina Zeldovich spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a way to store a patient’s vaccine history under a person’s skin using microneedle patches. The microneedles “don't leave scars and are less invasive than the regular needles – it’s like putting on a Band-Aid,” explains research scientist Ana Jaklenec.
Rising junior Danielle Geathers, who was recently elected president of MIT’s Undergraduate Association (UA), speaks with Karen Holmes Ward of WCVB-TV about how she campaigned virtually during the Covid-19 pandemic and her goals for her presidency. Geathers notes that she wants to use the UA’s, “global platform to really focus on national policy issues.”
MIT researchers have found stiffening roadways could help improve gas mileage and reduce carbon emissions, reports Christopher Intagliata for Scientific American. "Stiffening 10 percent of the nation's roads every year could prevent 440 megatons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions over the next five decades," Intagliata reports.
Astronomers from MIT and other institutions have detected a repeating pattern of fast radio bursts (FRBs) from 500 million light years away, reports Caroline Enos for The Boston Globe. “FRBs are a mysterious phenomenon that elude an easy ‘origins’ theory,” says graduate student Kaitlyn Shin said. “The observation of periodic activity in this FRB gives us a hint.”
Prof. Li-Huei Tsai speaks with Anthony Everett of WCVB-TV’s Chronicle about her work developing a non-invasive technique that uses the power of light and sound and could potentially help treat or even cure Alzheimer’s disease. “I believe if this is really effective in humans, this will become the most accessible approach for treatment," explains Tsai.
Graduate student Maya Nasr speaks with New York Times reporter Miriam Jordan about her desire to continue working in aerospace engineering in the U.S. “By the time I finish my Ph.D., I will have spent 10 years in the U.S. researching what I am passionate about — getting people to Mars and human space exploration,” said Nasr. “I would really like to stay here and work in this field.”
Forbes contributor Igor Bosilkovski spotlights Wise Systems, an autonomous dispatch and routing system aimed at optimizing delivery operations. Bosilkovski notes that the system, “allows dispatchers and fleet managers options like real-time visibility of all vehicles, status updates on drivers, ability to automatically assign orders to drivers, and rearrange route schedules.”
Prof. Kristin Forbes writes for The Washington Post about how countries can manage debt accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic. “A better way to put a country’s debt on a sustainable path is to contractually link future debt payments to different growth outcomes using growth-indexed debt,” writes Forbes.
Popular Mechanics reporter Caroline Delbert writes that a new study by MIT researchers sheds light on a classic optical illusion called simultaneous brightness contrast. “Over the course of three experiments, the scientists say they believe the phenomenon occurs in each eye, even before the information from both eyes is merged together,” writes Delbert.
MIT researchers have developed a new technique to make brain tissue more stretchable, compressible, which could enable easier labeling of tissue samples, reports Courtney Linder for Popular Mechanics. The technique could enable researchers to “more quickly and easily conduct fluorescent labeling in cells, proteins, or other genetic materials within organs like the brain or lungs. That, in turn, could enable faster research discoveries.”
In this video, Mashable reporter Emmet Smith spotlights how CSAIL researchers have developed a new spray paint that transforms physical surfaces into interactive displays. Postdoctoral associate Michael Wessely explains that the project is aimed at exploring, “how can we make everything in our world something that we can interactive with and something that can give a response to us.”
Katie Rae, CEO and managing partner for The Engine, speaks with Maria Aspan of Fortune about confronting racism and discrimination in tech and VC. “Without confronting it continuously, you’re not going to get results,” Rae says. “
Rising junior Danielle Geathers, President of the MIT Undergraduate Association (UA), speaks with CNBC reporter Abigail Hess about her childhood, what inspired her to attend MIT and being the first Black woman to hold the position of UA President. Geathers explains that she hopes her presidency helps to make MIT “a more inclusive place and that Black student matriculation goes up next year.”
CSAIL researchers have developed a system that can remotely monitor a patient’s vital signs over time while preserving privacy, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. Etherington explains that the new technology, “is useful because it could allow for monitoring individuals cohabiting in a group over time, like seniors in a retirement or long-term care facility, for instance.”
Prof. Daron Acemoglu examines the “rapid unraveling of U.S. institutions in the first half of 2020." Acemoglu writes, “The next administration must confront endemic racism as well as economic inequality. Good jobs must once again be on offer for most Americans—even those without college degrees."