Marc Zissman, the associate head of MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Cyber Security and Information Science Division, speaks with Axios reporters about how MIT researchers are developing a contact tracing system that uses Bluetooth signals to help maintain privacy.
A team of MIT researchers has uncovered a variety of new ways to use heavy hydrocarbons such as coal, tar and pitch to make new devices, reports Caroline Delbert for Popular Mechanics. Delbert writes that the findings demonstrate how, “a less oil-reliant future offers an opportunity to study these complex chemicals more close up than ever before.”
Prof. Lee Gehrke speaks with NPR’s Rob Stein about his work developing a new diagnostic test for Covid-19 that could deliver results in minutes. "It looks very much like a pregnancy test. And they're very simple,” says Gehrke. “They don't require special chemicals or training to use them. And they can give you a read out in about 15 minutes or so.”
Axios reporter Bryan Walsh writes that Broad Institute researchers have developed a CRISPR-based diagnostic tool that tests for different pathogens simultaneously. “The new technology could help speed COVID-19 tests, but its bigger impact could be in enabling clinicians to rapidly test a patient sample for more than 150 different viruses."
A new app developed by Media Lab researchers modeled after character games like Pokémon and encourages users to invest in their own well-being, reports Mark Wilson for Fast Company. Wilson notes that, “gaming is a promising avenue for introducing mental health interventions.”
Mashable reporter Emmett Smith spotlights how CSAIL researchers have developed a device that could allow doctors to monitor patients with Covid-19 remotely. Prof. Dina Katabi explains that the device can be thought of as a “smarter WiFi box” that uses wireless signals to extract information on the “health of the individual in the environment all without putting sensors on people’s bodies.”
The New York Times spotlights a new documentary that chronicles Prof. Emeritus Rainer Weiss’ quest to detect gravitational waves. “With gravitational waves, you have a new way to look at the universe,” says Weiss. “You can see all of what nature has in store. So now comes the question: What do you want to find out?”
To raise funds for community members impacted by Covid-19, MIT faculty are auctioning off lunch conversations, reports Joe Dwindell for The Boston Herald. “This is one small — and we hope fun and interesting — way for us to give back to our local community during this challenging period,” says David Capodilupo, assistant dean of MIT Sloan Global Programs.
Fast Company reporter Adele Peters spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new process that uses sustainable raw ingredients to 3-D print materials that would eventually degrade naturally. The project was named the winner of the art and design category in Fast Company’s 2020 World Changing Ideas Awards.
STAT reporter Elizabeth Cooney writes that MIT researchers have developed a model GI tract as part of an effort to better understand how the human digestive system absorbs oral drugs. “The MIT scientists believe their method more faithfully represents the ways people respond to drugs, far earlier in the process than now typically occurs,” Cooney explains.
UPI reporter Sommer Brokaw writes that MIT researchers have developed a new precision injection system that could be used to help save banana, olive and orange crops threatened by disease. “The new system uses silk-based biomaterials to fabricate a microneedle-like device, which can inject nutrients, antibiotics or other pesticides into plants' circulatory systems,” Brokaw explains.
MIT community members recreated the MIT campus in the vide game Minecraft, reports Alyssa Vaughn for Boston Magazine. “Being able to meet in a virtual space and have some kind of social interaction, even while being socially distant—it’s just really important to a lot of students,” explains first-year student Shayna Ahteck.
“Coding for Carrots,” a game developed by researchers from MIT and Google, was spotlighted in Google’s Doodles series honoring interactive games, reports Catie Keck for Gizmodo. Keck notes that Coding for Carrots was originally developed in 2017 to celebrating 50 years of coding for kids,
CSAIL researchers have developed a system that allows users to control drones using arm and hand gestures, reports Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch. “MIT’s research in this area could result in future industrial robotics products that require less training and programming to operate at scale,” Etherington notes.
Google featured “Coding for Carrots,” a game created by MIT and Google researchers aimed at helping kids learn to code, as part of a Google Doodles series celebrating interactive games, reports Brett Molina for USA Today. The game “requires players to help a bunny collect carrots by connecting blocks of computer code together,” Molina explains.