MIT researchers have created an app that translates proteins into music, reports Eva Amsen of Forbes. This method could potentially be used to “make it easier to process very subtle changes that would be less obvious if you looked at the data visually,” Amsen explains.
Lex Celera at VICE highlights the story of Hillary Diane Andales, a 19-year-old from the Philippines who is preparing to attend MIT after surviving Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. “Even though I was already interested in science, I didn't know what a storm surge was,” said Andales. "I think that was a big flaw in the process of science communication in our country because I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know [about it].”
Rachel Metz reports for CNN that researchers at MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute have developed an AI system that can look at a picture of a pizza and determine which toppings should go on which layer. Postdoc Dimitrios Papadopoulos “believes this research could lead to non-food applications as well, such as a digital shopping assistant that uses AI to figure out how to put together a fashionable outfit,” writes Metz.
Boston Celtic Jaylen Brown and Michael Tubbs, the 28-year-old mayor of Stockton, CA, will be two of the MIT Media Lab’s 2019 Directors Fellows. As part of the program, they “will work with the lab’s students and faculty to personally take on the kinds of problems that they want to fix,” writes Claire Miller for Fast Company.
Jim Walsh, senior research associate at MIT’s Security Studies Program, speaks with Lisa Mullins on WBUR’s Here & Now about President Trump’s nuclear negotiations with North Korea. “Whether there’s any real progress remains to be seen,” says Walsh, “but, I’d rather them be talking than not talking.”
Greek artist Takis, who worked on electromagnetism at MIT as a visiting researcher in the 1960s, is the subject of a forthcoming exhibition at London’s Tate Modern museum. Early in his career, the now 93-year-old Takis, “became interested in electromagnetism, and in the challenge of making art about invisible forces,” writes Peter Aspden for the Financial Times.
Prof. Markus Buehler speaks with Ira Flatow of Science Friday about his research, which attempts to better understand and create new proteins by translating them into music. Buehler explains that they were able to listen to proteins after discovering that “amino acids have a unique frequency spectrum which we could then make audible using a concept of transposition.”
A study co-authored by Prof. Cynthia Breazeal found that a “social robot” teddy bear “boosted spirits, eased anxiety and even lowered perceived pain levels” among Boston Children’s Hospital patients aged 3 to 10 years old, reports Robert Preidt for US News & World Report. “We want technology to support everyone who's invested in the quality care of a child," says Breazeal.
Diana Kwon highlights the research of Prof. Katharina Ribbeck in an article for Scientific American about the biological benefits of mucus. “I like to call [mucus] the unsung hero of the body — it’s something that has such powerful effects over our health,” says Ribbeck.
MIT researchers have a developed a method to make liquid droplets bounce away faster on water-repellant surfaces. “Aside from reducing ice buildup on airplanes, or even the giant sweeping blades of a wind turbine, this research could also benefit waterproof garments, which are a big market for hydrophobic materials,” reports Andrew Liszewski of Gizmodo.
New research co-authored by MIT economists highlights the effects of location on the life expectancy of people over age 65, writes Christopher Ingraham for The Washington Post. According to the researchers, “moving from a place in the bottom 10 percent to one in the top 10 percent would extend the average person’s life by a little more than a year.”
Rachel Metz reports for CNN that researchers at MIT and the Qatar Computing Research Institute have developed an AI system that can look at a picture of a pizza and determine which toppings should go on which layer. Postdoc Dimitrios Papadopoulos “believes this research could lead to non-food applications as well, such as a digital shopping assistant that uses AI to figure out how to put together a fashionable outfit,” writes Metz.
CBS Boston speaks with Margaret Hamilton about her role in the Apollo 11 moon mission and her career at MIT. “I was the only woman in the beginning in the field,” says Hamilton. “I was oblivious to the difference between men and women. At MIT, they cared more about that you knew what you were doing and could help them solve their problem because they had a deadline.”
In an article they co-authored for STAT, Prof. Eric von Hippel and visiting scientist Harold DeMonaco suggest that patients often offer solutions for improving health care that medical professionals overlook. “In addition to fulfilling a personal need, patient-innovators are also attracted by the learning they gain from the process and from sharing their innovations with people with similar needs,” they write. “In short, it is a highly self-rewarding endeavor.”
In an article for the Financial Times, DUSP research affiliate Ashley Nunes argues that without some kind of carbon tax, advances in technology will not be enough to fight climate change. Carbon pricing, writes Nunes, “prompts greater awareness of our energy choices and their impact on the environment, and helps us to learn about our consumption habits before it’s too late.”