Writing for The New York Times, Susan Gubar spotlights Prof. Regina Barzilay’s quest to transform cancer care by using AI technologies to improve the detection and diagnosis of cancer. “Dr. Barzilay and her collaborators want to usher in the day when no woman is surprised by a late-stage diagnosis and when all breast cancers are curable,” writes Gubar.
Writing for Wired, Principal Research Scientist Andrew McAfee argues that in the decades to come, countries will be able to increase their overall production of food and other products while using fewer resources. McAfee notes that, “the two forces of capitalism and technological progress will continue their extraordinarily track record of providing for our wants and needs.”
Boston Globe reporter Bryan Marquard memorializes Prof. Emeritus Woodie Flowers, a “beloved and inspirational professor” known for helping to launch the FIRST Robotics Competition. “Engaging and charismatic, Dr. Flowers was as unforgettable as a professor in his famous class,” writes Marquard, “as he was in other venues as a teacher and mentor.”
New research by MIT engineers suggests that a bridge design developed by Leonardo da Vinci to span the Golden Horn waterway would have been structurally stable, writes David Bressan for Forbes. “The team simulated movements in the bridge's foundations like experienced during a real earthquake,” Bressan explains. The model, “deformed only slightly, demonstrating the design's stability.”
Origami sculptures created by Prof. Erik Demaine and technical instructor Martin Demaine are currently on display at the National Museum of Mathematics, reports Janet Morrissey for The New York Times. Of the inspiration for his artwork, Prof. Demaine notes that he “liked to do geometry, but needed some unsolved problems to work on to challenge me.”
MIT was named the number 2 university in the world in U.S. News & World Report’s 2020 rankings of global universities, reports Jenni Fink for Newsweek.
Forbes contributor Adi Gaskell spotlights the findings of the MIT Task Force on the Work of the Future. Gaskell writes that, “the authors believe that far from the future of work being one where technology is something to be feared, it is instead beholden on us to increase our investment in technology to improve the inequality that undermines our confidence about the future.”
Guardian reporter Ian Sample writes that Prof. Li-Huei Tsai is leading a clinical trial to see whether flickering lights and low frequency sounds can slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Sample notes that, “the unusual approach to combating Alzheimer’s draws on the ability of light and sound waves to affect electrical activity in the brain.”
MIT researchers have developed a new ingestible capsule that can be used to deliver drugs directly to the bloodstream, reports Emily Matchar for Smithsonian. The system “has the capacity to transform how we deliver peptides, proteins—including mono-clonal antibodies—and nucleic acids,” explains Prof. Giovanni Traverso. “This could change drug delivery science.”
MIT researchers have developed a new ingestible capsule that can be used to deliver drugs directly to the bloodstream, reports Emily Matchar for Smithsonian. The system “has the capacity to transform how we deliver peptides, proteins—including mono-clonal antibodies—and nucleic acids,” explains Prof. Giovanni Traverso. “This could change drug delivery science.”
Inside Higher Ed reporter Lindsay McKenzie notes that the Ad Hoc Task Force on Open Access to MIT’s Research has released its findings on how to increase the open sharing of MIT publications, data, software and educational materials. “The task force recommend that MIT ratify a set of open-access principles, create an open-access fund for monographs and work with department heads to encourage open practices across all disciplines,” writes McKenzie.
Upworthy reporter Annie Reneay spotlights the work of Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia, “an award-winning biomedical and mechanical engineer who performs cutting-edge medical research and has started multiple companies.”
Forbes contributor Kerry McDonald spotlights how MIT alumnus Kelly Smith started Prenda, a network of micro-schools. Smith was inspired to start Prenda by the computer coding clubs he started for his son, where he noticed that, “learning is a very different thing when a human being wants to learn something than when a human being doesn’t want to learn something.”
Prof. Dava Newman speaks with Loren Grush of The Verge about her work developing a new type of spacesuit that would accommodate both men and women. “It’s a different design approach fundamentally,” says Newman. “Rather than shrinking spacecraft around someone, it’s saying ‘Oh here’s what the human does and how do we design a suit around the human capabilities?’”
Prof. Simon Jäger speaks with Peter O’Dowd of WBUR’s Here & Now about how in Germany, workers are able to elect workers to the corporate board. “We found that these companies produce more in-house and [labor] actually become more productive,” Jäger explains. “We don't find effects on negative effects on [overall] productivity, for example.”