Fast Company reporter Adele Peters writes about Tarjimly, a non-profit MIT startup that connects refugees with a large network of volunteer language translators. The platform “has more than 8,000 translators who speak more than 90 languages, and can be used in nearly any situation where someone trying to help can’t communicate with someone in need,” Peters explains.
Inspired by the shell of a leopard tortoise, MIT researchers have developed a self-orienting ingestible capsule that can deliver doses of medication to the stomach, writes Megan Thielking for STAT. “If we’re able to deliver large molecules orally, it would not only change drug delivery but also drug discovery,” says Prof. Robert Langer.
A team of MIT researchers has created a tiny ingestible device that deliver medications such as insulin directly to the stomach and could replace the daily injections used to treat diabetes patients, reports Alice Park for TIME. “We see no reason why someday this couldn’t be used to deliver any protein to the body,” says Prof. Robert Langer.
Boston Globe reporter Martin Finucane writes that MIT researchers have developed an ingestible capsule that contains a small needle that injects insulin directly into the stomach. Finucane writes that the researchers “designed the pill with a special shape to ensure that it will fall and then orient itself at the bottom of the stomach so that the needle is facing toward the stomach lining rather than the stomach’s inside.”
Graduate students Stephanie Lee and Ellen Shakespear speak with WBUR’s Hadley Green about Spaceus, a collaborative work and exhibition space they created for artists in the greater Boston area. Lee explains that Spaceus is committed to nurturing artists in the “heart of cities, because local creativity is what makes a place, gives it identity and meaning.”
Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new imaging technique that can “provide us with jaw-dropping views of a wide range of biological systems.” Collins writes that the new “imaging approach shows much promise as a complementary tool for biological exploration.”
In an article for Fast Company about hackathons, Dan Formosa highlights how the Make the Breast Pump Not Suck Hackathon held at MIT was an inclusive event focused on addressing issues of bias, inequality and accessibility, noting how the organizers “went to extremes to assure diversity.”
Axios reporter Joann Muller writes about MIT startup WaveSense, which has developed a ground-penetrating radar that creates maps to help vehicles through snow, fog and ice. WaveSense “essentially creates a fingerprint of the roadways by mapping and tracking unique geologic patterns underground,” Muller explains.
Wall Street Journal reporter Sara Castellanos spotlights how researchers from MIT and Microsoft participated in a two-day hackathon with curators and digital experts from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Together, they aimed to develop new AI technologies that could deliver new and personalized experiences “with a view toward deepening user engagement.”
Prof. Joi Ito, director of the Media Lab, writes for Wired about how AI systems can help perpetuate longstanding discriminatory practices. “By merely relying on historical data and current definitions of fairness, we will lock in the accumulated unfairnesses of the past,” argues Ito, “and our algorithms and the products they support will always trail the norms.”
Fast Company reporter Jesus Diaz writes that MIT researchers have developed a computer model that shows that rising water temperatures will cause the color of the world’s oceans to change.
MIT researchers have found that climate change will cause half of the world’s oceans to change color by 2100, reports Becky Ferreira for Motherboard. “Monitoring ocean color could yield valuable insights into the effects of climate change on phytoplankton,” Ferreira explains.
The Washington Post spotlights an MIT study examining how climate change will alter the color of the oceans. “Changes are happening because of climate change,” says principal research scientist Stephanie Dutkiewicz. “The change in the color of the ocean will be one of early warning signals that we really have changed our planet.”
BBC News reporter Matt McGrath writes that MIT researchers have found rising temperatures caused by climate change will cause the world’s oceans to become bluer, as the increased temperatures alter the mixture of phytoplankton. The color change “will likely be one of the earliest warning signals that we have changed the ecology of the ocean,” explains principal research scientist Stephanie Dutkiewicz.
A study by MIT researchers shows that climate change will have a significant impact on phytoplankton, which will cause the oceans to change color, reports Brett Molina for USA Today. The researchers “developed a model simulating how different species of phytoplankton will grow and interact, and how warming oceans will have an impact,” Molina explains.