Students from MIT and the University of Michigan will install solar panels for families in Long Beach, California over spring break, reports Marcela Valdivia for NBC 4. “Students will install solar panels for a two-day period for one family and spend the other days spreading awareness about renewable energy in the community,” Valdivia explains.
Forbes reporter Eric Mack writes about the latest iteration of MIT’s robotic cheetah: A new miniature version that weighs 20 pounds. “The cheetah has heavyweight skills like walking over uneven terrain, picking itself up after a fall or a swift kick and of course, its ability to pull off a 360-degree reverse flip from a standing position,” Mack explains.
In an article for USA Today, research affiliate Ashley Nunes explores the feasibility of creating fully self-driving vehicles. “Unless these systems are proven faultless (which they aren’t), ceding control of public safety to algorithmic rather than human intuitions is an unlikely prospect at best,” writes Nunes. “There goes the let-the-robot-drive future we were promised.”
Washington Post reporter Peter Holley writes that MIT researchers have created a mini robotic cheetah that can perform a backflip and walk right-side up or upside down. “Legged robots will have a variety of uses where human or animal-like mobility is necessary, but it may be unsafe to send a person,” explains technical associate Benjamin Katz.
Prof. Aviv Regev speaks with the Associated Press about the Human Cell Atlas Consortium, which is aimed at cataloging all the cells in the human body in an effort to better understand human diseases. "This is not going to cure all disease immediately," she says, but "it is a critical stepping stone."
Fortune reporter Alyssa Newcomb writes that MIT researchers have developed a 20-pound robotic cheetah that can successfully execute a backflip and nail the landing. “The robotic mini cheetah can also gallop over uneven terrain twice as fast as the average human,” writes Newcomb.
A miniature version of the robotic cheetah developed by MIT researchers provides a testbed for researchers to experiment with new maneuvers like backflips, reports David Freeman for NBC Mach. “Having a platform that's relatively small and safe and cheap makes running experiments very easy,” says technical associate Benjamin Katz, “you don't have to worry about breaking the robot or getting hurt.”
MIT researchers have developed a miniature robotic cheetah that can perform a wide range of maneuvers, reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. “The robot is capable of running up to five miles per hour, can perform a 360-degree backflip from a standing position and will right itself quickly after being kicked to the ground,” Heater explains.
Verge reporter Chaim Gartenberg writes that MIT researchers have developed a new mini cheetah robot that can perform backflips. Gartenberg notes that the robot is the first four-legged robot that can do a backflip, adding that it weighs “around 20 pounds, and can trot along at up to 2.45 meters per second (around 5.5 miles per hour).”
John Oliver, host of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, highlights Prof. David Autor’s research in a show on the impacts of automation.
Heather Goldstone and Elsa Partan report for WCAI’s Living Lab Radio that 50 years ago, faculty and students at MIT held a teach-in protesting the Vietnam War. Alan Chodos, a visiting student at the time who helped organize the gathering, explains that the idea was inspired by the question, “What could MIT do to make it clear that scientists, in particular, were very concerned about this.”
Associated Press reporter Jimmy Golen writes about this year’s Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, highlighting the growing use of analytics in sports. “Over two days, college math majors rubbed elbows with team and tech executives looking for fresh ideas and talented minds to implement them,” writes Golen.
Anne Mostue reports for Bloomberg Baystate Business on the launch event for the new MIT Stephen A. Schwarzman College of Computing. Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Alphabet, noted that the new college will be able to achieve something that has not been possible before, namely to “aggressively diffuse this new technology into fields which need it, but can’t get it on their own.”
VentureBeat reporter Kyle Wiggers highlights a panel discussion focusing on AI and entrepreneurship held during an event for the new MIT Schwarzman College of Computing. “We know that entrepreneurs drive the economy,” said Eric Schmidt, former executive chairman of Alphabet. “What do you need to have [AI] companies? You need entrepreneurs. And let me tell you: we need more entrepreneurs.”
In a letter to The Guardian, Prof. Franz-Josef Ulm, Randolph Kirchain and Jeremy Gregory of the Concrete Sustainability Hub argue that “concrete remains a vital means of social and economic transformation for developing nations.” The authors add that “we ought to expand our understanding of it and use its full potential to enable sustainable development.”