In an article for Bloomberg News, Prof. Daron Acemoglu writes about how countries that democratize tend to see faster rates of economic growth. Acemoglu notes that what tends to spur economic growth is how, “democracies increase taxes and spend more on education and health, preparing the economy to achieve greater productivity in the decades to come.”
In this video, Mashable highlights a new method developed by MIT researchers to 3-D print soft robots that can crawl, fold and carry a pill. The team hopes the structures, which can be controlled with a magnet, could eventually be used as a medical device to take tissue samples or deliver treatments.
Lara Lewington reports for BBC Click on how MIT researchers have developed a technique to create 3-D printed soft structures that can be controlled with a magnet. Lewington explains that the structures could eventually be used in biomedical devices to “take images, extract samples, deliver drugs or even surround a blood vessel to control the pumping of blood.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, Micah Altman, director of research at the MIT Libraries, points to the safeguarding of sensitive information in scientific research as proof that it is possible to protect online privacy. With institutional review boards and informed consent practices, academia demonstrates “that you don’t have to choose between privacy and valuable data,” explains Altman.
The Boston Globe reports that Prof. Emerita Joan Jonas has been awarded the 2018 Kyoto Prize. The prize honors “important figures in the fields of advanced technology, basic sciences, and arts and philosophy.”
By measuring how radio waves bounce off of human bodies, MIT researchers have developed a system that can track movements from behind a wall, writes Andrew Liszewski for Gizmodo. The researchers are working to improve on the current stick figure icons by “generating 3D representations that include subtle and small movements,” writes Liszewski.
Researchers at MIT have created 3D-printed structures that can be controlled by a magnet. The structures included a tube that could squeeze shut, a sheet that could fold, and “a spider-like ‘grabber’ that could crawl, roll, jump, and snap together fast enough to catch a passing ball,” reports Mu Xuequan for Xinhua.
Gabriel Bousquet ’17 speaks to BBC Click’s Gareth Mitchell about the robot he designed for his graduate thesis that was modeled after an albatross. Bosquet envisions using the robot to better understand “the exchanges between the atmosphere and ocean and carbon dioxide,” in the Antarctic Ocean, in an effort to learn more about climate change.
Empatica, a startup co-founded by Prof. Rosalind Picard, is hoping to use the same data gathered by its wearable device Embrace, which “analyzes physiological signals to detect seizures,” to help people manage stress, reports Rina Raphael of Fast Company. “We’re developing the applications that can help people understand stress,” says Picard, “the technology is there.”
MIT researchers have developed 3-D printed magnetic robots that could potentially be used inside the body to deliver medical treatments or take tissue samples. “Their ultimate goal is to design a robot that's just as soft and flexible as a human or animal, so that it can have a wide range of potential applications,” explains Sarah Gibbens for National Geographic.
Researchers led by Prof. Dina Katabi have developed a system to track people’s movements from behind a wall, writes Kaleigh Rogers of Motherboard. Earlier versions were unable to track precise movements, but the system can now interpret signals bouncing off bodies and “translate it into the movement of 14 different key points on the body, including the head, elbows, and knees.”
Institute Prof. Sheila Widnall co-chaired a new report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, which examines the prevalence of sexual harassment in higher ed. The authors “call for a ‘systemwide change to the culture and climate in higher education’ in order to address the issue and prevent harassment,” report Ellie Kaufman and Evan Simko-Bednarski for CNN.
Using magnetic nanoparticles that have been mixed into rubber, Associate Prof. Xuanhe Zhao has created “3D printed shapes that fold, morph, and move in the presence of a magnetic field,” reports Leah Crane for New Scientist. In the future, Zhao believes this work could have medical applications, “like assisting minimally invasive surgeries,” notes Crane.
MIT researchers have discovered that probiotics can prevent cholera and treat early stage cases of the disease, reports Laney Ruckstuhl for The Boston Globe. The findings, led by Prof. James Collins, “could have implications for other diseases as well because scientists were previously unaware that bacterial infections could be vulnerable to naturally occurring probiotics,” notes Ruckstuhl.
Writing for the Financial Times, Senior Lecturer Robert Pozen argues that the European Union needs to improve their efforts to restrict “ratings shopping.” Pozen writes that the European Securities and Markets Authority, “should establish a central and accessible system of public disclosures on both initial approaches and final ratings by each EU issuer of a structured bond.”