In a Boston Globe Magazine article about bioelectronic medicine, writer Jessie Scanlon highlights research by Profs. Ed Boyden and Daniela Rus. Boyden notes that by creating light-sensitive molecules, which can be switched on and off and inserted into neurons, “groups in academia and industry are using the tool to discover patterns of neural activity.”
Prof. Barry Posen writes in The New York Times about the possible outcomes of different planned military strikes against North Korea. “A combination of diplomacy and deterrence, based on the already impressive strength of South Korean and United States conventional and nuclear forces, is a wise alternative,” concludes Posen.
The discovery of the oldest and most distant black hole ever detected has provided a team of astronomers new insights into our universe, writes Alyssa Meyers for The Boston Globe. “In some sense, what we’ve done is determine with a high degree of accuracy when the first stars in the universe turned on,” explains Prof. Robert Simcoe.
The discovery of the oldest and most distant black hole ever observed could provide scientists with insights into the early stages of our universe, reports Will Dunham for Reuters. “This object provides us with a measurement of the time at which the universe first became illuminated with starlight,” explains Prof. Robert Simcoe.
MIT engineers have developed a method to 3-D print living cells into tattoos and 3-D structures, reports Danny Paez for Inverse. Paez explains that the researchers believe the technique, “could possibly be used to create a ‘living computer,’ or a structure made up of living cells that can do the stuff your laptop can.”
NPR’s Nell Greenfieldboyce reports that scientists have discovered the most distant supermassive black hole every discovered, and that the findings are shedding light on when starlight first appeared in our universe. "We have an estimate now, with about 1 to 2 percent accuracy, for the moment at which starlight first illuminated the universe,” explains Prof. Robert Simcoe.
USA Today reporter Doyle Rice writes that a team of astronomers, including several from MIT, has discovered the oldest and most distant supermassive black hole ever detected. “The black hole resides in a quasar and its light reaches us from when the universe was only 5% of its current age — over 13 billion years ago,” explains Rice.
Researchers at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology have been awarded funding for two new programs aimed at addressing global challenges, according to Dewi Fabbri of Channel NewsAsia. Prof. Michael Strano will lead a project that uses sensors to monitor the health of plants, while Prof. Peter Dedon will focus on examining drug resistant organisms.
Co.Design reporter Katharine Schwab writes that MIT researchers have developed a tattoo made of living cells that activate when exposed to different kinds of stimuli. Schwab explains that in the future the tattoos could be designed, “so that they respond to environmental pollutants or changes in temperature.”
Boston Globe reporter Malcom Gay highlights how a number of local arts organizations, MIT List Visual Arts Center, are presenting a series of exhibitions exploring the relationship between art and technology. As part of the series, the List will present “Before Projection: Video Sculpture 1974-1995.”
Washington Post reporter Audrey Hoffer writes about Ori, the flexible robotic furniture system developed by MIT researchers. “We want to change the paradigm to living large in a small footprint. People think square footage and functionality are linearly related, but that’s the old paradigm,” says MIT alumnus and founder Hasier Larrea.
Dr. Joseph Coughlin, director of the AgeLab, speaks with Today Show reporter A. Pawlowski about his new book and why females are uniquely positioned to handle life after middle age. “One of the greatest under-appreciated sources of innovation and new business may in fact be women over 50,” says Coughlin.
Google celebrated the 50th anniversary of Logo, the first programming language designed by the late Prof. Emeritus Seymour Papert, with an interactive Doodle called “Coding for Carrots,” writes Joseph Hincks of Time. “My hope is that people will find this first experience appealing and engaging, and they’ll be encouraged to go further,” says Champika Fernando, director of communications at Scratch.
Twenty years after its release, “Good Will Hunting,” which follows an MIT janitor turned math genius, remains incredibly popular with Boston-area college students. MIT junior Scott Cameron, “credits “Good Will Hunting” with shifting his notion of MIT from a far-off place to an actual goal. He first saw the film at 14 and, years later, it remains one of his favorites,” writes Sonia Rao at The Washington Post.
Media Lab researchers have teamed up with UNICEF on a new website that uses AI to show what cities would look like if they had gone through the war in Syria. As Timothy Revell notes in New Scientist, “such destruction is hard to imagine and can lead to fewer people contributing to fundraising campaigns,” which is something the researchers hope this project will change.