Chris Bourg, director of the MIT Libraries, speaks with Lindsay McKenzie of Inside Higher Ed about how libraries can help foster interdisciplinary discussions about artificial intelligence. McKenzie writes that Bourg notes MIT’s, “long history of interdisciplinary research at its AI labs, the earliest of which was founded in 1959.”
The Boston Globe Magazine highlights two MIT spinoffs in a list spotlighting 19 bold new ideas and fresh faces from 2017. Startup Ministry of Supply, which creates custom apparel using high-tech design, has made “getting a great-fitting blazer...a seamless experience,” while another startup, Biobot, has begun analyzing sewer waste to determine which communities are most affected by opioids.
Writing for Forbes, Charlie Fink writes about the AR in Action (ARiA) conference, which was held at the MIT Media Lab, and how the event focuses on new ideas rather than products. Fink notes that the conference, “is filled with the innovators and thinkers who are poised to create the next wave of groundbreaking products destined to disrupt the status quo.”
Lecturer Amy Carleton speaks with Times Higher Ed reporter Holly Else about how she uses Wikipedia in her courses. Carleton explains that by asking students to write new pieces and add information to existing Wikipedia entries, she is attempting to help students “start to understand how important it is to have a high-quality source to back up any statements that they are making.”
Graduate student Achuta Kadambi speaks with the BBC’s Gareth Mitchell about the new depth sensors he and his colleagues developed that could eventually be used in self-driving cars. “This new approach is able to obtain very high-quality positioning of objects that surround a robot,” Kadambi explains.
MIT researchers have developed an autonomous tricycle that can transport people and packages, writes David Silverberg for Motherboard. “The innovation created by MIT is dubbed PEV (Persuasive Electric Vehicle), and sports a 250W electric motor and 10Ah battery pack. It can run on 25 miles per charge with a top speed of 20 miles per hour.”
Boston Globe reporter Marin Finucane writes that with the help of around 10,000 citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has discovered five planets outside our solar system. “It’s exciting because we’re getting the public excited about science, and it’s really leveraging the power of the human cloud,” says Prof. Ian Crossfield of the discovery.
Times Higher Ed reporter Matthew Reisz highlights Prof. Daniel Jackson’s book, “Portraits of Resilience.” Reisz writes that, “MIT and its press are to be congratulated on a book – given out free to all this year’s new students – that not only addresses head on the issue of mental health within higher education but is so frank about how this plays out within its own institution.”
Mike Wankum of WCVB visits MIT to learn more about spinoff Pipeguard Robotics, which has developed a robot that can help detect leaky pipes before they burst. The robot can spot tiny holes within two feet of a leak while current systems, “can only find major leaks within a few hundred feet of a cracked line,” says Wankum.
MIT researchers have developed a new capsule that allows HIV medication to be delivered over the course of a week, and could allow patients to forgo daily pills, reports Ed Cara for Gizmodo. Researchers also found that using this method for the pre-exposure pill, “would manifest in approximately a 20 per cent increase in efficacy” for weekly dosage compared to the daily regimen.
In an article for NBC News about solar power, Corey Powell highlights Prof. Jeffrey Grossman’s work developing a material for a new chemical heat battery that could release energy on demand. “We’re creating materials that store thermal energy in completely new ways,” Grossman explains.
Writing for The New York Times, Thomas Edsall highlights research by Profs. Daron Acemoglu and David Autor examining how automation and trade impacted the 2016 presidential election. “The swing to Republicans between 2008 and 2016 is quite a bit stronger in commuting zones most affected by industrial robots,” explains Acemoglu. “You don’t see much of the impact of robots in prior presidential elections.”
Daniel Michaels and Andy Pasztor of The Wall Street Journal highlight Prof. Dava Newman’s BioSuit in an article about upgrades and improvements in space suits. Regarding the skintight, flexible suit, Michaels and Pasztor write that Newman’s suit differs in that, “pressure comes not from gas but from tiny electrically activated coils embedded in fabric.”
With additional cash expected as a result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, public companies should make capital investments in sustainable project and programs, suggests Senior Lecturer Robert Pozen in a piece for Fortune. “Now is the time for public company executives to invest for the future—to create jobs and expand local facilities,” writes Pozen.
A study by Prof. Daniel Rothman shows that there could be enough carbon in the Earth’s oceans by 2100 to trigger a sixth mass extinction, reports Mark Fischetti and Jen Christiansen for Scientific American.