MIT researchers have developed a robotic 3-D printer that can construct a building, reports TechCrunch’s Brian Heater. “Our future vision for this project is to have self-sufficient robotic systems,” explains alumnus Steven Keating. “Just like a tree gathers its own energy, our platform is being developed toward the design goal of being able to gather its own energy.”
NuTonomy, an MIT startup, will soon start testing self-driving cars in Boston’s Seaport District and Fort Point areas, writes Doug Newcomb for Forbes.
MIT researchers have developed a new robotic system that can 3-D print the basic structure of a building, writes Michelle Starr for CBS News. Starr explains that the system is “free moving, can be customized to print on any suitable surface and is intended to be self-sufficient.”
Don Reisinger writes for Fortune that MIT researchers have developed a robot that can 3-D print a free-standing structure in 14 hours. The researchers hope the robot, which consists of two robotic arms attached to a vehicle, can be used to construct buildings in “disparate parts of the world or even on other planets,” explains Reisinger.
In an article for The Atlantic, Gillian B. White writes about Prof. Peter Temin’s new book, “The Vanishing Middle Class: Prejudice and Power in a Dual Economy.” White writes that in his book Temin argues that “following decades of growing inequality, America is now left with what is more or less a two-class system.”
Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Akst writes about a new solar-powered, water-harvesting device developed by MIT researchers. The device is “about the size of a Kleenex box [and] can suck lifesaving amounts of water out of the air even in extremely arid places.”
MIT researchers have developed a robot that can 3-D print the basic structure of buildings, writes Matthew Hutson for Science. The autonomous robot sprays an expanding foam into the desired shape “to build up a hollow wall that serves as insulation and can later be filled with concrete and covered in plaster,” explains Hutson.
In this video, WGBH reporter Tina Martin visits a FixIt Clinic held at the Edgerton Center. Martin explains that the workshops were originally started by MIT graduate Peter Mui in an effort to teach people how to conduct self-repairs.
Boston Globe reporter Steve Annear writes about the Baker House Piano Drop, an MIT tradition started more than 40 years ago, during which students drop a non-working piano from the roof of Baker House. This year’s event will raise funds for The Stepping Stone Foundation, which implements programs that prepare underserved schoolchildren for educational opportunities.
CBC News reporter Matthew Braga writes that MIT researchers have designed a system that can 3-D print the basic structure of buildings. The researchers believe the system could one day be used to “build structures in extreme or inhospitable environments — say, the aftermath of an earthquake, or even on another planet.”
Politico Pro reporter Alex Guillén writes that David Goldston, director of government affairs for the National Resources Defense Council, has been selected to lead MIT’s Washington Office.
Using an algorithm and a 3-D scan of a human body, Prof. Carlo Ratti designed a foldable stool that can conform to different shapes, writes Margaret Rhodes for Wired. Allowing algorithms to determine the form of each hinge, “allows you to create shapes and functions that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to,” Ratti explains.
Prof. Andrew Lo speaks with Barry Ritholtz of Bloomberg View about the field of economics. Lo explains that his new book chronicles his “intellectual journey from a diehard devotee of efficient markets and rational expectations into the realm of first psychology and behavioral finance, and then to neuroscience and how people really make decisions.”
In an article for Forbes about how companies and colleges need to collaborate more to spur innovation, Harold Sirkin writes that “MIT has mastered the art of industry collaboration.”
Alumnus Peter Samson reminisces with New York Times reporter Sam Roberts about how as an MIT student he calculated the most efficient route to ride the New York City subway system. “I had previously used the computer to solve some small subway-network puzzles,” Samson recalled, “and suddenly saw a way to put all of my loves together: computers, trains and New York.”