Boston.com reporter Justine Hofherr writes that in a new survey MIT has been ranked one of the top universities for return on investment, “based on the difference between a schools cost of attendance and the income the average student earns in the 20 years after graduation.”
In an article for Reuters, James Saft writes that MIT researchers have found that analyzing Twitter sentiment can provide useful information for investors. “We exploit a new dataset of tweets referencing the Federal Reserve and show that the content of tweets can be used to predict future returns,” Prof. Andrew Lo and grad student Pablo Azar explain.
Washington Post reporter Matt McFarland writes that MIT researchers have developed a technique for printing solid and liquid materials at the same time, a development that could make producing robots faster and easier. Prof. Daniela Rus explains that the new process could make “a big difference in what kind of machines you can make.”
STAT reporter Eric Boodman spotlights Prof. Jing-Ke Weng’s work searching for medical treatments in plants. Boodman writes that Weng is “determined to harness peanut skins, and twisted roots, and an herb known as horny goat weed...to treat human disease."
Popular Science reporter Kelsey Atherton writes that a new 3-D printing process developed by MIT researchers incorporates both solid and liquid materials at the same time. Atherton explains that the prototype robot developed using the process walks “with hydraulic bellows, fluid pumping in and out to turn a crankshaft that moves the legs back and forth.”
Researchers from MIT CSAIL have developed a new 3-D printing process that produces robots with no assembly required, reports Brian Mastroianni for CBS News. “MIT's new process is significant in that the production period is streamlined, with the robot's solid and liquid hydraulic parts being created in one step,” Mastroianni explains.
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that MIT researchers have developed a way to simultaneously 3-D print liquid and solid materials, “allowing them to create functional, nearly assembly-free robots.”
Anthony Cuthbertson writes for Newsweek that MIT researchers have developed a drone that is capable of mimicking a person’s drawings. Cutherbertson explains that, “the drone has been modified to carry a pen, allowing it to copy the actions of a human hand and scale it up through a combination of mechanical and algorithmic methods.”
Boston Magazine reporter Jamie Ducharme writes that a team of MIT students has developed an app that provides shoppers with a nutrition receipt for grocery store purchases. The app is based on an algorithm that could “parse through data from the USDA’s National Nutrient Database, assessing the nutritional value of each item in the shopper’s cart.”
MIT startup nuTonomy is developing driverless taxis to serve as a form of public transit in Singapore, reports Nyshka Chandran for CNBC. “The driverless taxis will follow optimal paths for picking up and dropping off passengers to reduce traffic congestion,” Chandran explains.
Fortune reporter Robert Hackett writes that MIT spinoff nuTonomy is developing a fleet of driverless taxis for Singapore. Hackett writes that the company “could become the first to operate fully self-driving cars, known as ‘level four,’ in a city commercially.”
In a roundup of art exhibits to see this spring, WBUR reporter Greg Cook highlights an exhibition of Tala Madani’s work that will be on display at the MIT List Visual Arts Center starting May 20th. Cook writes that, “he Tehran-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s paintings, drawings and stop-motion animations often feel like political cartoons.”
Washington Post reporter Laurie McGinley writes that Prof. Tyler Jacks, director of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, was named to a panel of experts that will advise the Obama administration on the cancer “moonshot” initiative and how to best “tackle some of the most promising but challenging areas in research today.”
MIT researchers have developed a technique to help predict the thickness of a round shell, reports Alexandra Ossola for Popular Science. The findings “could help researchers create shells with a predictable thickness and a uniform consistency at an industrial scale. That’s useful for a range of products, including pills and aerodynamic vehicles.”
New York Times reporter Steve Lohr writes that MIT researchers have developed a website, dubbed Data USA, aimed at making government data easier to understand and use. Prof. Cesar Hidalgo, who led the development of DATA USA, explains that the website was devised to “transform data into stories.”