Researchers from MIT and the University of Washington have found that centuries-old ocean currents have been keeping the Southern Ocean cold, reports Sarah Emerson for Motherboard. The researchers found that “Antarctica’s unique currents and strong westerly winds are constantly dredging up ancient currents from deep beneath the ocean’s surface.”
Prof. Hugh Herr has been named the recipient of Spain’s 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, according to the AP. Herr’s achievements “have had a major impact on people with disabilities, through adaptive knee prostheses for femoral amputees, and ankle-and-foot orthopedic prostheses for those with clubfoot or disabilities caused by cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis.”
Michael Le Page writes for New Scientist that MIT researchers have developed a technique that allows cells to log their activities using the CRISPR gene-editing system. Le Page explains that “such CRISPR-based logging could have a huge range of uses, from smart cells that monitor our health from within, to helping us understand exactly how our bodies develop.”
A new analysis by MIT researchers verifies the difficulty of the popular video game “Super Mario Brothers.” MIT researchers found that the game’s challenges belong to the “PSPACE” category of equations, “requiring exponential time to both solve, and to prove algorithmically,” G. Clay Whittaker of Popular Science explains.
In this article and video, Nature reporter Corie Lok spotlights Prof Lydia Bourouiba’s work studying the fluid dynamics of coughing and sneezing. Bourouiba explains that her research combines “fluid mechanics to problems that are relevant in health and epidemiology to understand better how pathogens are transmitted.”
Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research, speaks with Science’s Jeffrey Mervis about her new role as chair of the National Science Board. “U.S. research and education are really what has kept this country at the forefront,” says Zuber. “I think that even in this environment… research spending ought to still be up.”
A study by economists from MIT and Colombia's Universidad de los Andes analyzed the success of the U.S. government’s anti-cocaine efforts in Colombia, reports Christopher Ingraham for The Washington Post. The researchers found that “if the U.S. wants to reduce drug consumption, it is better off investing in treatment and prevention programs domestically.”
CBC News reporter Paul Cote Jay writes about a new study co-authored by MIT researchers that examines why children often have trouble distinguishing the words “or” from “and.” Jay explains that the researchers found that while adults and children go through a similar process to interpret statements, “children are just missing one step.”
In a Boston Magazine article about six city squares in Boston, Joseph Mendolia writes that MIT’s plan for Kendall Square, “which is slated to bring 740 apartments—not to mention additional office, retail, and research space—to the square,” could help bring a neighborhood feel to the the area.
Vijee Venkatraman writes for Al-Fanar about MIT’s Learning International Networks Consortium, which brought together more than 200 practitioners in the field to explore how digital technology can help people in the developing world.
CBC News reporter David Common writes that as part of a project called Underworlds, MIT researchers have developed robots that can sample human waste in sewers in an effort to better understand public health. "One of the holy grails of this project during its inception was to identify viral outbreaks," explains Jessica Snyder, an MIT postdoc.
Prof. Emerita Suzanne Corkin, whose work with a famous amnesia patient was instrumental in uncovering the nature of memory, died on May 24, reports Benedict Carey for The New York Times. Carey writes that Corkin’s work “helped settle a debate about the function of the hippocampus in retrieving and reliving past experiences.”
In a BBC News article about the Venice Architecture Biennale, Will Gompertz highlights a "drone-port" developed in collaboration with MIT researchers. “With the aid of cutting edge computer science and buried steel tension ropes, the largely self-supporting structure uses a fraction of the materials such a building would normally need.”
Researchers in MIT’s Tangible Media Group have developed visual cues to help people learn how to play the piano, reports G. Clay Whittaker for Popular Science. “Animated figures walk, dance, and lumber across the keyboard in telling motions that help you learn not just which keys to strike, but how hard and for what duration to strike them.”
Popular Science reporter G. Clay Whittaker writes that MIT researchers have developed a new interface that mimics the properties of other materials. Whittaker writes that the project “goes a step past responsive design. Your interactions with the surface changes based on what you've programmed it to replicate: water, rubber, a mattress.”