Stu Schmill, MIT’s Dean of Admissions, speaks with Matt Lauer of The Today Show about a new report that he helped develop, which recommends changes in the college application process. “This report, I hope, will really send a more powerful message around what colleges are really, really interested to see,” says Schmill.
Straits Times reporter Pang Xue Qiang writes that researchers at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) have developed a sensor that can monitor and regulate the fluid flow of an IV drip. The researchers hope that the sensor will reduce the burden on hospital staff.
Researchers from MIT CSAIL have developed an algorithm that allows drones to navigate obstacle courses, reports Kelsey Atherton for Popular Science. “As drones move away from simple remote-controlled toys and become more autonomous flying tools, programs like these will keep them flying safely through unfamiliar terrain,” explains Atherton.
BBC News reporter David Gibson writes that MIT researchers have developed a thin, transparent film that can store solar energy for later use. Gibson writes that the polymer could be used to de-ice windshields, “heat seats and steering wheels, or even let you solar charge your socks before a motorcycle ride.”
Boston Herald reporter Tom Layman writes about freshman Bradley Jomard’s first game for the MIT basketball team, which took place the night of the Paris terrorist attacks. Head coach Larry Anderson says that Bradley, whose family lives in Paris, stayed focused on the game. “What that says about him is that he’s a very thoughtful person,” says Anderson.
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes about Koko, an app developed by MIT researchers that allows users to crowdsource advice. “It’s really teaching people to think more flexibly about stressful situations,” said MIT alumnus and co-founder Robert Morris.
MIT researchers have developed an algorithm that could reduce how long planes wait before takeoff, reports Lee Moran for The Huffington Post. The formula allows air traffic controllers to use data on weather conditions and runway traffic to “hold airplanes at the gate, which would help avoid congestion.”
Research affiliate Judah Cohen speaks with Boston Herald reporter Erin Smith about his predictions for how much snow Boston might see this winter. “I think there will be a snowier second half of winter. That’s still very plausible,” says Cohen. “But matching anything like last year it would be difficult — near impossible.”
The Economist highlights an MIT study that shows Massachusetts is outperforming Silicon Valley in creating life sciences startups, and credits MIT for its role in driving innovation in Kendall Square. “The Boston metropolitan area...seems to be holding its own as the world’s pre-eminent biotech hub.”
Researchers at MIT have developed an incandescent light bulb that vastly improves the device’s energy efficiency, The Economist reports. The modified bulb “maintains the technology’s advantages while vastly improving its energy credentials, giving it the potential to trounce CFLs and LEDs.”
MIT researchers have created artificial replicas of the fur that keeps fur seals and sea otters warm in cold water to see how those hairs act as insulators, reports Charles Choi for Popular Science. The researchers found that “the longer and more closely spaced hairs were, the better that surfaces were at trapping air and staying dry.”
Prof. Michael Yaffe speaks with Scott Kirsner of WBUR’s Radio Boston about Vice President Joe Biden’s new cancer initiative. Prof. Yaffe says that the announcement comes at a “golden era for cancer research. We’ve laid the groundwork and we’re poised with incredible technologies, knowledge and understanding of the disease.”
In a new study, Prof. Alan Guth shows how time might move backwards as well as forwards, reports Joshua Sokol for New Scientist. “We call it the two-headed arrow of time,” Guth says. “Because the laws of physics are invariant, we see exactly the same thing in the other direction.”
In an article for Ozy about MIT alumna Sabrina Pasterski, Farah Halime writes about Pasterski’s research on black holes, and the nature of gravity and spacetime, all of which “has the world of physics abuzz.” Halime notes that Pasterski, “might be the new Einstein.”
Boston.com reporter Emily Anderson speaks with graduate student Adrian Dalca about how the million photos he captured of the Boston skyline could be used to predict changes in the city. “You can get these patterns of change over time,” explains Dalca. “And it would be interesting to predict what’s going to happen here in the next year.”