In the Media

Jordan Lebeau writes for Boston.com about a team of drink-serving robots created by MIT researchers: “The team consists of one large double-armed bot, the bartender, and two smaller ‘turtle bots,’ the servers.”

Brook Hays of UPI writes that researchers from MIT have developed a new program that allows teams of robots to work together to pour and deliver drinks. Hays explains that the robots are “programmed to anticipate what drinks are needed where, taking orders and delivering drinks with the greatest possible level of efficiency.”

Lindsay Kalter writes for The Boston Herald about a new robot developed by MIT researchers called HERMES, which is controlled by a human operator wearing an exoskeleton. “The idea here is you have a humanoid robot that you can send into a disaster situation, with someone operating it remotely,” explains graduate student Albert Wang.

BetaBoston reporter Curt Woodward writes about RapidSOS, a startup founded by graduates from MIT and Harvard that is aimed at improving 911 service. “RapidSOS’ system is designed to be a digital communications middleman that can harvest key information from an app user’s smartphone and route it into a 911 dispatcher’s system,” Woodward explains. 

Prof. Sara Seager and her team are building a list of biosignatures - chemicals that could suggest the presence of life on other planets - in their search for extraterrestrial life, writes Joshua Sokol for New Scientist. Seager is “looking at all small molecules, not just the ones linked to life as we know it.”

A team led by Prof. Stephen Buchwald has developed single-use capsules that could make chemistry experiments less labor intensive, writes Carmen Drahl for Forbes. “We’re always looking for ways to make our chemistry more user-friendly,” says Buchwald.

Nitya Rajan writes for The Huffington Post that MIT researchers have developed a new human-robot interface that allows robots to mimic human actions. Rajan explains that the system allows the robot’s movements to be controlled by a human operator. 

Wired reporter Katie Collins writes that MIT researchers have developed a robot with a unique balance-feedback interface that allows a human operator to control the balance and movements of the robot. Collins explains that the reason the robot’s “reflexes are so ‘human’ is because he is, in fact, mimicking precisely the actions of that person.”

MIT researchers have developed a new human-robot interface that could prove useful in disaster response, reports Keith Wagstaff for NBC News. Wagstaff explains that if the robot’s “human operator grabs a power tool, it will do the same -- an ability that could prove useful in the aftermath of an earthquake or nuclear meltdown.”

Prof. John Deutch argues in this Wall Street Journal op-ed that the U.S. ban on direct exports of crude oil should be abolished. Lifting the ban, Deutch writes, “will increase U.S. jobs and increase the country’s influence in world oil markets, with little risk of higher gasoline prices for consumers.”

Olga Khazan writes for The Atlantic about work being done at the MIT Media Lab to create “smart” office furniture that would transform to meet the needs of workers at different times during the day. “Maybe our two desks should get together and create a room for us,” hypothesizes research affiliate Hasier Larrea.

A team led by Prof. Michael Cima is developing an implantable sensor that can monitor a tumor’s response to cancer drugs, writes Eric Levenson for Boston.com. “The sensor would function like a long-term medical biopsy, giving doctors a continuous look at how a tumor is developing,” Levenson explains. 

Andrew Revkin writes for The New York Times about a compact design for a fusion reactor that could make fusion power a possibility within a decade. Revkin highlights how the research originated from an MIT course, writing, “it’s exciting to see academia integrating directly with innovation on this scale.”

Jamie Ducharme writes for Boston Magazine that MIT researchers are developing a biochemical sensor that could provide updates on cancerous tumors. The sensor “could be implanted in cancerous tissue during a patient’s first biopsy. After that, it would stay in the tissue and transmit data about the state of the tumor to an external device.”

Boston Globe reporter Kevin Hartnett writes that MIT researchers have shown it is impossible to create a faster version of the “edit distance” algorithm, which is used to compare the genomes of different species. Hartnett writes that the finding “has been greeted with something like relief among computer scientists.”