Tech reporter Tushar Kamath writes that officials have announced a period of reflection on the community’s recent losses. “This is our way of saying the community does care and we want to be there for each other and provide support to each other,” says Chancellor Cynthia Barnhart.
In a piece for Scientific American, Amy Robinson, creative director of EyeWire, writes about multiphoton microscopy, which is used to study how the human brain adapts and grows new synapses. Robinson’s piece is part of a series about emerging neurotechnologies at MIT.
Heather Kelly of CNN writes about the breast pump hackathon hosted at MIT recently. The winning design, the Mighty Mom utility belt, turned a “pump into a hands-free portable device that is worn discreetly under clothes and can work while the wearer goes about her regular routine,” writes Kelly.
Keith Wagstaff of NBC News reports on a new MIT study, which found that students who complete online courses end up with the same learning gains as those who attend class in person. “That goes for people of all education levels, from those with a high school diploma to those with a Ph.D.,” writes Wagstaff.
Nathan Matias, Ph.D. student at the MIT Center for Civic Media, will lead a discussion at the Mozilla Festival in London on creating better online social interactions, writes Steve Annear for Boston Magazine. “Hopefully we will be able to create a guide to partying on the Internet,” says Matias.
A hackathon held over the weekend at the MIT Media Lab sought to develop a better design for the breast pump, writes Rachel Ehrenberg for The Atlantic. “[M] ost women will tell you that the experience of using the breast pump sucks, literally and figuratively,” says Media Lab researcher Catherine D'Ignazio.
William Becker writes for The Huffington Post about a study from the MIT Energy Initiative and the Harvard University Center on the Environment that examined American public opinion on energy sources. "Americans don't really divide along partisan lines when it comes to their energy preference,” the researchers reported.
Richard Harris reports on research by Professor Richard Larson that found that the effects of funding changes to the National Institute of Health on research are amplified due to the way the institute distributes grants. “Larson's analysis offers lessons for avoiding the pain of boom-and-bust funding,” writes Harris.
In a piece for The New Yorker, Michelle Nijhuis writes about the Make the Breast Pump Not Suck! hackathon, held at the MIT Media Lab. The winning team came up with an idea for a, “portable, hands-free pump that could be used while commuting or caring for small children,” writes Nijhuis.
Aviva Rutkin of New Scientist writes about the breast pump hackathon held at the MIT Media Lab. "These days, we have smart everything," says Catherine D’Ignazio, a research affiliate at MIT who co-organized the event. "Why isn't the breast pump a little bit smarter too?"
“Nestled in the heart of MIT’s campus, the MIT Media Lab is one of the most important storehouses of invention — developing imaginative technologies that might one day have common, everyday uses for all of us,” writes BetaBoston reporter Dennis Keohane in a piece about the MIT Media Lab.
New Scientist reporter Hal Hodson writes about MagMIMO, a new device that can wirelessly power phones at a distance. "In our vision we wanted to have people's phone charge the minute they are sitting next to their desk: they go to a meeting, they come back, the phone starts charging again," says Prof. Dina Katabi.
Liz Stinson writes for Wired about THAW, a project out of the MIT Media Lab that allows screens on smart devices to interact with one another. "We don’t really think of it as a product,” says Media Lab student Phillip Schoessler. “We’ve really just touched the surface of the applications.”
Dr. Joseph Coughlin, director of the MIT Age Lab, collaborated on a study that indicates that grandchildren are likely to take financial advice from their grandparents, writes Kimberly Palmer of U.S. News & World Report. “Grandparents can tell stories and explain how they were able to muddle through or succeed,” says Coughlin.
Loren Grush of Popular Science writes about a new type of antibiotic developed by MIT researchers that could help kill drug-resistant bacteria. “[T]he team developed their own gene-editing system, capable of turning off certain bacterial genes that spur antibiotic resistance,” Grush explains.