In the Media

MIT Professor Alan Guth talks to BBC News about the new scientific evidence that appears to support a Big Bang Theory for the origin of the universe. Guth was one of the first physicists to propose the theory of cosmic inflation.

Los Angeles Times reporter Amina Khan explores the new findings that appear to confirm MIT Professor Alan Guth’s theory of cosmic inflation.  “Guth's inflation theory became a cornerstone of our understanding of the early universe — but scientists had thought it would be difficult, if not impossible, to prove,” writes Khan.

“A team of biologists and engineers want to turn plants into chemical warfare detectors that can sniff out sarin gas or explosives. For now, though, they've succeeded in turning the flowering Arabidopsis thaliana into a pollutant detector using carbon nanotubes,” writes Wired reporter Liat Clark of the new bionic plants developed at MIT.

New York Times reporter Dennis Overbye profiles Professor Alan Guth, one of the first physicists to set forth the theory of cosmic inflation. This week astronomers presented evidence that could confirm Guth’s work.

The Washington Post features the new soft robotic fish developed by MIT researchers. The fish echoes the movements of a real fish and is safe for humans to work with as it is made of soft materials, writes reporter Fred Barbash.

New Scientist’s Catherine Brahic reports on new bionic plants developed at MIT. The plants, which have an increased ability to photosynthesise thanks to nanomaterials embedded in their cells, could be used to create self-powering and self-repairing materials, new types of fuel cells and more, Brahic reports.

Writing for Scientific American, David Biello reports on a team of MIT researchers who are giving plants and the photosynthesis process an extra boost thanks to carbon nanotubes the team embedded deep within the plant’s leaves.

“Chocolate sustainability is not the career path of your typical MBA graduate, but I use what I learned at business school every day,” writes Shayna Harris, the cocoa sustainability manager for Mars Global Chocolate of her experience as an MBA student at Sloan.

In an article for Science examining the latest research on surface tension, Elizabeth Pennisi highlights work by Professor Lydia Bourouiba to understand how airborne pathogens take flight. Through her work, Bourouiba hopes to find new ways to curb the spread of disease.

A new project from the MIT Media Lab attempts to quantify a person’s fame, writes Dwight Garner in The New York Times Magazine. “For now, you are legitimately famous, the M.I.T. team has decided, if a Wikipedia page under your name exists in more than 25 languages,” Garner reports.

“A team of engineers at the university's Distributed Robotics Laboratory has developed a soft robot fish, which is not only capable of taking evasive manoeuvres at remarkable speed, but is also entirely self-contained and autonomous,” writes Wired’s Nicholas Tufnell of a new soft robotic fish developed at MIT.

Space.com’s Katia Moskvitch writes that a team led by MIT Professor Jeffrey Hoffman has suggested new, cost-efficient techniques for establishing gas stations in space. The stations would be used to fuel future missions to the Moon.

MIT Professor John Hansman talks with Bloomberg Businessweek about the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 in this video interview.

Harvard Gazette correspondent Chuck Leddy reports on a recent speech by Susan Hockfield, MIT President Emerita, during a packed session at Harvard's John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. She discussed the power of technology’s ongoing convergence.

Boston Magazine reporter Steve Annear spotlights the new soft robotic fish developed at MIT. “The life-like machine is so realistic—in both shape and feel—that it mimics the movements of a real underwater creature to a T. In a way, it even has built-in gills to help it survive,” writes Annear.