In this video, CNN spotlights how researchers from MIT’s Senseable City Lab have developed a robot, named Luigi, to collect bacteria from the sewers in an effort to better understand public health. "Sewers represent a unique opportunity where health data from everybody in a community is pooled together,” explains Prof. Eric Alm.
Erandi Palihakkara writes for The Huffington Post about the Viet Youth Projects Conference, an event held at MIT and co-organized by undergraduate Trinh Nguyen, aimed at bringing together Vietnamese youths focused on developing innovative solutions for social problems. The conference was a “networking and learning opportunity that brings together the emerging leaders of social change,” Palihakkara writes.
An article co-written by Prof. Carlo Ratti for The Guardian describes how the internet has changed people’s attitudes towards consumption. “The internet has heightened the prestige of sharing by turning it into a communicable experience,” Ratti notes.
Prof. Rainer Weiss speaks with Marco Werman of PRI about his childhood, what inspired his interest in science, and black holes. "One of the dreams I would have, had Einstein been still alive, is to tell him about this,” said Weiss, of the successful detection of gravitational waves. “I would have loved to have seen what he would have thought.”
MIT researchers have identified a region of the brain responsible for forming habits, reports Anil Ananthaswamy for New Scientist. The researchers found that when performing an action, the prefrontal cortex, communicates with the striatum. “Over time, input from the prefrontal circuits fades, to be replaced by loops linking the striatum to the sensorimotor cortex,” Ananthaswamy explains.
MIT researchers have developed an app that compares automobile emissions and emissions reduction targets to allow consumers to find the most affordable and climate-friendly vehicles, reports Dana Nuccitelli for The Guardian. The app “allows consumers to check how their own vehicles – or cars they’re considering purchasing – stack up on the carbon emissions and cost curves.”
MIT’s Inclusive Innovation Competition honored companies for innovations aimed at improving economic opportunity, reports Deirdre Fernandes for The Boston Globe. Fernandes writes that the competition was an effort “to highlight partnerships between man and machine and drive more innovation to under-served communities.”
A study by MIT researchers finds that low-emissions vehicles are more cost effective when operating and maintenance costs are included in the price, writes Rae Ellen Bichell for NPR. The study also found that many battery electric and hybrid cars “already meet the global emissions goals the U.S. recently agreed to meet by the year 2030,” explains Bichell.
A paper co-authored by Prof. Amy Finkelstein compares human and pet health care costs, reports Aimee Picchi for CBS News. The study found that, “spending on human medical care was 50 percent higher in 2012 than in 1996, while spending on pet health care jumped 60 percent,” writes Picchi.
MIT researchers have developed a system to map streetlights, writes Linda Poon for The Atlantic CityLab. Using sensors mounted on top of vehicles, the system measures illumination levels, gathers data into a map, and distinguishes between background light and streetlights through machine learning, explains Poon.
Law enforcement officers, terrorism experts, and the parents of people who have carried out attacks, gathered for a two-day National Security Conference at MIT, reports Milton Valencia for The Boston Globe. The first day of the conference included a presentation by Lisa Monaco, assistant to President Obama for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.
Dr. Mallika Marshall reports for CBS Boston that MIT researchers have created a robot that helps maternity nurses make scheduling and placement decisions. “What we found was that the suggestions of the robot were accepted 90 percent of the time, which was very exciting for us,” explains Prof. Julie Shah.
MIT researchers have found that low-emissions vehicles are among the least expensive to drive. Based off their findings, the researchers developed an app that helps consumers evaluate a car’s carbon impact, reports John Schwartz for The New York Times. “Consumers can save money and save emissions at the same time,” explains Prof. Jessika Trancik.
Wall Street Journal reporter Melinda Beck spotlights the MIT D-Lab’s emphasis on flexible business plans and designs when developing innovations for developing nations. Beck highlights two D-Lab projects, an effort to make low-cost sanitary pads available in rural India and SurgiBox, a “collapsible tent that creates a sterile space around the portion of a patient undergoing surgery,” as examples.
Writing for USA Today about the benefits of exercise, Karen Weintraub spotlights MIT’s physical education requirement. Carrie Sampson Moore, director of physical education, explains that students are able to “establish a pattern of health that will help not only them,” but also prepare them to be “role models for their students and employees” in the future.