Alyssa Newcomb writes for NBC News that MIT researchers have developed a system that allows users to interact with virtual objects. Newcomb explains that the “technology could be used to make movies or even by engineers wanting to find out how an old bridge may respond to inclement weather.”
Barb Darrow writes for Fortune about the career of Prof. Emeritus Seymour Papert, who died July 31. “In the 1960s, when computers were pricey and huge, Papert saw them as a way to help children learn by doing. He developed the Logo programming language for children, who initially used it to program and animate a small robot turtle.”
CSAIL researchers have created a tool that allows people to interact with videos, writes Mary Beth Griggs for Popular Science. The technique could “make augmented reality animations integrate even more with the 'reality' part of augmented reality, help engineers model how structures will react when different forces are applied, or as a less expensive way to create special effects.”
A portable device developed by MIT researchers uses programmable yeast to create drugs on demand, reports Jamie Ducharme for Boston Magazine. The device “could be a lifesaver for doctors working in vulnerable conditions, such as the battlefield, a remote village, or even an ambulance,” writes Ducharme.
Prof. Polina Anikeeva speaks with Cory Johnson of Bloomberg West about the emerging field of bioelectronics. Concerning future applications of bioelectronics, Anikeeva says that she thinks “we will start seeing more and more devices coming in and being implanted into various parts of the nervous system to treat disorders we haven’t even thought of before as neurological.”
MIT alumna Tish Scolnik speaks with Forbes reporter Susan Adams about her startup, Global Research Innovation and Technology, which develops wheelchairs for rough terrain. Scolnik recalls that she was inspired to develop wheelchairs in an MIT course. “I thought the class would hit my interest and give me an opportunity to understand what engineering was all about.”
MIT researchers have developed a programmable vaccine that could be used to respond to disease outbreaks, reports Ben Gruber for Reuters. The vaccine harnesses “messenger RNA, a genetic material that can be programmed to fight any viral, bacterial or parasitic disease by provoking an amplified immune response.”
Lisa Mullins of WBUR’s All Things Considered speaks with Suzanne Massie, wife of the late Prof. Emeritus Seymour Papert, about Papert’s dedication to using technology to provide children around the world access to education. Massie notes that Papert was “the visionary who first saw the potential of the computer as an instrument of education of children.”
Prof. Emeritus Seymour Papert, a leading expert on using technology to help children learn, died on July 31, reports Glenn Rifkin for The New York Times. Prof. Mitchel Resnick notes that Papert was “the first person to see that the computer could be used to support children’s learning and development.”
ABC News visits Prof. Hugh Herr’s lab to explore his work developing bionic limbs aimed at augmenting human capabilities and ending “profound human suffering caused by disability.” Herr says he “always had the dream of developing exoskeletal structures that would enable anyone to walk with less energy, run with less energy, move faster with complete ease.”
Writing for the Financial Times, senior lecturer Robert Pozen explores how the retirement health care plans offered to the employees of many U.S. cities and states could pose budgetary problems. Pozen writes that the "unfunded liabilities for retirement healthcare could bust the budgets of many cities and states over the next decade."
In an article for The New Yorker, Frank Rose features “The City of Tomorrow”, a new book by Prof. Carlo Ratti and graduate student Matthew Claudel. Rose writes that the city Claudel and Ratti envision is “a hybrid of the digital and the physical, a ‘triumph of atoms and bits’ that yields a sort of augmented urban reality.”
In an article for The Atlantic, Jessa Gamble highlights MIT alumnus David Sengeh’s work, which is focused on designing better-fitting prosthetics by examining a patient’s internal anatomy using MRI technology. “We’ve been able to make the [world’s] first socket entirely from quantitative methods,” says Sengeh. “No human hands were involved in defining the shape, including the cut lines and material properties of the socket.”
Popular Science reporter Samantha Cole writes that MIT researchers have developed a laptop-sized, portable device that can produce biopharmaceuticals for doctors in remote locations. Cole explains that the device can “produce a single dose of treatment with a series of steps, using genetically engineered yeast cells as a mini 'factory' for a variety of customizable drugs.”
Space.com reporter Samantha Mathewson writes that MIT researchers have developed a vibrating boot to help astronauts avoid obstacles. Prof. Leia Stirling explains that she hopes the boot will make astronauts “more confident and efficient during extravehicular activities and may decrease their injury risk due to trips and falls.”