Francie Diep writes for Popular Science about a new waterproof adhesive developed by Professor Timothy Lu’s team. “The glue, which works underwater, incorporates proteins that mussels normally use to adhere to rocks, jetties, and larger sea critters,” writes Diep.
Margot Sanger-Katz cites research by Professor Jonathan Gruber in this New York Times article on rising health insurance premiums. Gruber’s findings indicate that prior to the Affordable Care Act, premiums rose at higher average rates for individuals than they have since the legislation went into effect
CBS News reports that MIT engineers have identified several combinations of genes that make bacteria more vulnerable to antibiotics. This research could help in the fight against “superbugs,” drug-resistant bacteria that kill at least 23,000 people per year in the U.S.
Nidhi Subbaraman of BetaBoston writes about the annual MADMEC competition hosted by the Department of Materials Science and Engineering: “[T]eams presented their projects Friday afternoon, and judges from MIT, MIT-spinoff Ambri, and materials giants Saint-Gobain and Dow Chemical, picked the winning trio.”
Katie Levingston writes for Boston.com about the “Mighty Mom” system which took the first place prize in the Breast Pump Hackathon held at the MIT Media Lab. “[T]he ‘Mighty Mom’ is a discrete, wearable and smart utility belt for breast pumping,” writes Levingston.
Mark Peplow writes for Nature about a new molten-metal battery designed by Professor Donald Sadoway’s team: “A battery made of molten metals could help to make sources of renewable energy more viable by storing the excess electricity generated by these intermittent sources.”
Professor Donald Sadoway’s team has designed a battery that makes use of molten metals, which could allow for large-scale power storage, reports Jonathan Webb for the BBC. “Previous battery designs have largely been too expensive to help store energy on the scale of a national power grid,” writes Webb.
Scientific American reports that 70 MIT students and faculty were among those who attended the People’s Climate Change March in New York. "We have the technologies to begin to tackle the climate crisis,” said Ph.D. candidate Geoffrey Supran. “What we lack is the political will to make it happen."
Susan Rohwer writes for The Los Angeles Times about the “Bringing Innovation to Maternal Health: Make the Breast Pump Not Suck!” hackathon at the MIT Media Lab: “[A] civic-minded group of designers, engineers and parents will gather at MIT to try to rethink and redesign the breast pump.”
Professor Kerry Emanuel joined a number of experts encouraging participation in the People’s Climate Change March, held in New York, Sep. 21, reports Eric Holthaus for Slate. “The more ways that people—particularly young people—can make their concerns known to our government, the better,” says Emanuel.
Professor Hugh Herr speaks with NPR about the loss of his legs during a climbing accident almost 30 years ago. The experience inspired Herr, head of the MIT Media Lab's Biomechatronics group, to develop functional prosthetic technology to help other amputees.
New research by Professor Ann Graybiel may indicate that the FOXP2 gene in humans plays a major role in how we learn speech, writes Chris Higgins for Wired. Mice given the gene were able to learn their way through a maze more quickly than those without it.
Amy Robinson of Scientific American presents the first installment of a new series on emerging neurotechnologies, which will feature lectures and lab tours from MIT’s Center for Neurobiological Engineering. “The more we know about the brain, the better we are equipped to prevent dysfunctions and fix it when things go wrong,” writes Robinson.
“MIT researchers are engineering the next generation of space-wear: a skin-tight pressurized suit fit for awesome planetary exploration,” reports The Associated Press. “The researchers have engineered active compression garments that have small, springlike coils that contract in response to heat.”
“A team from MIT and Duke created flexible polymers that can change color and texture in response to a controlled voltage, essentially allowing them to camouflage an object with the flip of a switch,” reports Jim Festante for Slate. This mimics the ability of cephalopods in nature to rapidly change color.