Joseph Flaherty of Wired writes about how researchers at the MIT Self-Assembly Lab are developing materials that can independently fold themselves into new shapes. “We can listen to materials and use them as a programmable material,” says lab director Skylar Tibbits. “Computing isn’t in computers anymore; computing is everything.”
In a piece for The Boston Globe, Meredith Goldstein writes that Institute Professor Robert Langer received a Kyoto Prize at a ceremony in Japan for his work with tissue engineering.
In a letter to The New York Times, Professor Emerita Nancy Hopkins and graduate student Jason Sheltzer write that while there has been “remarkable progress” for female faculty members in STEM, barriers still exist. “Maintaining progress will require sustained effort, while making further progress will require addressing the pitifully small pipeline in many STEM fields,” they write.
Jennifer Smith of The Boston Globe writes about the fourth annual OrigaMIT convention held November 8, which brought “origami artists from across the country to display their creations and teach attendees to create sculptures from squares of paper.”
Boston Globe reporter Derrick Z. Jackson writes about Dr. Juliet Simpson’s work mapping the amount of carbon in Boston-area sea grass beds. Simpson explains that in undisturbed areas, half of a handful of salt marsh soil is “probably straight carbon.”
Alexandra Ossola of Popular Science features Prof. Kamal Youcef-Toumi’s work developing an autonomous robot to patrol pipes for leaks. “The two-liter-bottle-size prototype cruises through pipes at up to 3 miles per hour in search of subtle pressure differences that indicate a loss of fluids,” writes Ossola.
In a piece for Forbes about geothermal power production, Peter Kelly-Detwiler features a report released by a group of MIT researchers in 2005 concerning the potential of geothermal to become a major source of energy in the U.S.
Boston Globe reporter Cate McQuiad writes about “Vocal Vibrations,” the musical installation and exhibit featuring works by MIT Professors Tod Machover and Neri Oxman. “I was interested in a space where the music and the environment is very soft. To allow the general public to be directly involved in making music,” explains Machover.
Science reporter Vijaysree Venkatraman speaks with Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Professor Mildred Dresselhaus about her career, in particular what it was like to be a female professor in a male-dominated field. Her advice for other women aspiring to work in academia: “Don’t give up.”
Three new works composed by MIT lecturer Elena Ruehr are premiering over the coming weeks, reports David Weininger for The Boston Globe. “The next two weeks constitute a sort of bicoastal mini-festival of new works by Ruehr,” he writes. “It’s an enviable burst of activity for any composer.”
Hal Hodson of New Scientist writes about new technologies that monitor health, highlighting MIT and MGH’s Center for Assessment Technology and Continuous Health. “Its goal is to develop tools that continuously monitor people to get a better understanding of how certain conditions affect us,” he writes.
Keith Powers writes for WBUR about the upcoming premieres of three new works by MIT lecturer and composer Elena Ruehr. “Most composers are happy to have one premiere of a major work every year. Elena Ruehr has three in November alone,” explains Powers.
In a piece for The Wall Street Journal about business schools starting business analytics programs, Lindsay Gellman highlights one of MIT’s new offerings. “Professors and administrators at its Sloan School of Management are developing a tentatively titled Masters in Analytics program to be offered jointly with the university’s Operations Research Center beginning in 2016,” Gellman writes.
Wired reporter Kyle Vanhemert writes about the next-generation space suit Professor Dava Newman is designing to give astronauts greater mobility. The suit, a “form-fitting ‘soft exoskeleton’,” would serve as a “second-skin suit” for astronauts, Newman explains.
In a piece for The Atlantic, Sarah Laskow writes about how MIT researchers have developed a new drug-delivery capsule that could serve as an alternative to injections. The new drug capsule would make it possible to “deliver drugs that would otherwise break down in the digestive tract.”