Mónica Feliú-Mójer writes about the Latinas in STEM Foundation, created by five MIT alumae, for Scientific American. “We want to spread awareness about STEM and to encourage Latinas in K-12 grades,” says co-founder Diana Albarrán Chicas.
Andrea Chang of The Los Angeles Times writes about a new partnership between Twitter and MIT to study social media patterns. Twitter is providing the MIT Media Lab with $10 million to study and make sense of content across social and mass-media platforms.
“The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Twitter are teaming up on a $10 million project to better understand social networks and figure out new ways to benefit from them,” reports the Associated Press. The partnership will allow MIT access to Twitter’s archive, as well as real-time monitoring of new tweets.
“Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a pill-like capsule that injects medication into the stomach lining after being swallowed,” reports Sky News. The new capsule could allow for oral delivery of drugs that currently must be injected.
Melissa Malamut of Boston Magazine writes that a team of MIT researchers has developed a new scaling law to estimate the risk of blast-induced traumatic brain injury. The new method could be useful in helping the military develop more protective helmets and in diagnosing traumatic brain injury, Malamut reports.
BBC News reporter Chris Neiger writes that MIT researchers have developed a new traffic management system to help drivers avoid congested roads. “According to field trials, the vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)-based traffic solution resulted in an 8% increase in overall vehicle speed,” write Neiger.
Joshua Brustein writes for Bloomberg Businessweek that MIT is launching a new laboratory, funded by a $10 million committment from Twitter, to study social patterns on the web. “There are a lot of people at Twitter who are interesting in leveraging Twitter for social good,” says Professor Deb Roy.
The MIT Media Lab has received a $10 million committment from Twitter to examine data from tweets, writes Jordan Graham for the Boston Herald. The lab will develop technologies to analyze “all the different kinds of media, mass media and social media that make up public opinion,” explains Professor Deb Roy.
Rodrique Ngowi writes for the Associated Press about ScratchJr, an app co-developed by MIT researchers to help young children think creatively and develop skills in math and science. “Children as young as 5 can use the app to craft their own interactive stories and games,” writes Ngowi.
MIT scientists have developed a pill coated in tiny needles that allows medicine to be absorbed through the lining of the stomach, writes Brooks Hays of UPI. Initial trials showed that the pill delivered insulin more efficiently than an injection.
“Scientists and engineers gathered on a suburban hillside to celebrate the history and future of a large and little-known radio telescope housed in a dome that looks a lot like Epcot Center,” writes Boston Globe reporter Carolyn Johnson of the 50th anniversary of MIT’s Haystack Observatory.
Jonathan Amos of BBC News reports that MIT researchers have identified a large rectangular feature on the moon. “The 2,500km-wide structure is believed to be the remains of old rift valleys that later became filled with lava,” writes Amos.
Cari Romm of The Atlantic writes about a new draft paper co-authored by MIT Professor Heidi Williams examining infant mortality rates in the U.S. Researchers found that part of the reason for the higher infant mortality rate in the U.S. is that “American babies are mostly fine while they’re in the hospital and during their first days at home—but over time, that changes.”
“Twitter Inc on Wednesday gave $10 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for research that would explore how people use and achieve shared goals using social networks,” writes Christina Farr for Reuters. The committment will fund a new laboratory where researchers will develop tools to analyze social media patterns.
Thanks to a $10 million committment from Twitter, researchers at MIT plan to establish a Laboratory for Social Machines to analyze Twitter messages in real time, writes Hiawatha Bray of The Boston Globe. “With this data, the lab plans to develop new communication tools to help address social problems,” Bray explains.