Scientists at MIT have found that specific neurons in the human brain light up whenever we see images of food, reports Dr. Mallika Marshall for CBS Boston. “The researchers now want to explore how people’s responses to certain foods might differ depending on their personal preferences, likes and dislikes and past experiences,” Marshall.
MIT researchers have developed a new magnet-based system to monitor muscle movements that could help make prosthetic limbs easier to control, reports Brianna Silva for WHDH.
Prof. Mary Anne Ocampo speaks with Madame Architect reporter Gail Kutac about what inspired her passion for architecture and urban planning, and her advice for new designers. “The impact I would like to have in this world is creating strong collaborations that promote inclusive and resilient design visions,” says Ocampo. “To me, there’s this combination of understanding design as a process, and design as a commitment that helps us to recognize the ways we value our environment and people.”
President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Tech reporters Alex Tang, Eunice Zhang and Eva Ge about his tenure as president and offers advice to MIT’s students. “I honestly think that MIT is like a playground for grown-ups. It’s a place where you can learn and do almost anything you’re interested in,” says Reif. “Undergraduates are going to be here for four years. Learn as much as you can during those four years. Experiment as much as you can. Learn from each other as much as you can.”
Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, speaks with Forbes reporter John Koetsier about the future of robotics. “I have been on a quest to have universal machines,” says Rus. “My idea is to create universal robot cells that could combine to form different types of machines, each with the same capability.”
The Economist highlights a paper by researchers from MIT and Stanford that finds new ideas are becoming harder to find in areas ranging from crop yields to microchip density. The Economist also spotlights how Prof. Danielle Li and Prof. Pierre Azoulay examined the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) model of funding and found that it “does best when its program directors have a clear understanding of the sort of breakthroughs that are needed.”
Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have found that senior citizens in the U.S. are more likely to live independently if there are more immigrants in an area, reports Stuart Anderson for Forbes. “The study found a 10-percentage point increase in the less-educated immigrant population in an area reduces by 29% the probability someone 65 years or older would live in a nursing home or other institutional setting,” writes Anderson.
Ash Carter, a member of the MIT Corporation and innovation fellow, has died at the at the age of 68, reports Tara Copp for Associated Press. Carter – who opened combat jobs to women and ended the ban on transgender people serving in the military – was known “as a defensive thinker and strategist,” writes Copp.
Researchers at MIT are working on a system that can track the development of Parkinson’s disease by monitoring a person’s gait speed, reports Kyle Wiggers and Devin Coldewey for TechCrunch. “The MIT Parkinson’s-tracking effort aims to help clinicians overcome challenges in treating the estimated 10 million people afflicted by the disease globally,” writes Wiggers and Coldewey.
Research Scientist David Correll speaks with Wall Street Journal reporter Cheryl Winokur Munk about the challenges companies are facing as they try to improve supply-chain sustainability. “Doing better at sustainability involves being closer and sharing information with some of your supply base,” says Correll. “There’s value to unlock through supplier development and collaboration in terms of innovation and resilience.”
Researchers from MIT’s Concrete Sustainability Hub discuss their research showing that increasing the reflectivity of paved surfaces could help lower air temperatures in U.S. cities by an average of 2.5 degrees. “If we reflect more energy back out, it’s the same as emitting less CO2,” says Randolph Kirchain, co-director of the Concrete Sustainability Hub.
Graduate students James “Jimmy” McRae and Bert Vandereydt are on a mission to visit every Dunkin’ Donuts in Massachusetts, reports Michael Yoshida and Gladys Vargas for WDHD. “Seeing some older ones, some newer ones. Getting local cuisine on the way,” Vandereydt said. “We had pizza in the North Shore, roast beef in the North Shore ... it’s a lot of fun.”
Forbes contributor Marija Butkovic spotlights Gloria Ro Kolb ’94, the founder of medical device company Elidah, which is developing “an external, home-use treatment for female urinary incontinence.”
In an effort to combat the use of air conditioners, MIT researchers have developed a passive cooling system that relies on evaporation and radiation and requires no electricity, reports Camille Bond for EnergyWire. “With passive cooling, the advantage is that you can address the ever-increasing need for cooling with a very low carbon footprint,” explains postdoc Zhengmao Lu.
Writing for The Hill, Prof. Daniela Rus, director of CSAIL, explores how automation could ease the supply chain crisis. “Automation in these settings doesn’t mean replacing employees, but developing more robust inventory management software and using systems like scanners and conveyors that make our jobs easier,” writes Rus. “This would enable warehouse workers to focus on other more detail-oriented roles, from overseeing the operation of forklifts to improving the efficiencies of distribution centers.”