New Scientist reporter Rowan Hooper writes about how MIT researchers have developed a 1.7-centimeter long origami robot that can self-fold, walk and swim. Hooper explains that, “using liquid-soluble materials, different versions of the robot can dissolve in either water or acetone, leaving only the permanent magnet behind.”
Shaula Clark writes for Boston Magazine about how members of the MIT Glass Band, an offshoot of the MIT Glass Lab, hand-blow glass instruments that "can be used to make a dizzying array of strange and ethereal sounds. Assembled, the band comes off like an orchestra from an alien planet.” The article features images and a video about the Glass Band.
Financial Times reporter Eric Beinhocker reviews Prof. César Hidalgo’s new book, “Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies.” Beinhocker writes that Hidalgo’s book is, “the future of growth theory and his thought-provoking book deserves to be widely read.”
Prof. Emeritus James Fay, who served as the chairman of the Massachusetts Port Authority and helped launch the Union of Concerned Scientists, died on June 2, reports Bryan Marquard for The Boston Globe. “To know him and benefit from his wisdom, courage, kindness, and friendship was a gift I will treasure for the rest of my life,” says senior lecturer Frederick Salvucci.
MIT researchers have developed lightweight, inflatable tents that could allow astronauts to spend more time exploring the moon, reports Charles Choi for Popular Science. Choi explains that the “mobile overnight habitat, designed to fit aboard a no-frills lunar rover” would only take up “roughly half as much space as an average refrigerator” when packed.
Prof. Ki Goosens is investigating how the gherlin hormone could possibly be used to develop a vaccine for PTSD, reports Bree Sison for CBS Boston. “If we can pick even just one mental illness and improve the outcome for people who suffer from it, I’d be happy,” says Goosens.
MarketWatch reporter Sally French writes that researchers from MIT CSAIL have developed an algorithm that can be used to predict how memorable a person’s is. “The algorithm was created from a database of more than 2,000 images that were awarded a “memorability score” based on human volunteers’ ability to remember the pictures,” French writes.
In an article for Nautilus, Elizabeth Preston writes about Prof. Lydia Bourouiba’s work examining how rain can spread crop diseases. Through a close examination of high-speed images, Bourouiba found that how raindrops bounce off different plant leaves “is really at the root” of the spread of pathogens among plants.
A new study co-authored by MIT Prof. Joseph Doyle found that juveniles who were incarcerated were less likely to return to school and more likely to return to jail as adults, reports Chris Sweeney for Boston Magazine. “If you want to be tough on crime, locking up juvenile offenders is counterproductive,” says Doyle.
BetaBoston reporter Nidhi Subbaraman writes that MIT researchers have developed a small self-folding robot that they hope will one day lead to bio-compatible robots that “could enter the body, perform surgery guided from afar, and dissolve away as harmlessly as surgical stitches.”
Saki Knafo of The Atlantic interviews Professor Zeynep Ton about the efforts companies are taking to make employees happier and more productive. “A good job is more than just higher wages,” says Ton. “A good job is also a productive job.”
In this video, Jared Bowen reports for WGBH on a retrospective of Professor Joan Jonas’ work at the MIT List Visual Arts Center. “One only has to experience it and you get immersed in it,” says List Visual Arts Center Director Paul Ha of Jonas’ work.
Nidhi Subbaraman writes for BetaBoston about research scientist Felice Frankel, who is credited with making scientific research more accessible through her photos. Prof. John Rogers of the University of Illinois says that Frankel, who is teaching an edX course this summer, has “played a significant role” in advancing science photography.
Dennis Overbye of The New York Times speaks with Dr. Sheperd Doeleman about his work attempting to capture the first picture of a black hole. “If something is dancing around the edge of the black hole, it doesn’t get any more fundamental than that,” says Doeleman. “Hopefully we’ll find something amazing.”
An MIT team competing in the DARPA Robotics Challenge finished in sixth place during the final competition of the challenge, reports Hiawatha Bray for BetaBoston. “I thought it was amazing and inspiring, and it really gave the public a good picture of what the state of the art in robotics is,” says MIT postdoc Scott Kuindersma.