A study by MIT researchers is providing more information about how the brain stores and processes social memories, writes Hallie Smith for Boston Magazine. Smith explains that, in the future, the findings may be applicable to autism research and therapy.
President L. Rafael Reif speaks with Federico Kukso of El País about the MIT Campaign for a Better World and the need to educate students prepared to tackle society’s most pressing challenges. MIT is “an intellectually explosive, unique place,” says Reif, adding that “we value intelligence, passion, curiosity.”
STAT reporter Meghana Keshavan speaks with Prof. Guoping Feng about his new research that shows glial cells “very actively participate in direct neuronal function — particularly in the brain areas that control appetite, energy and metabolism.” The findings could help spur the development of weight loss medications.
In an article for The Wall Street Journal, Jeffrey Sparshott writes that a study co-authored by Prof. Scott Stern shows that while tech companies in Massachusetts are generating ideas and creating companies “those ventures aren’t breaking out into successful big companies.”
President L. Rafael Reif appeared on CBS This Morning to discuss innovation and research for a better world with Charlie Rose and Margaret Brennan. “At MIT, and places like MIT, you can actually see the future,” said Reif.
Scott Clement of The Washington Post writes that researchers at the Laboratory for Social Machines have found that while the majority of Twitter conversation concerning the presidential campaign has centered around Donald Trump over the past week and a half, “battlegrounds differed in what particular issues or themes they focused on.”
Advanced LIGO, the gravitational wave detection system developed by MIT and Caltech, is featured on a Popular Science list of the greatest innovations of the year. Shannon Palus and Jenn Schwartz write that observing gravitational waves “lets scientists plot the history of the universe and spot events like supernovas.”
Washington Post reporter Carolyn Johnson writes that a study by Prof. Amy Finkelstein finds that expanding Medicaid access increases emergency room visits. “People who gained Medicaid visited the emergency room about 65 percent more often than individuals who did not gain Medicaid in the first six months -- and the trend continued out to two years.”
Writing for The Huffington Post, Adi Gaskell highlights how CSAIL researchers have developed system to help robots work together successfully. Gaskell explains that the system allows three robots to “work successfully together to ensure items are delivered accurately in an unpredictable environment.”
A paper-based test that can detect the Zika virus, developed by Prof. James Collins and his research team, is featured in a list of the year’s most important health innovations compiled Alyssa Favreau and Claire Maldarelli for Popular Science. Unlike conventional lab tests, the paper-based test can provide results within three hours.
A recent report co-authored by graduate student Jonathan Frankle finds that at least half of American adults are pictured in a facial recognition network used by law enforcement, writes Steven Nelson for U.S. News & World Report. “A minimum of 117 million adults have been entered into such a network because they are licensed,” Nelson writes.
MIT researchers have developed a stretchy, biocompatible material that could be implanted in a patient’s body and used to stimulate cells or detect disease, according to FOX News. The hydrogel “could bend and twist in a patient’s body without breaking down.”
Damian Carrington writes for The Guardian that MIT researchers set a new world record for the highest plasma pressure ever recorded using the Alcator C-Mod reactor. Carrington notes that the “MIT record shows that using very high magnetic fields to contain the plasma may be the most promising route to practical nuclear fusion reactors.”
CBC reporter Nora Young explores how MIT researchers have developed a new material, inspired by beaver fur, that could help keep surfers warm. “In sports technology there's a great need for textiles that have great insulating properties in water, but still let you stay agile and nimble,” explains graduate student Alice Nasto.
Ian Sample of The Guardian writes that the Human Cell Atlas project, which will be co-led by the Broad Institute, aims to map the cells in the human body . “This will have a substantial impact on our scientific understanding and as a result, on our ability to diagnose, monitor and treat disease,” says Prof. Aviv Regev.